Over the course of the summer 0f 2015, artist Serena Korda brought together a community of musicians from in and around Haverfordwest to create a sonic artwork inspired by the river Cleddau.
Serena’s field recordings of trombones, mandolins, banjos, saws, drums (and much more!) being played at locations along the river were re-mixed by Pembrokeshire-based electronic composer Andy Wheddon into a dance track inspired by the hey-day of rave culture.
This has been made into a CD, which was launched last Sunday on board a boat that made a musical passage up river to Haverfordwest. A coach party and convoy of cars followed its journey, encountering acoustic performances from Shani Liz Wyman, Shelley Morris, Llangwm Village Voices and Richard Joseph, which intermingled with the booming bass of the rave track playing on board the boat to hypnotic effect. A personal highlight was listening to Zoe Davis’s plaintive folk songs at the view point over Little Milford Woods as the boat navigated the big bend in the river in the distance. Despite the rain, the event drew an audience from all over Pembrokeshire, and beyond.
If you’d like a free copy of the CD, please pop into The Lab or send us a message here.
The river Cleddau is a beautiful natural resource that flows right through the heart of Haverfordwest. Historically, it was the reason that Haverfordwest town came to be here. Part of the motivation for commissioning Serena Korda on the Black Diamond project was to throw a spotlight on the river and provoke a discussion about the relationship between the town and the river in the future. If it were up to you, what would you make of the river? Would you like more musical events, or something else? What would that be?
It goes without saying that ‘thank yous’ are in order to everyone who got involved in the Black Diamond project. To Serena Korda (of course) whose energy, drive and vision brought something quite extraordinary into being, to all the 20+ musicians who took part in the commission, and to everyone who gave their talent, time, advice and support, including (but not limited to) Andy Wheddon, Ruth Jones from Holy Hiatus, Paul Williams, Sharron Harris, Hayley Barrett, Simon Horrox, the Port Authority, Llangwm Community Council, Neyland Marina, Pembrokeshire County Council and all the stewards who helped look after the audience at the event.
