November is a busy month for Cities and Memory – we’re delighted to say we have THREE live events in Oxford taking place.

From a full live show to conversation events, sound installations and a very special Migration Sounds live show, we hope to see you at one of the events!

Join us at the iconic Pitt Rivers Museum for an immersive audio installation capturing the experience of migration through sound, as we bring the Migration Sounds project to life.

Alongside this, we will be hosting a conversation event discussing the use of sound to reframe and offer new angles on the migration conversation, with a drinks reception afterwards.

This event is in partnership with the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford.

Conversation event and reception

Thursday 7 November, 5.30-7.00pm

Join us for a presentation of Migration Sounds, and two short roundtable discussions featuring researchers, contributors and sound artists discussing how we can use sound to reframe and offer new approaches on migration.

Please arrive promptly for a 17:30 start in the Pitt Rivers Lecture Room.

The Migration Sounds installation will also be accessible before and after the event.

Followed by complimentary drinks – free entry but ticket booking via this Eventbrite link.

More info and updates via the Facebook event link.

Migration Sounds immersive installation

– Wednesday 6 November, 10am-5pm
– Thursday 7 November, 10am-5pm
– Friday 8 November, 10am-3.30pm

Open to all during normal museum opening hours.

Situated on the first floor balcony, overlooking the incredible Pitt Rivers collection, you will find the Migration Sounds installation. On one side of the space, you will hear field recordings of migration and, time-synced to match, on the other side you will hear the corresponding composition made from that recording. Listeners will be able to create their own sound mix by their physical positioning and proximity to the “city” or “memory” side of the installation.

A journey around the world through the sounds of migration – and through the amazing compositions our community of artists have been inspired to create from them. Human stories – brought to life in the way that only sound can.

• 6.30-8.00pm
• Free entry – tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-migration-through-sound-tickets-1053218347429
• Facebook event

Next up is a unique live event exploring issues of migration through the mediums of sound and music.

Odyssey Ensemble and Cities and Memory, in collaboration with the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), will present highlights from the global Migration Sounds project in a live context, along with discussion of how sound can be used to highlight and reframe some of the complex debates around migration – in particular forced migration.

The event will introduce Migration Sounds and Odyssey Ensemble, with artists presenting and performing pieces from the project.

The following artists will be performing their contributions to the Migration Sounds project:

– Odyssey Ensemble
– Cities and Memory
– Kid Kin
– Kim[bal]
– Arvik Torrensen

About Odyssey:

Odyssey Ensemble is the UK’s first professional musical collective dedicated to sharing refugee stories, advocating for the human dignity of asylum-seekers to be upheld.

With a musical ensemble at the core, Odyssey Ensemble’s performances are often interdisciplinary, featuring refugee poets, dancers, filmmakers and other artists. While most of the ensemble’s musicians are British nationals, refugees and asylum-seekers are featured as soloists and in other capacities front and centre in performances. With regular performances in Oxford and London, Odyssey’s concert season will also include tours in areas with high orchestral concert attendance rates and where concern regarding inward refugee migration may be widespread. The ensemble hopes to invest in these communities by providing training to young musicians and giving them access to world-class artists while encouraging them to engage constructively and critically with refugee issues. In addition to members of the general public, Odyssey aims to perform for key policymakers and stakeholders to build connections and influence UK public policy on forced migration.

• 6.00-10.00pm
• Tickets: https://wegottickets.com/event/637615/
• Facebook event

Lastly, we’re really happy to be part of the launch event for Ambient Receiver, a brand new journal focused on creative practice as a means to attune to our ecology.

This will be a full Cities and Memory live audiovisual performance.

The full lineup is described as follows:

Hudson Scott brings his ambient compositions and improvisations built around trumpet and synthesizers to his hometown for the first time in years alongside San Francisco alt-art-folksters April Magazine, Dry Cleaning’s TD with his prog folk guitar tunes, Stuart Fowkes showcases his unique Cities and Memory sonic tour from around the world with visuals and soundscapes and we have readings from author Claire Carroll and poet, musician and managing editor of Ambient Receiver, Andrew Hykel Mears alongside a video & sound installation from Kit Monteith, Jeremy Moors and JD Haigh.

You can read an extensive Cities and Memory interview in Ambient Receiver in the meantime here.