Curated by Wire magazine, Faster Than Sound’s Parallel Lives brings together Norwegian vocalist and electronic improviser and composer Maja Ratkje, independent artist Kathy Hinde and New York-based artist and composer Marina Rosenfeld. They will embark on parallel journeys to Suffolk where they will create brand new works for Aldeburgh Music’s multiple venues at Snape Maltings. Travelling across the globe four women artists from different backgrounds will explore the sights and sounds of Suffolk, from architecture to the local bird population, working with local collaborators ranging from school children to musicians to engineering firms. Across the same weekend Hush House, a site-specific sound installation by Kathrine Sandys, comes to the de-commissioned Cold War airbase, RAF Bentwaters, near Woodbridge. Located in the Hush House aircraft hanger, the previous home of Faster Than Sound, it integrates the experience of journey to and through the site and landscape, as part of the work. These projects will be assembled during a week long residency building up to a unique and brand new Faster Than Sound performance.


Marina Rosenfeld’s Cannons continues her investigation of forms of public address, amplification, and the social architecture of performance. Deploying both live players and customized resonating objects, including bass cannons and horns, Rosenfeld’s new work will be developed in situ at Aldeburgh and will bring her composition and live turntablism into confrontation with classical players from the London Contemporary Orchestra.


Maja Ratkje and Kathy Hinde’s piece Birds and Traces draws on the long and borderless migration of birds as inspiration. Using themes of spring, birds and the effects of climate change, their residency will involve local children re-interpreting Norwegian songs and featuring in the piece on many levels. The resulting work will be presented as a concert performance including acclaimed Norwegian accordionist Frøde Haltli, three installation rooms as well as facts on bird migration.


Kathrine Sandys Hush House captures the ghostly and invisible past of the Cold War in the UK through a compelling site specific sound installation. The journey to and across the site sets the scene for audiences experiencing the work and, upon entering the Hush House, there will be no ‘object’ to experience. Instead what will fill the space is a set of low sound frequencies selected from those that would have been generated by the jets originally tested in the space, creating a ghostly trace of the presence of technology. On the way out, in the original Control Room, a series of images, text and drawings outline the work and the site will be presented along with the opportunity for informal discussion. What Kathrine hopes the audience takes with them is a combination of a limited introduction to the history of the site, their own concept of Cold War military sites and technology and a sense of experiencing something – an ambiguous something.