In the Time of Pandemic

Link to new release here

Round about now, under more normal circumstances, you might have been expecting to

hear from us about our next concert. Sadly, for obvious reasons, Composers Network

concerts, like all other arts events, are on hold for the foreseeable future.

Like us, you may be missing going to live concerts but still want to be introduced to music

you haven’t heard before. So, we’d like to share this new music video, “In The Time Of

Pandemic” with you. We hope you will enjoy it, and find it uplifting as well as poignant and

moving.

“In The Time Of Pandemic” was written and produced under lockdown in Eastbourne and

Wisconsin, USA. The music, by Eastbourne’s Clive Whitburn, is a setting for A Cappella

voices of a beautiful poem by American writer Kitty O’Meara. When Clive came across her

poem on-line, he knew immediately how he wanted to set it. It took a few days to track

Kitty down, but eventually he found her via Facebook. He was absolutely delighted when,

after she had listened to some of his music, she agreed enthusiastically to let him set her

words.

In Clive’s words, “once the piece had been composed, the hard work started!”

He invited the members of The New Network Singers to take part in a virtual choir. He sent them the score and asked them to record their parts into their smartphones or computers and email them to him. He then edited all 30+ recordings together to make a choir.

It didn’t stop there. Clive also invited two Eastbourne artists, Stephanie Grainger and Ray

Burnside to make the video to accompany the soundtrack. He hopes you’ll agree that their

wonderfully evocative images and drawings add hugely to the narrative and complement

the words and music beautifully. In a way, this has continued the Composers Network

tradition of using visuals alongside our music involving local artists in our concerts.

If you enjoy the video, please share the link with whoever you feel might be interested.

We’d like to see it get as wide an audience as possible.

To watch, click here

Meanwhile, we are beginning to formulate plans for a live concert, at some point in the

future, when such things become possible again.

For now, we send you our very best wishes and hope that you and your loved ones stay safe

and well through these very strange and rather dystopian times.

Melody, Tim and Clive

Composers Network