Plymouth Music Zone has held a landmark exhibition with music from over 100 Plymouth people inspiring a film by former Wallace and Gromit Oscar winning animator.
The interactive event was the culmination of a two year inter-generational ‘musical relay’ project called ‘Pass the Baton’ that’s brought music made by Plymouth Music Zone’s diverse range of participants together to form one beautiful score. The finished musical piece aimed to capture the musical and human connections that sometimes happen in the most unlikely of places and ways.
The resulting music was used to inspire an animated film created by the Oscar winning animator Virpi Kettu. The distinguished animator/filmmaker from Finland made her mark with the likes of Wallace and Gromit and Creature Comforts animations via Aardman Productions in Bristol as well as working on music videos with bands like Radiohead etc. Virpi was specially invited to Plymouth Music Zone to film and make animations to bring the music to life.
The film explores musical and human connections and tells the story of their Pass the Baton musical journeys and the warmth and connections that exist between them. The Arts Council funded ‘Pass the Baton’ project set out to orchestrate and deepen creative links especially among those people most often excluded from the arts.
It aimed to artistically challenge Plymouth Music Zone’s wide range of participants, practitioners and the organisation itself by working for the first time on a single piece of original music collectively assembled by the many groups that PMZ works with – all ages, backgrounds, abilities, disabilities and cultures. The score was created by working with groups in education, health and social care settings across Plymouth and then produced in PMZ’s recording studio.
Unusually, these various groups added their own separate parts to the piece that were then brought together to form the beautiful finished score as well as an additional one called ‘In Sea’. The film debuted at a special ‘Pass the Baton’ interactive exhibition at Plymouth Music Zone on 28 February where the music and film was experienced by visitors alongside everything created over the last 2 years. It included a wide array of paintings, photographs, knitted scores, cymatic voice wave forms from a US tech firm and a gamut of intriguing interactive technological set ups done in partnership with donations from international award winning Plymouth firm, Pyramid AV.
Those visiting the exhibition were able to interact and take part in more music-making sessions. The recordings on the day will be further added to the sounds in the exhibition and shared when complete.
Link to Pass the Baton film and original music score click here.
For article on Youth Music Network click here.
For press release click here.
PMZ Projects – Pass the Baton animated film
For further information about Pass the Baton or about Plymouth Music Zone’s work, please contact PMZ’s Development Manager Jeany Robinson, on 01752 213692.