British electronic musician Darren J. Cunningham, aka Actress, is teaming up with the London Contemporary Orchestra for a performance that will take place at the cities’ Barbican Centre on February 10th. The collaboration has been commissioned and curated by the Boiler Room, and today they take us behind-the-scenes to look into the rigorous and experimental means by which Cunningham’s ambient and sparse techno has been translated into a modern orchestral setting. Featuring tracks from 2012’s R.I.P. (Honest Jon’s Records) and 2010’s Splazsh, as well as “orchestral” leaning pieces and interludes that Cunningham has been working on at home, the video provides an amazing glimpse into how the LCO’s principal conductor Hugh Brunt has approached scoring Actress’ often abstract leaning music. In addition, director Angela Stephenson show’s the orchestra’s young musicians pushing the limits of their instruments, or even instrumentation itself–a man is seen playing a plastic bag!–and the collaboration seems to be a truly rich intersection that not only re-contextualizes Cunningham’s electronic creations, but also the role of the orchestra itself!
