Mann was selected for ‘Pigeon Whistles’ which was produced as part of his Sound and Music Embedded 2013 residence with Pitt Rivers Museum & Oxford Contemporary Music.
Nathanial Mann is an experimental composer, performer, sound designer and recent alumnus of Sound and Music’s Embedded programme, which places a selection of composers in residencies with a range of different organisations.
His diverse works include object-led compositions and performance which often push the boundaries of compositional practice; overlapping with instrument building and design, ethnography, folklore and storytelling. He has written for Tate, BBC Scotland & London Contemporary Orchestra.
Pigeon Whistles is a unique compositional project which Mann devised whilst artist-in-residence at Oxford’s Pitt Rivers Museum. Mann formed the idea in response to the collections housed in the museum and developed throughout 2013. Pigeon Whistles delivers an incomparable sonic experience as 14 Birmingham Roller Pigeons, each wearing a small bespoke flute upon its tail, create clouds of shifting tone directly above the audience.
Mann said on receiving the award;
‘It’s a great honour to receive The George Butterworth Prize. I have chosen to share both the prize and the honour with my chief collaborator Pigeon Pete Petravicius. Without Pete’s openness, enthusiasm and dedication, the Pigeon Whistles project would never have taken off the …ground.’
About The George Butterworth Prize:
The George Butterworth prize is a £1500 grant, which is awarded annually to the composer of an outstanding new work created through one of Sound and Music’semerging composer programmes, which include Embedded, Portfolio and Adopt a Composer.
The George Butterworth Memorial Fund was established in 1921 by the composer’s family together with initial trustees including Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Dyson. It was funded by income from the estate of the composer himself who was tragically killed on the Somme during the First World War, having been awarded the Military Cross.
Read more about the George Butterworth Award.
This prize is awarded in partnership with Making Music.