Nonclassical is partnering with NottFAR to present weekly videos showcasing new experimental music and creative sound practices from the Midlands. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be catching with the featured artists from the series to learn about their practice, influences and lockdown habits.

Violinist and composer Amanda Johnson uses field recording combined with instrumental and vocal lines to explore the themes of travel, migration and freedom in her work.

What are you listening to this week?

During lockdown, I have been revisiting some old friends in my music collection. Steve Reich’s Different Trains and Einstein on the Beach by Phillip Glass as, like most people this year, this is the closest I will come to going away on holiday.

Has the pandemic affected your process? Have you been involved with any new projects?

Work has been different to usual, but thankfully I have been involved in some exciting projects. I have most recently been working on a collaboration with artist Richard Johnson and award winning author Damian Le Bas on a setting of spoken poetry to music with moving images on the theme of migration. It has been a challenge, as we had to write the words and music separately, and the tracks had to be recorded in separate locations. The completed work, funded by Arts Council England, will soon be available online and can be accessed through my website.

What’s getting you through this second lockdown?

Netflix and ice lollies. Enough said, I think!

What’s inspiring you recently?

The thing that has inspired me the most during this lockdown is the resilience that colleagues, fellow composers, writers and musicians have shown by keeping the show on the road. Life is restricted, but we are finding ways around these restrictions in order to carry on working and making music. We all need music now – more than ever.

Watch Amanda’s work Beneath the Surface, part of our Nonclassical x NottNOISE partnership here.