Tête à Tête presents a vast, beach-based symphonic spectacle to bring those in power out into the Cornish landscape and take a moment to consider how to cherish our environment
• Tête à Tête presents ‘Song of the Sea / Kan an Mor’, a welcome to the world’s leaders of the G7 as they gather on the Cornish coast and a mass musical meditation on the welfare of the sea
• ‘Song of the Sea / Kan an Mor’ will take place on Saturday 12 June 2021 from 1:08pm – 1:20pm on Cornwall’s stunning Hayle Beach, directly opposite the G7’s host venue, Carbis Bay
• This community sonic art project will comprise of hundreds of local people each twirling a sustainably-sourced whirly tube for a few minutes
• Forming a socially distanced grid, the whirly tube orchestra will start with just one lone instrument, then the noise of the crowd will surge to a huge tutti, before dwindling back down to silence
• ‘Song of the Sea / Kan an Mor’ is a powerful metaphor for collaboration, community and climate change, offering a moment of repose, reflection and hope for the G7, for Cornwall and for the World
• The event is also a musical echo of Cornwall’s world-leading response to marine plastic pollution
• ‘Song of the Sea / Kan an Mor’ will take place at low tide, maximizing the amount of performance area. The performers will be arranged at intervals of 2m minimum in groups of 30, with each group being separated by a gap of 5m to comply with social distancing
• Whilst there is no deadline for signing up, Tête à Tête encourages early sign up to avoid disappointment
• Any under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult
• Participants will receive a sustainably-sourced whirly tube in the post around one week before the event. The pack will also include full instructions on how to practice along with detailed information about what to do on the day
• Participants will rehearse individually at home, as there will be no mass rehearsal on site
• The material for the tubes is polypropylene sourced by Waterhaul. It’s a mixture of end of life fishing net from South West ports, mainly Plymouth, as well as some other abandoned fishing lines and gear collected from the coastline at Mousehole, Porthtowan/Chapel Porth, Mawgan Porth, near Pentewan, Park Head and Bedruthan Steps
• After the event they will be repurposed, leaving a collection point to be hosted by North Quay, where people can leave the plastic marine litter that they find on the beach to be taken safely away from the sea by #2MinuteBeachClean
• Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival 2021 will see everything from topless sword-fighting sopranos to an unmissable introduction to Singlr, the world’s first operatic dating app from the powerful mezzo-soprano Loré Lixenberg
• Tête à Tête is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and opera company that produces opera productions and festivals in London, Cornwall, Newcastle and beyond, working with all kinds of artists to develop the artform
• Tête à Tête’s annual festival, Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival, gives artists from all over the world the chance to push the boundaries of opera and experiment wildly with the form. The artists are mentored, supported, and given a platform to share their latest creations. They go on to write for everywhere from the Royal Opera House to the Southbank Skatepark.