Sylvia Hallett (born 1953) is an English musician and composer. She plays many instruments including the violin and she is known for improvisations on unusual instruments. She has appeared at international festivals, often in collaboration with theatres and dance companies.

Career

Hallett studied music at the

Dartington College of Arts Dartington College of Arts was a specialist arts college located at Dartington Hall in the south-west of England, offering courses at degree and postgraduate level together with an arts research programme. It existed for a period of almost 50 ...

. She continued her studies in Paris with Max Deutsch. Hallett's instruments have included Norwegian

Hardanger fiddle A hardanger fiddle () is a traditional stringed instrument considered the national instrument of Norway. In modern designs, this type of fiddle is very similar to the violin, though with eight or nine strings (rather than four as on a standard v ...

, saw, accordion, found objects such as a

bicycle wheel A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels. Bicycle wheels are typically designed ...

, at times modified by electronics. From the early 1970s, she has appeared at international festivals. She has performed solo and as a duo with

Clive Bell Arthur Clive Heward Bell (16 September 1881 – 17 September 1964) was an English art critic, associated with formalism and the Bloomsbury Group. He developed the art theory known as significant form. Biography Early life and education Bell ...

. She has also collaborated with artists such as

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvisation, free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano saxophone, soprano and sopranino saxophone, sopranino saxopho ...

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook' ...

Maggie Nicols Maggie Nicols (or Nichols, as she originally spelled her name as a performer) (born 24 February 1948), is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer. Early life and career Nicols was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as M ...

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, and with theatres and dance projects. In 2012 she played in

David Toop David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and emeritus professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British ...

's "atmospheric opera" ''Star-shaped Biscuit''. Hallett made several solo recordings, which include improvisations, songs and "tape collage pieces" from her works for the stage. For her recording ''White Fog'', she bowed a bicycle wheel. A review describes "plaintive sounds" of the wheel spokes, expanded to "soundscapes" by digital delay boxes. A second piece on the recording is ''The Onyx Rook'', an improvisation for violin and voice, the third ''Snail and Curlew'', a collage of sounds of "water, bird, and vocal sounds". Hallett made a duo recording ''Geographers'' with Clive Bell in 2005. Martin Longley comments that while Bell plays mainly reed and pipe instruments from places such as South East Asia, Hallett included a saw, a bicycle wheel mounted on a spindle, and the

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

, on most improvisations modified by electronics. The reviewer describes an atmosphere of "suspended meditation, sustained for over an hour with some extremely varied and resourceful spontaneity", with the sound of the bicycle wheel "uncannily similar to her viola or sarangi, but just a touch rougher".

References

External links

*
Discography
AllMusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallett, Sylvia 1953 births English composers Living people Alumni of Dartington College of Arts English experimental musicians 21st-century English violinists 21st-century English women musicians Emanem Records artists