Name: I am Afraid by CoMA Bristol
Duration: 1 min 4 s
Description: Extract from Nigel Osborne's I Am Swimming, played by an all-comers orchestra with CoMA Bristol and the Gurt Lush Choir, directed by William Goodchild in May 2018, as part of the International Festival of Contemporary Music.

Challenge one: Poku Osei on creating a better environment for social mobility
Session one speakers: Johanna Sieben, Robyn Bennett, Tom Burke
Host: Charles Landry

It is time to think afresh our ability to deliver for citizens. The challenges we face – from an aging population to a faltering health service; from uncertainty about the future of work to climate change – at a time of diminishing public budgets means we must find new ways to plan and deliver services. Often derided, our public bureaucracies are at the forefront of dealing with these challenges. Much good work is done. Many public servants are curious and creative, but suffer from risk-averse cultures. We all need to rethink what is done and how we do it especially in terms of valuing and cultivating imagination for the creation of alternative futures.

This first UK conference on this subject – hosted by Bristol Ideas, in collaboration with the Creative Bureaucracy Festival in Berlin – seeks to find new ways of solving some of these crucial challenges with inspiring people and presentations from a range of international speakers. The conference explores who is doing important work to rethink public administration, both here and elsewhere in Europe and beyond.

The Berlin event – now in its seventh year – has triggered a movement of change with satellite events in other countries. It has become a collective gathering place for creative bureaucrats across the world with 1300 delegates attending its last event in June 2023. We look here at what we can learn for Britain as well for Bristol and the West of England.

What Is A Creative Bureaucracy?

Live recording of CoMA Bristol's 2017 spring concert.

Across the Spectrum 2017

Blake: Postcolonial Song

Red Room by Zoë Martlew. Voice and piano

Nigel Osborne's I Am Swimming was commissioned by Contemporary Music for All as part of its International Festival of Contemporary Music 2018.  This performance featured an all-comers orchestra, joined by players from CoMA Bristol and singers from the Gurt Lush Choir.  It was the result of a one-day workshop, and was directed by William Goodchild.  The performance took place at the Victoria Rooms in Bristol, on the 5 May 2018.

I Am Swimming - Nigel Osborne

Extract from Nigel Osborne's I Am Swimming, played by an all-comers orchestra with CoMA Bristol and the Gurt Lush Choir, directed by William Goodchild in May 2018, as part of the International Festival of Contemporary Music.

I Am Swimming

Like a Bird in the Sky

The Journey

I am Afraid

I am Swimming

Players of new music, pushers of boundaries.  All musical assumptions swept aside.  Exploration and experimentation are the name of the game.

I am Afraid

CoMA Bristol

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