Name: Lichen (2017) - Excerpt by matthewsergeant
Duration: 37 s
Description: A tiny excerpt from Lichen (2017, for electric lap-steel guitar), as premiered by Daryl Buckley (ELISION Ensemble, AUS) on 08.

With my friends Mico N. Aquino and Yvonne-Nikola Fontaine we wrote a new piece every day!
Here are my submissions to the project and you can follow the links here to see all the videos with scores :-))))))))))))))))

https://www.youtube.com/@AnatoArchives/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@MicoAquinoComposer/videos
https://www.youtube.com/@MatthewLeeKnowles/videos

DAY ONE: LASER POINTER CAT PIANO

no input, only the pedalboard itself (pictured)

pedalboard improvisation 8/2025

another no-input pedalboard improvisation (8/2025)

These two pieces were co-created with individuals in two prisons in the West Midlands over a period of four workshops in May 2025. Pianist Clare Hammond and I worked with participants to generate musical and conceptual ideas for these pieces for a performance to family and friends in July of the same year. Clare later toured these works across the UK as part of her 2025-26 concert series. 

Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope (2025)

Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope depicts a prisoner's journey. Regardless of our situation, freedom is fragile. Once it is shattered, it takes work to rebuild a life from the shards.

This piece was co-created by participants at HMP Featherstone over four workshops with composer Michael Betteridge and pianist Clare Hammond in May 2025. The project was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as grants from The Gloucestershire Piano Trust, The Marchus Trust and Leigh Day Solicitors. We are grateful to Staffordshire Prison Libraries, Changing Tunes, and Theatre in Prisons and Probation for their support and encouragement.

Internal Victories (2025)

Co-created by participants at HMP Oakwood and Michael Betteridge

Internal Victories incorporates sounds from participants' experiences of prison which were then modelled using graphic scores and translated into sound at the keyboard. Participants created chords on glockenspiels that were woven into the fabric of the piece and collaborated to structure a musical narrative. To represent the interests of the group, we melded two distinct musical styles together in this piece – drill and a folk-inspired melody.

The men wished to show that, while there is a great deal of darkness in prisons, it can also be a place of resilience, transformation and hope. Music can be a tool to build community regardless of setting, and the group wanted to acknowledge how their diverse range of ages, ethnicities, and experiences influenced this work, helping them forge connections with other participants whom they might not have met otherwise.

This piece was co-created by participants at HMP Oakwood over four workshops with composer Michael Betteridge and pianist Clare Hammond in May 2025. The project was supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, as well as grants from The Gloucestershire Piano Trust, The Marchus Trust and Leigh Day Solicitors. We are grateful to Staffordshire Prison Libraries, Changing Tunes, and Theatre in Prisons and Probation for their support and encouragement.

1. Shattered Freedom, Shards of Hope

A tiny excerpt from Lichen (2017, for electric lap-steel guitar), as premiered by Daryl Buckley (ELISION Ensemble, AUS) on 08.

Lichen (2017) - Excerpt

A setting for solo voice and piano of text by Alfred Noyes, performed by Simone Ibbett-Brown – Mezzo-Soprano & Frances M Lynch - Piano
Recorded individually in the musicians homes during the Covid-19 Pandemic and first performed for a Soundings from Essex event in August 2020 https://www.electricvoicetheatre.co.uk/

“I cannot tell why,
But the rustling of grass,
As the summer winds pass thro’ the fields where I lie,
Brings to life a lost day, 
Long ago, 
Far away,
When in childhood I lay, 
Looking up at the sky, and the white clouds that pass, 
Trailing isles of grey shadow across the gold grass,
O, the dreams that drift by,
With the slow flowing years, hopes, memories, tears
In the rustling of grass.”

The Rustling of Grass by Avril Coleridge-Taylor

Matthew Sergeant’s music currently explores ideas surrounding identity and hybridity, space and place. It is frequently performed throughout the world by acclaimed ensembles, including BCMG, Divertimento Ensemble, ELISION, EXAUDI and the Nieuw Ensemble, and regularly featuring at international festivals, including Festival Musica (France), HCMF (UK) and Sydney International Festival (Australia). @matthewsergeant

Lichen (2017) - Excerpt

matthewsergeant

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