The Modifications of Clouds_Nina Whiteman (trio)

Trio Atem is one of the UK’s most exciting and dynamic young contemporary music ensembles. With only a small number of existing works in the repertoire (Helmut Lachenmann’s temA chief among them), their principal commitment has been to commission new work from the younger generation of UK composers. Those commissioned include: Nina Whiteman, Ian Vine, Richard Whalley, Mic Spencer, Edward Caine, Lauren Redhead, Chris Swithinbank, Camden Reeves, Eric Lyon and Manuella Blackburn, and some of the UK’s most talented postgraduate composers.

Formed in 2007 for a performance of Lachenmann’s temA, concert engagements since include Kings Place, Bridgewater Hall (BBC Philharmonic Ink Still Wet series), York Late Music Festival, Leeds University Contemporary Music Festival, The University of Manchester lunchtime concert series, Kingston University, Liverpool Hope University, and residencies at the RMA Student Conference, and Novars Electroacoustic Studios (The University of Manchester). 

Atem are also actively involved in work beyond the concert hall and traditional repertoire formats, exploring new avenues for the ensemble. The most recent of these is a series of ‘hypergraphic scores’ by artist Michael Mayhew: The Alchemy Collection. This work involved spatialised, mobile performances at the Whitworth Art Gallery (Manchester) using scores whose content goes beyond musical notation to include social, cultural, ecological and scientific concerns.
