Immix is a new music ensemble who focus on collaborations with innovative musical voices from across the UK with a focus on artists from the Merseyside area. Drawing on the talents of some of the country’s finest instrumentalists, Immix exists as a vehicle to champion the work of forward thinking composers, songwriters, bands and electronic artists, and to cast a spotlight on emerging talent, with an emphasis on artists whose work slips between the cracks of style and genre.

‘Transition’ 12”/DL out March 18 on Erased Tapes.

Barnaby Martin is an award-winning composer of contemporary classical music based in England. His compositions have been performed widely in the UK and internationally by groups including the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of Opera North, the Berkeley Ensemble, the Ligeti Quartet, the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, Wells Cathedral Choir and Illuminare choir. In 2018, his work for large orchestra, Quanta, was selected as the winner of the Toru Takemitsu Composition award. The piece, which was one of four to be selected by Unsuk Chin out of 143 entries from 40 countries, was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in the final of the competition in May 2018. Barnaby is the only composer from the UK to have received first prize in the history of the competition. Barnaby’s work has achieved acclaim and recognition in several other competitions and prizes including the DARE New Composer’s Forum Competition (Stillness), the Berkeley Ensemble’s New Cobbett Prize (Lazarus) as well as the New Music for St Paul’s Cathedral Competition (Videntes Stellam). Barnaby also received his first nomination for a BASCA British Composer Award in 2017 for his contemporary cantata, The Temptations of Christ.

Barnaby enjoys frequent collaborations with musicians and has been commissioned to write music for a variety of different ensembles and instrumentalists. He has written pieces for the Psappha Ensemble’s Benedict Holand as part of the group’s Composing for Violin scheme (Leda Atomica) as well as new pieces for oboist James Turnbull (Christ of Saint John of the Cross), the clarinettist John Slack (Hypercubus), the pianist Joseph Houston (Submerging) and organist Simon Johnson (O Herre Gott, dein göttlich Wort). The piece for Simon Johnson was commissioned by Choir & Organ Magazine and contributed to William Whitehead’s ongoing Orgelbüchlein Project. Barnaby has worked extensively with singers as well as instrumentalists and enjoys regular work with choirs in the UK. Most recently, he was commissioned by Illuminare choir to write a new 45-minute cantata for two choirs, soloists and percussion (The Temptations of Christ) which was premiered by the group in March 2017, directed by RPS award-winning conductor Christopher Stark.

Barnaby has studied composition with Kenneth Hesketh and from October 2018, he will begin working towards a PhD in composition at the University of Birmingham under the supervision of Michael Zev Gordon.

'A composer with Northern Roots and an Internationalist perspective' 

‘A Radical Optimist’ – Aleksandra Line, Mūzikos Saule

‘BEN LUNN puts his beloved birthplace Sunderland on the musical map’ – Linton Stephens, BBC Radio 3

‘His work extends the palette of sounds that can be brought into contemporary classical music, redefining both modern composition and concert-hall inclusion.’ – Alan Morrison, Rhinegold.co.uk 

Powerful, poignant and deeply moving, Lunn’s composition certainly represents the spirit of Disability History Month 2018 and our current struggle for justice. – Gemma Nash, Disability Arts Online

‘Ben’s music is intricate and complex with unusual harmonies, making it challenging and exciting – well worth making the effort as the effect created was magnificent’ – John A. MacInnes


Ben Lunn has forged himself a unique position within the new music landscape. As a composer, Lunn’s music reflects the material world around him, connecting to his North-Eastern heritage or how disability impacts the world around him or his working-class upbringing. Alongside this, he has become renowned for his championship of others, which have seen him creating unique collaborations with musicians from across the globe and developing unique concert experiences and opportunities for others. He has won accolades from the Scottish Music Awards in both 2023 and 2020 for his work with Hebrides Ensemble and Drake Music Scotland, and in 2024 was shortlisted for the RPS Awards for his concerto History Needs… composed for Nicholas McCarthy. In 2022, Ben Lunn became the first North-East composer to be selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Composer Scheme which sees him paired with Music in the Round. 

Lunn’s music has been described as ‘Evocative’, ‘Restrained Otherwordliness’, ‘Chilling’, ‘sophisticated and most importantly obsessive’ or ‘produces…glorious roaring sounds’ and ‘desolate monotone’. He has also been referred to as a ‘Composer of life music’, as well as ‘like Beethoven but drunk’ or a ‘real barn-stomper’.

Ben Lunn studied at the Royal Welsh College of  Music and Drama under the guidance of Peter Reynolds, and also the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre with Marius Baranauskas. He has also received mentorship from composers Param Vir and Stuart MacRae. Since graduating from his Master’s Lunn relocated to Airdrie, where he currently resides; working as conductor, musicologist, teacher and composer. In September 2021, Ben Lunn started his PhD at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he is exploring the impact of political ideology on composition – discussing Hanns Eisler, Alan Bush, Isang Yun, Luigi Nono, Jian-er Zhu, and reflecting upon his own work.

Lunn’s work has been featured in many leading international festivals including Sound Festival, Crossroads International Festival, Vale of Glamorgan, London New Wind Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Druskomanija, DaDaFest, Arēna Festivals, Leeds Leider+, Zilele Muzicale Aniversare, HASS FEST, Durham Brass Festival, Toronto Contemporary Music Lab, Second Movement’s Rough for Opera, and Occupy the Pianos. He has had the privilege of working with leading international ensembles and soloists including Royal National Scottish Orchestra, Orkestris Sinfonia Concertante, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, N.A.M.E.S, Sofia Soloists, Ensemble 360, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Quadra Quartet, Hebrides Ensemble, Digital Orchestra, SONO Ensemble, Lomond Brass, Lotte-Betts Dean, Eegeru, Grace Maria Wain, NOYO, Orkest De Ereprijs, Ensemble Proton Bern, Red Note Ensemble, Ensemble Synaesthesis, Music Theatre Wales, Lore Lixenberg, Ligeti Quartet, ÖeNM, Ensemble X and Y, Nikolai Matsov, Rolf Hind, Stephanie Lamprea, Francoise-Green Duo, Garth Knox, Lore Lixenberg, Ember Septet, 5K Brass, Zubin Kanga, Martynas Levickis, JVLMA, and Jauna Muzika. 

As musicologist, Lunn’s specialities focus on Baltic Music, Horaţiu Rădulescu, Political Ideology and composition, and Composing and Disability. He has had the honour of lecturing at some of the world’s leading academic institutions including Fordham University, Mozarteum, RWCMD, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Jazepa Vitola Latvijas Muzikas Akademija, Komitas Conservatory, Durham University and Amsterdam Conservatoire. His articles have been published across Germany, UK, US, Russia, Lithuania, and collected by the Arvo Pärt Centre. He has also written for the Music Information Centre of Lithuania and Latvia. He was featured in the recent Policy Press book Lived Experiences of Ableism in Academia in which he contributed a chapter. He has also produced documents offering unique insights into how to make the concert experience more accessible Concerts from my point of view, as well as advising concert promoters and organisations to make their work more accessible for disabled artists, What we need to thrive. He has also worked closely with Making Music UK on a new document to assist amateur ensembles. 

In 2021, Ben helped found the Disabled Artist Network, an organisation which is bridging the gap between the professional world and disabled artists. Ben is chair of the Musician's Union's Scottish and North of Ireland Regional Committee and is chair of the North Lanarkshire Trades Council. He also contributes to the Morning Star and Culture Matters.

Noticed the epic homeless, displaced & refugee crises? Got it? Give it! Clothes in good condition, in-date food, pregnancy + mother/baby items, bikes, phones, books - search YMCA, Salvation Army, Refugee charities now for more.
ME/CFS lupus coeliac and MS sufferers please note: Am recovering from "leaky gut" & malbsorbtion-related weight-loss. Search 2023 ME/CFS "malabsorbtion" research taking Vitamins A, most B's, C, D, E and supplements for Iron, Calcium, Zinc, Selenium, Magnesium, Co-Enzyme Q10 as well as Equazen Omega 3+6 capsules and following strict Paleo diet (life-saving advice based on latest findings on "Leaky Gut" and auto-immune groups above - PLEASE tell your friends/family)

ME/CFS patient suffering MALABSORBTION for 30 years with extreme mould-spore allergy and diagnosed in 2022 with "Leaky Gut" (affects Auto-Immune sufferers - Lupus, M.S., Coeliac, ME/CFS and requires strict Paleo diet - no gluten, barley, malt, soya / lecithins and largely avoid wheat)

To help the NHS get everyone you can to go private wherever possible.
Improvements for the NHS? https://change.nhs.uk/

Ambient Electronica based in Cardiff with visuals - all my own work, that's right - I'm an art thief (: Poser3D has long come free with skeleton 3D Models and a material that is meant to be stained glass windows, someone else's work and all I did was drag the one onto the other, simples :)

Began making ambient noises before learning to speak - mind you, up until that point everything HAD been satisfactory. Black and Decker, the radiators humming and singing maybe? Oh yes, and a loon or two.

Blasting Music (space-invaders themed jam) came from Euro-Techno mate jam on 3rd floor, we each heard whoops, bleeps, sirens, asked "Is that you?" - later friends came back from a techno night, pointed out ash & smoke two doors down with fire/ambulance crews attending. Everyone was OK (phew) and thus from some weird sort of crucible it was born... Lovingly rescued & restored from C-90 tape (with mid 90s tech/software) it was well-received by more hard-core acid-techno fans, as well as 'the touched'

Blasted Mutants (blasting music reblasted 2025/6) will be what then bandmate wanted all along. "Scurried" is but a whisper of a flavour of what's in store.

Forthcoming singles from Through the Wormhole and Impeachy include "Preponderous" and "Going Critical" (versions of which can be found on youtube and reverbnation) - videos coming too, to a mid-2025 near you - watch space!

I'm Kif (in artworks) but the band name is Doktor Kif in honour of a 'right person' for the job... getting it

In other news: resting till 2025/recovering from malabsortbtion, mould-related ME/CFS problem (search "ME/CFS Gut Dysbiosis")

A dietician helped form weight-loss/deficiency treatment of key vitamins & minerals (did thesis on villi getting out of sync leading to non-absorption):

Eat v slowly, 30m, savour the flavour, 3-5 days
Clear out eg clothes/boxes, bag everything to clean later with mould treatment (softener draw)
Flush radiator surfaces (put soapy water down them with bag/blanket below to catch water/dust)
EG Shark vacuum/Air Purifier (in extreme cases)
Rescue (1st week)
Pro-Biotics
EnsurePlus (take 'as needed' I guess 1/day?)

My regimen (just an example, taking some on alternate days):

This first one is important - apparently the body will not be able to do anything with some of these without others hence my previous regimen taking the Floradix Vitamin B complex massively missed the mark and I still struggled a lot.

"Vitamin B Complex Capsules B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7 B9, B12 UK Clean Supplements" from e-Bay supplier "uknutrilifesupplements" aka "Healthy Life supplements LTD" of County Tyrone, Ireland.

IRON (lifesaver! Ferrate something? Have got it written down at home)
Selenium with Vitamins A, C & E
Chewable Calcium with Vit D + K
Equazen Omega cpsules (EPAs / long-chain fatty acids)
Magnesium
Co-Enzyme Q10
Zinc
Rude Health Coconut Milk with Calcium and Vitamin D2 (lifesaver)

Tried BuckThorn juice for a while but was told even half a bottle is too high a dose and it did feel like it was pushing my metabolism. Two weeks on zinc etc and vits A-E and avoiding wheat while having pro-biotics and omega 3+6 long-chain fatty acid high EPA capsules? Peachy, just put on most of a kg somewhere this week, weight-loss stabilised and hopefully reversed. Will be nice to see if I should have a belly, or be 'svelt' when finally consult the right specialists (up to 6 month wait sometimes, but optimistic, stopped my weight loss and at least can 'pinch an inch' like the ads used to say... happy days)

Live well, Love Well, SLEEP well
But above all, EAT well and BE well

Kif

Create your future from your future, not from your past. - Werner Erhard

Leona works with words, her own and found recordings, and utilises spaces both personal and public  &#13;
Definitions are questioned &#13;
Unnoticed boundaries highlighted and crossed&#13;
Repetitions and assumptions becoming jumping off points&#13;
Allowing trajectories away from print and page into installation / audio / digital / performance and visual arts&#13;
Practice and theory meld(mould)ing space physicality locationcontext to fire words with new meaning&#13;
Fluidity not fixing&#13;
It's all about happening&#13;
It’s all about WordsSoundsSpaces&#13;


Composer and Arranger based in Cardiff and Liverpool.
Awarded a scholarship for a PhD in Composition at Cardiff University, writing music based on and informed by static visual art.
Awarded Distinction in Composition at Cardiff University in 2012.

Header photograph by Nata Moraru.

Anselm McDonnell is an Irish/Welsh contemporary classical composer based in Belfast who writes orchestral, chamber, choral, solo and electronic music. His work has been performed in Finland, Canada, Japan, Russia, France, North America and various locations around the UK and Ireland.

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