As part of the school’s popular ‘Making It’ exhibition, on Tuesday 15 September some Old Sennockians took part in a concert to showcase the art of combining animation and music. The ANIMA Collective, as the group is known, is a unique project which brings together contemporary composers, musicians and filmmakers, and the audience were treated to a poised and eye-opening demonstration of this unusual and somewhat unknown art form. Chris Roe, the founder of ANIMA and himself both an OS and a Graduate Music Assistant at Sevenoaks, compered the evening to explain about the pieces the group were playing, including some of his own compositions. It was fascinating to see how the music and animations combined to produce an entirely different experience to just listening to the music.
Amongst a variety of pieces, the group played a composition by Joanna Sy, another OS, called ‘No Beginning’, which explored the process of creativity, playing on the idea that the is often no specific beginning to the process. In a short break from the visual animations, Minn Majoe and Olivia Jageurs (both OS) performed ‘Fantaisie for Violin and Harp’ by Saint-Saens with impressive emotion and virtuosity. Another highlight of the evening was the performance of some original compositions by present Sennockians, some pieces set to animation and others not. All the compositions were of an immensely high standard, and as Chris said, it is one thing to simply compose a piece, but quite another to have to set it perfectly to an animation as well.
This evening was a treat for the audience to discover such a new medium of music, quite different to conventional performances. The ANIMA Collective impressed hugely, in everything from the fantastic scope of the project and variety of the music and animations, to the technical skill and ability of not just the musicians but the composers and animators as well. Special thanks should go to Chris Roe for working so hard to organise the evening.
Isla Stevens
