Everything and All of Us: At the Piano with Simeon Walker & Laura Cole

Experience 'Everything and All of Us' anew with an evening of live piano performances.

Acclaimed Leeds-based pianists and composers, Simeon Walker and Laura Cole, will each perform brand-new music live in the gallery space. They have been specially commissioned to respond to our current exhibition, 'Mary Griffiths: Everything and All of Us'.

The exhibition as a whole foregrounds Griffiths' collaborative approach. This includes works created with poets, biophysicists, astronomers, engineers - and musicians.

It is in this spirit that we've invited Simeon Walker and Laura Cole to the gallery. Their new compositions engage with the themes of Griffiths' artworks: rhythm, patterns, memory and identity. The musicians also share Griffiths' interest in encouraging taking one’s time, both in the creation and experience of the work. Through two mesmerising performances, they will draw out harmonies between these creative practices.

So, join us in the gallery for moving piano music surrounded by the artworks of Mary Griffiths. An exclusive experience that will captivate your ears and your mind.

A Q&A session with the musicians will follow the performances, chaired by Curator Laura Claveria.

With thanks to the School of Music, University of Leeds, for generously providing a piano.

_

Musicians’ Bios

Simeon Walker is a Leeds-based pianist & composer and University alumni. Regularly performing and touring across the UK and Europe, his music has received over 40 million streams/listens across platforms, with his work frequently broadcast and featured across BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, KEXP and NTS. A keen collaborator, Simeon has worked alongside writers, dancers, filmmakers, artists and photographers, whilst also an in-demand session musician, educator and curator across multiple musical styles and genres. In 2018, he founded Brudenell Piano Sessions - an established, captivating and eclectic live music series highlighting the diverse music being composed and performed on the piano, aiming to challenge perceptions about where and how this music can be heard; hosted at one of the UK’s most iconic grassroots music venues, Brudenell Social Club.

Laura Cole is a composer, pianist and writer based in Leeds. Laura currently features on piano in saxophonist/poet Keith Jafrate's Orfeo 5 project; in an improvising trio with multi-instrumentalist Phil Durrant and drummer Emil Karlsen; and on spoken word/piano in the Johnny Hunter Quartet. Laura is currently working on a string quartet commission featuring arrangements of saxophonist Ron Caines pieces due to be released on the Discus label in 2025, alongside solo piano arrangements. Laura's solo piano album, 'Enough', and the third album by her octet Metamorphic, 'The Two Fridas', are out on Discus.