A week on from Perspectives of Nature and a week to reflect and recover (mainly from the ridiculously delayed train home). What an event! Myself, Emma and Alice were greeted in the morning with the news that Perspectives of Nature had sold out, an amazing achievement for our first ever event. Every aspect of the day, the exhibition, the panels, performances, presentations and guest speakers were so enthusiastically received by every audience member. I would like to personally thank everyone who showed an interest in or attended the event. We put so much planning and effort into the event and to see the number of people engaging with our work was special. I also want to thank Emma and Alice for all their support in both the collaborative work and putting on this event, it would not have been possible without you. A special thanks goes to Simon Ellwood, arts curator, Amy Langton and the York St John University Research Office, and their community creators fund, Jessica Baxter from York St John University Events, William Davidson for chairing the panels and Professor Claire Hind for chairing the contributions, Robyn Hughes-Maclean for photographing the event, Max Stephens for the beautiful performances of ‘Seasons’ and the numerous technical and other university staff and students who have supported this event. A huge thank you to everyone from Naturewrights and the writers or guest writers who read their work on the day. Thank you to all contributors who shared their research and creative work in the Recital Room. I have already shared with many people that Perspectives of Nature will be something I fondly look back on when reflecting on my time as a PGR at York St John University. The kind and impactful words on my music by so many people throughout the day emphasised the beautiful nature of this collaborative work and the opportunities it has provided everyone involved. My work as a PhD researcher continues, but this is a milestone. We always intended the event to be more than a showcase of our work and I hope those who attended feel inspired to be creative with nature in some capacity. ‘Journey’, the collaborative work that Perspectives of Nature was centred around, is available to explore through my website (www.ewaneastcomposer.co.uk). My compositions are available through all the usual streaming services. There will be more upcoming PhD work from me, but for now, thank you everyone for an amazing day on 1st December.

Ewan delivered a talk on 'Pieces of Depression' and the ability to use music to support mental health in the 2023 TedX Brayford Pools October 14th 'Spectrums' showcase. Alongside this Ewan joined a panel on challenging perceptions in traditional music and a performance of 'Pieces of Depression' took place by performer Tom Owen. TedX Brayford Pool - 'In a world that’s often polarized and divisive, we choose to come together as one to embrace the diversity of spectrums of thought in our community. At the intersection of scepticism and curiosity are understanding and innovation, and the opportunity to embrace new thinking, different positions and opinions. The power of ideas is what propels us forward.' Ewan's full talk is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2uu3j3L9hU&t=660s

Commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre to demonstrate a work in progress in the first ever DEMO night, Ewan delivered a performance of 'Piano (to be played in any order)', an improvised performance based on audience interaction. Review from theatre reviewer Jack Davy: 'The third, and final performance of the night, was Ewan East’s ‘Piano (To Be Played In Any Order)’, in great contrast to the other presentations of work, but it was so wonderfully raw in its execution, that actually handed the control over to the audience in a clever improvisational mode of performance. As a composer himself, Ewan wanted to hand the reigns over to us, with an interactive online poll. The premise was that a selection of narratives/emotions appeared in the form of a bar chart, and among the audience, we would vote for the first “mood” for Ewan to begin an improvisation with. As this piece went on, we could vote for different moods for Ewan to switch between, of which he had no way of planning, so the talent to adapt to our choices (and a given key to play in) was an absolutely tremendous feat. It was so fascinating as an audience member to be able to dictate the direction of the show, it was so clever, with seamless transitions that could really help us feel the music. And hearing other viewers after Ewan’s section, it was so pleasing to hear how many people could emotionally connect to the music, a completely different sensory experience to the others, but nonetheless incredible!'

Music (to be played in any order?) How do you listen to an album? In order or do you hit shuffle? Does the way you listen change the outcome of the music? What if the album was one piece of music and you had the chance to shuffle individual sections, creating a whole new order to the piece every time you listened? Bring a smart phone and some headphones and prepare to explore the world of shuffled compositions, forming your own order of pieces in the workshop! Ewan East is a composer and educator studying for a PhD in Music Composition at York St John University. Formerly a secondary school music teacher, Ewan returned to university in 2021 to study for his MA, composing his 30-minute solo piano album ‘Pieces of Depression’, exploring the symptoms of depression through music. Ewan’s PhD topic has taken him in a different direction to mental health, Ewan remains active in advocating for the discussion of mental health, especially with musicians. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spring-test-ysju-school-of-arts-pgr-flagship-event-tickets-531936174417

From Here To Career' by LiNCHigher is now available for students! The resource is aimed at students across Lincolnshire, providing them with an insight into the education and career paths that people from Lincolnshire have gone into. My interview focuses on my pathway throughout higher education, from my undergraduate at York St John University, studying for a PGCE at Bishop Grosseteste University and then returning to York St John University to study for my Masters and now my PhD. It really is a great resource that covers a lot of different career and educational routes, so if you're looking for something to inspire students in Lincolnshire, this is definitely where to start! The full resource can be accessed through @linchigher's wesbite thefuturefocus.co.uk or by this link: https://www.thefuturefocus.co.uk/news/detail/146

Through BBC Radio's 1 Minute of Me Ewan was able to share my experience of turning mental health into positivity, in particular how I turned my experience into 'Pieces of Depression'. The full transcript of my minute was: 'Ewan, Lincoln Positivity can come from mental health issues. I was diagnosed with depression two years ago and didn’t know what to do, or what steps to take. After trying to carry on for too long I was lucky enough to leave my career that I was not happy in and return to university to study my masters and through that turned my experience of depression into music, writing a series of piano pieces based on the symptoms of depression, hoping this would provide an alternate interpretation and talking point for mental health issues. Music truly does benefit the mind and that’s why Radio and taking time to listen to the music you enjoy can massively improve your mood and mindset. I’m now studying my PhD at York St John University and continue to use music as an emotional and creative output. I want to share that even when you are, or have been dealing with mental health issues, you can reach a positive space.' What is Minute of Me? 'If you’re aged between 16-24 years old and living in the UK, the BBC is giving you the opportunity to have one (1) minute with the microphone completely to yourself on BBC Radio 1. What are your hopes and fears in the year 2022? It could be around identity; friends and family; money; the environment; music; social media; sport; or anything else you care about. Send us a written submission outlining your point of view and we’ll consider it for Minute of Me.'

Lincolnshire based composer Ewan East, currently studying for his PhD in Music Composition at York St John University and the recipient of the Ann Green Prize for Contribution to University Music is our special guest this weekend on The Sunday Underbelly, October 9th from 4pm https://www.lcrlincoln.com/how-to-listen.html with Katy B. Ewan’s latest album released last month ’Pieces of Depression’ portrays his own experience with depression. This musical representation of different symptoms aims to encourage conversations on mental health. As Monday October 10th will be World Mental Health Day we will be making space to talk about mental health in general, how we need to look after it, and how important it is to talk about things and get help if you are struggling.

Ewan presented his research, composition process and final work for 'Pieces of Depression' at the 2022 Eat. Sleep. Research. Repeat Postgraduate Research Conference at York St John University.

Ewan performed, improvised and discussed his work and experience at the Streetlife York hub. Ewan aimed to create conversations around mental health, showcasing the positivity that can be reached when seeking new ventures. Pieces of Depression portrays Ewan’s own experience with depression. This musical representation of different symptoms of depression aims to encourage conversations on mental health. Although each piece is linked to certain symptoms or themes, this is merely the composers interpretation. If a performer or listener finds a different understanding or relationship to each piece then an exploration, discussion and understanding of mental health is still accomplished.

Commissioned by Converge for their Findings and responses conference on September 5th 2022, this composition conceptualises the key themes from their research, using instrumentation from the Converge Music courses. This video is from the closing of the conference and the premier of my composition, including my introduction for the piece, available here - https://youtu.be/rCvrF6oqI0c Instrumentation: Soprano, alto, tenor, baritone vocalists. Gamelan Improvised piano Music production Guitar Piano Percussion The opening section of the piece uses key quotes from the research to form the lyrics, showcasing peoples own experiences of the amazing work Converge does. The second section sees the introduction of the gamelan and improvised piano, further highlighting the courses offered through Converge. The final section combines all of the musical ideas together, representing the breadth of research showcased at the conference. The piece was recorded throughout August 2022, with the improvised piano part taking place live at the conference at York St John University on 5th September. Credits: Composer - Ewan East Soprano - Lucy Coleman Alto - Esther Griffiths Tenor - Aaron Soon Baritone - Ben Herron Instrumentation - Ewan East Recording Engineer - Ben Herron Videographer - Paul Hollingsworth

Full album released on 2nd September. Pieces of Depression portrays Ewan's own experience with depression. Ewan's depression began in late 2020, in the midst of entering a world with a newborn son and starting a new career. He had not composed for well over a year and to a certain degree lost touch with music. Through support, love and kindness Ewan began to cope with his diagnosis and took the opportunity to re-engage with music and return to university to study his Masters in Music Composition. Through this course and with the guidance of his tutor, Dr David Lancaster, Ewan was able to devise this series of piano compositions detailing the different symptoms of depression. This musical representation of different symptoms of depression aims to encourage conversations on mental health. Although each piece is linked to certain symptoms or themes, this is merely the composers interpretation. If a performer or listener finds a different understanding or relationship to each piece then an exploration, discussion and understanding of mental health is still achieved. The compositions are opened by piece 1, In the Balance, and finish with piece 10, The Path that Follows. These two pieces are intended to provide a positive beginning and end to the heavy topics covered, and such provide the performer or listener with the knowledge that where things can soon spiral and feel uncontrollable, there is the chance to reach positivity in the end.

Music streaming services are the forefront of music listening in the 21st century. As of 2021 streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music made up 80.6% of music consumption in the United Kingdom (Savage, 2021). When looking at the wider genre of ‘classical’, rather than focusing on my own composition style of contemporary classical music, it was found that ‘25 percent of subscribers to streaming services explore classical music at least once’ (Wassenberg, 2020). However, only 1 to 5 percent of the streaming market is represented by classical music, which is ‘too small for the mainstream industry to bother with’. The focus on music streaming for my research is due to the modern day usage of these services, however, they still retain a lot of faults, especially for the artists. Spotify has been referred to as a ‘battleground’ for the smaller and unsigned artists (Anderson, as cited in Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2021, p.538). Aleatoric Music, ‘also known as indeterminate music, or chance music’ (MasterClass, 2022), has long been explored by composers. Haydn and Mozart were ‘believed to practice dice music’ in the 18th century (Steib, 1999, p.18), with Mozart designing a ‘musical dice game, the Musikalisches Würfelspiel’ (Dean, 2009, p.110). In the 20th century compositions such as John Cage’s Music of Changes (1951), Pierre Boulez’s Piano Sonata no. 3 (1957) and Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX (1956) are examples of the use of chance to compose or perform music (Steib, 1999, p.18). However, a search for ‘21st century aleatoric music’ on Google or searching ‘Aleatoric’ on Spotify fails to bring many results, with the closest match being an artist under the title ‘Aleatoric Soundscapes’ uploading to Spotify, with their highest played track having 4,642 plays (as of 29th March 2022). Similar searches for ‘chance music’ through Google bring definitions for aleatoric music and on Spotify brings no results. However, searching for 20th century aleatoric pieces by composers such as Cage, Boulez and Stockhausen brings more popular results, with David Tudors’ 2012 recording of Cage’s Music of Changes (1951) receiving 48,027 plays on Spotify (as of 29th March 2022). This was by far the most popular aleatoric recording available on Spotify, however, when compared to Cage’s most popular recorded piece on Spotify, In A Landscape (1948), which has 4,732,137 plays (as of 29th March 2022) then aleatoric music is less popular than its other contemporary counterparts. This led me to explore the question; how can 21st century contemporary music composers reach the level of listeners that 20th century contemporary music now receives through streaming services? This PhD research will provide a critical and creative re-imagination of how music can be made specifically for audiences using streaming services, creating a new and interesting composition format for 21st century contemporary composers to use and engage the modern streaming service audience. Reference List Bayle, L., Provenzano, C. (2021) in Beckerman, M., Boghossian, P. (ed.) Classical music: contemporary perspectives and challenges. pp.103-120. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Classical_Music/Q7goEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=classical+music+streaming+services&pg=PT90&printsec=frontcover (Accessed 14/03/22) Beek, M. (2021) Which are the best music streaming services for classical music lovers?. Available at: https://www.classical-music.com/features/articles/best-music-streaming-services/ (Accessed 29/03/22) Boulez, P. (1957) Piano Sonata no. 3. Available at: Spotify (Accessed 07/03/22) Cage, J. (1951) John Cage: Music of Changes. David Taylor. Available at: Spotify (Accessed 07/03/22) Cage, J. (1948) In A Landscape, Cage: Early Piano Music. Herbet Henck. Available at: Spotify (Accessed 29/03/22) Dean, R. (2009) The oxford handbook of computer music. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Oxford_Handbook_of_Computer_Music/96ymxXy3wjMC?hl=en&gbpv=1 (Accessed 08/03/22) Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2021) Economics of music streaming (HC 50). Available at: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/6739/documents/72525/default/ (Accessed 10/03/22) Götting, M. (2021) Distribution of streamed music consumption in the United States in 2020, by genre. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/475667/streamed-music-consumption-genre-usa/ (Accessed 29/03/22) MasterClass. (2022) Aleatoric music explained: 5 examples of indeterminate music. Available at: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/aleatoric-music-explained#what-is-aleatoric-music (Accessed 14/03/22) MIDiA (2021) Research Music Subscriber Market Share Model 11/21. Available at:https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/20/22892939/music-streaming-services-market-share-q2-2021-spotify-apple-amazon-tencent-youtube (Accessed 14/03/22) Savage, M. (2021) Music listening soared during lockdown. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55528392 (Accessed 10/03/22) Steib, M. (1999) Readers guide to music: history, theory, criticism. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Reader_s_Guide_to_Music/Sg1EAgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=chance+operations+examples+music&pg=PA18&printsec=frontcover (Accessed 10/03/22) Stockhausen, K. (1956) Klavierstück IX. Available at: Spotify (Accessed 07/03/22) Vultaggio, M. (2021) Spotify editorial playlists: what they are & how I got on 7 of them. Available at:https://bestfriendsclub.ca/spotify-editorial-playlists/ (Accessed 14/03/22) Wassenberg, A. (2020) Streaming music, the song economy and classical music. Available at:https://www.ludwig-van.com/toronto/2020/03/10/report-streaming-music-the-song-economy-classical-music/(Accessed 10/03/22)

In late 2021 Ewan took on a small composition project to assist with online videos for LiNCHigher, Lincolnshire's University Connect Hub. For this Ewan produced background music for the new instructional video and utilised Logic to compose the brand new piece. The composition can be heard here: https://youtu.be/h7ADvzIhC_s More information about LiNCHigher's work can be found here: https://www.thefuturefocus.co.uk