Trip The Light Fantastic: an orchestral feast of sight and sound by Paraorchestra with Surgeons Girl and Charles Hazlewood

In Trip The Light Fantastic, Surgeons Girl’s pulsing, cinematic and powerful techno-soundscapes are transformed into orchestral parts for Paraorchestra’s musicians by Responding Composer Oliver Vibrans, conjuring euphoric electro-orchestral alchemy incorporating a trademark mix of acoustic, analogue and digital instruments.

On stage at Bristol Beacon, a large indoor concert hall. The stage is lit in vivid orange hue. Charles Hazlewood stands with his back to camera - arms raised as he conducts a group of around forty Paraorchestra musicians in front of him. To Charles' left, a woman wearing distinctive turquoise gloves interprets the music into BSL.

The performance begins with a new piece by Paraorchestra composer Asteryth Sloane: Prelude to a Beginning, a sensual and spatial opener to proceedings.

Trip The Light Fantastic was originally commissioned by Bristol Beacon for their reopening concert in November 2023 following a once-in-a-generation transformation, with projection-mapping and illumination by Limbic Cinema.