The Unfolding

Album artwork for 'The Unfolding' album by Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra. Abstract shapes arranged on a white background.

The Unfolding is a collaboration between Paraorchestra, Charles Hazlewood and Northern Irish composer, producer and broadcaster Hannah Peel.

The album was released via Real World Records on April 1st 2022.

Taking a cyclical journey from the very atoms of human existence and the awakening of life, through to our eventual re-folding back into the elements, The Unfolding features a 14-piece ensemble of acoustic and electronic instruments as well as human voice. 

In a co-commission by The Barbican, The Unfolding toured nationally in 2022 to Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, Sage Gateshead, Barbican and Bluedot Festival.

Listen to the album here

The Unfolding - Music Video

Bluedot Festival 2022 Performance

  • Side profile of a white female (Hannah Peel) wearing a long white gown or jacket onstage in front of a bank of synthsisers and a microphone. The outdoor crowd in the background are blurred. Festoon lighting hangs above the crowd.
  • A white man in his early thirties plays cello. He has a beard and wears glasses. He looks down the cello serenely. A smoky yellow haze of stage effects surrounds him.
  • A black female in her thirties with long braided hair cascading over her shoulders sings into a microphone, her mouth open. She wears a pair of headphones and a blue buttoned dress. Red atmospheric lighting.
  • Taken from behind a festival crowd of around 2000 people looking on at a brightly lit stage, nighttime. To the right a huge space telescope. The stage is lit in many yellow spotlights projecting down and out to the crowd. On stage are around 10 musicians. Projections either side of the stage read Bluedot.
  • Taken from behind a festival crowd of around 2000 silhouetted people looking on at a brightly lit stage, nighttime. At the top of the stage the lighting is white and it fades into purple, lit in many spotlights projecting down and out to the crowd. On stage are around 10 musicians. Projections either side of the stage read Bluedot.