BOARC – SSTRAPP: Synthesizing Space

We are delighted to announce that artist, lead producer, DJ, of the collective Distribution of Power, and analog synthesizer researcher  Zara Truss Giles will be coming back to lead this SSTRAPP three-day weekender together with Inigo and Maeve, and we’re sure its gonna be just as amazing as the first one we did with them back in October 2023 (Synthetic Disruptions). This will be a special SSTRAPP because we are working in collaboration with the incredible Iklectik Art Lab, who have generously loaned us their spatialized sound system.

In the theory sessions in the mornings we’ll have presentations about space, synthesis, spatial perception in auditory cognition, and spatialized composition and sound diffusion. We will use our usual diagramming method for discussing and working through the ideas together in groups. In the afternoons Edu and Isa from Iklectik will demonstrate how their spatial sound system can be used and Zara and Maeve will lead us on a practical exploration of spatialized sound synthesis.

Bidston is an anti-racist, trans-inclusive, intersectional feminist space where we welcome everyone who abides by this accountability agreement.

There are no requirements for attending, everyone is welcome, whatever their knowledge, abilities, etc., and the theory and practice should be accessible for those with no background in them.

We recommend arriving at Bidston sometime on Thursday so we’re ready to start working on Friday morning, but if you can’t make it then you can still join later. 

It is possible to participate with or without accommodation. We will do collective meals together, which is also an optional extra cost. The cost for participating in the workshop are as follows:

Workshop fee: On a sliding scale from £20-£30 per day, or £60-£90 for the total three days. Please pay more if you can, the lower end of the scale is for those who really couldn’t afford it otherwise, the cost is very cheap for what you’re getting!

Accommodation fee: On a sliding scale from £30-£40 per day, or £90-£120 for the total three days. If you’re struggling financially, e.g. on benefits, get in touch and it may be possible to reduce the cost.Meals fee: £15 per day

If you’d like to join, please get in touch by sending an email to sstrapp@proton.me

Recurring events in Liverpool

Liverpool is a city full of Irish culture. There is always something happening that you join in with. Below is a lit of regular and recurring activities, delivered by our that you can pick up at any time.
Liverpool Irish Centre
The Liverpool Irish Centre runs a shop full of Irish produce, open 7-days a week. It receives Irish food deliveries fortnightly on a Wednesday/Thursday. The main bar hours are Fri and Sat, 2pm-midnight and Sun, 12.30pm-9pm, with live music 4/5pm. Follow them online to stay up to date with events. The venue is a hireable space and can be booked for parties or functions. The recurring programme looks like this:

Monday

Gardening class,10am, The Shed
Comhaltas, 6.30pm

Tuesday

Sequence dancing, 1pm
Liverpool Irish Choir, 6.30pm

Wednesday

JJ’s lunch club, 1pm
Yoga, 6pm
Irish language, 6-8pm
The Lowlands, 7pm
Liverpool Irish Fluteband, 7.30pm

Thursday

Tea dance/Bingo, 1pm
Irish language, 6pm
Bolger-Cunningham Irish dance, 6.30pm
Liverpool Irish Rovers social run, 6.30pm

Friday

25 cards, 9pm

Saturday

Bolger-Cunningham Irish dance, 10am
Tin whistle class, 10.30am, The Shed.

In addition, Liverpool Irish Rovers run regularly through the week. Contact them directly to join. The Centre runs Supper Céilí on the last Wednesday of every month at 8.30pm and hosts a monthly seisiún on the third Sunday of every month.
Comhaltas
Running classes regularly at the Liverpool Irish Centre, Comhaltas is your go to organisation for anything relating to Irish music. See day listing above for class times.
Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl
Irish language is on the rise again, not least because of the astounding work done at community level by groups such as Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl. Based at Liverpool Irish Centre, there are all sorts of lessons to join in with. Look at the day lists above for details of Wed/Thurs clubs. They also host Lon Gaeilge sessions at 12.30pm on the first Friday of every month at The Railway on Tithebarn Street. Guests to this are invited to bring 10 new words per session to use in conversation. Conradh Na Gaeilge Learpholl are the lead organisers of the annual Tony Birtill memorial lecture and scholarship.
Irish Community Care Merseyside
With 60-years of Irish community championing, Irish Community Care Merseyside is a first port of call for those needing to access welfares services. It undertakes year-round work to improve life-chances and build communities.
Liverpool Irish Famine Trail
Conserved and updated by Liverpool Irish Festival, the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail has an app and self-guided maps that you can take yourself through. There ar recurring walks taking place across the year – see our events page using the Events menu above, or this link.
The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool
An academic centre of excellence with a year round programme of events, talks, activities and archives to share. Sign up for their events mailings.

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Adam Ant

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Celebrated for hits like Stand and Deliver, Goody Two Shoes, Dog Eat Dog, and Antmusic, Adam Ant will take audiences on a journey through his illustrious career, performing chart-topping classics and fan favourites. A pioneer of the post-punk era, his career spans over four decades with more than 22 hit singles and multiple acclaimed albums. His dynamic stage presence and eclectic sound have cemented his status as one of Britain’s most beloved performers, earning him the BRIT Award, Q ICON Award, and two Ivor Novello Awards, among other accolades.

Becoming Led Zeppelin

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The film is told in Led Zeppelin’s own words and is the first officially sanctioned film on the group.

Cert 12A

Mary Coughlan

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Mary Coughlan is one of our greatest singers because over 40 years she has made the most grown-up, uncompromising, wholly personal yet utterly universal music on either side of the Atlantic about what goes on between men and women.

LIPA Big Band and Singers

After their hugely successful Christmas Concert, The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) Big Band and Singers are back for a celebration of jazz and swing classics.

Over 20 iconic songs from across the ages including: Frank Sinatra’s New York New York, Ella Fitzgerald’s Black Coffee, Michael Bublé’s Sway, Paul Anka’s Eye of the Tiger and jazz from Louis Jordan, and Quincy Jones.

Vinny Peculiar

Vinny Peculiar, aka singer songwriter and poet Alan Wilkes, returns to showcase his highly acclaimed 2016 album Silver Meadows [Fables from the Institution] – a concept album set in a long stay Victorian 1980s psychiatric asylum.

It’s a collection of musical character studies of lives lived and worked within the institution, combing the story telling panache of Ray Davies with the musicality of Eels.

Nick Harper

Recorded in Abbey Road Studio 2 on Earth Day 2024, Earth Day Blue is the fourteenth release from Nick Harper, the wildly talented and much-loved singer-songwriter. For Nick Harper fans and for new fans alike, it is all here in unadorned beauty, an album that witnesses a solo artist without dilution or compromise, nor studio trickery or production prop, having a great day performing in one of the most hallowed rooms on the planet.

This is a standing event.If you have any access needs, please contact the Box Office on 0151 709 3789.

The Vernon Spring

The Vernon Spring is the recording project of North London-born musician Sam Beste, whose journey traces various arcs across jazz, soul, ambient, and songwriting modes.

His debut EP and subsequent releases, including the acclaimed A Plane Over Woods and Earth, On A Good Day, established a signature sound for The Vernon Spring: ethereal piano work layered with emotive vocals and subtle electronics.