University of Huddersfield Residencies, 2019
Heloise Tunstall-Behrens has made sound art, played in indie bands and written experimental operas about the behavioural patterns of bees. There is, frankly, no stopping her: if she wants to do something, she most likely will. Her music career runs on impulse; the results, so far, have been staggering, combining high-concept narratives with finely-tuned acoustics.
At the heart of her music, Tunstall-Behrens’ recent work is about communities – specifically how they work, what their patterns are, and what rituals they share. At hcmf// 2019, she premiered Petroglyph. The piece was inspired by a trip to Georgia spent learning local folk songs and surveying the migratory patterns of birds. A stunning, widescreen piece, it was proof of an artist who pays respect to everything that makes her music what it is, listening deeply to the people and environments she writes about.