An 8 artist commission with Shrewsbury Folk Festival in 2009 to celebrate the bi-centennial of the birth of Charles Darwin.

 

The artists gathered for a week long residency at a farmhouse in Shropshire, and were asked to create new work based on the life and times of Darwin.  The resulting work was the opening concert at the new Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury, 19th March 2009.

 

Chris Wood

Karine Polwart

Jez Lowe

Emily Smith

Stu Hanna

Krista Detor

Mark Erelli

Rachel McShane

 

The artists reconvened for a final performance at the Shrewsbury Folk Festival in August 2009.

 

The theatre show was recorded and filmed, resulting in a 17 track commerical album released in September 2009 (catalogue SFFCD01).
 

There was also a very limited run DVD (100 copies) available of the whole concert that was briefly available.

 

Access to the creative retreat was given to Radio 4 over the course of the residency, resulting in a 30 minute documentary that was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

 

".....an intriguing, impressive album that results from a brave and unlikely collaboration."  The Guardian