A River's Song: Giving Voice to the Malago
Synopsis
Composer Liam Taylor-West and the Bedminster community have given voice to the hidden river through music and light
The River Malago runs quietly beneath the streets of Bedminster — often overlooked yet deeply rooted in the area’s history and ecology. From July to October 2025, composer Liam Taylor-West worked with the local community to bring the Malago to life in sound.
A River’s Song is a collaborative composition celebrating the stories, rhythms, and connections of the river. Created and performed with the people who live along its course, the piece brings together local singers, music-makers, and residents with a deep connection to the Malago.
From cello and violin to clarinet, flute, piano, guitars, bass, percussion, voices, choir, and spoken word, the river’s sounds are reimagined through a rich and varied ensemble. The piece focuses on several aspects of the river’s existence, from its resilience to poor treatment and urban development, to the nature that can be found along its banks and people’s memories of life by the water.
The music was recorded primarily at Philip Street Chapel in Bedminster and on location alongside the River Malago, with extra recording happening at Space In Time Studio, Windmill Hill City Farm, BBC Bristol, and people’s homes.
You are invited to listen to the full River Walk Audio experience here.
You are invited to watch the Project Documentary Film here.
LISTEN TO AUDIO EXPERIENCE
Instructions: Change your location along the River Malago to hear different parts of the music:
– If you are near the river, on your phone, the website will follow your GPS location
– If you are away from the river, you can click points on the screen to change location
– If you are on a computer, you can type numbers 1-9 to focus on those tracks. (type number ‘1’ to start the audio).
TRACK LIST
1. BRUSHING
(Cleaning earth from words carved into Deborah Jones’ Malago Spring Artwork)
2. THE WONDERING
words and music by Teri Bramah
3. DARK AND LIGHT
words by Jayne Connell / music by John Joseph
4. I BELONG TO THE SEA
words and music by Gerry Rowe
5. WHERE THE MALAGO GOES
words and music by Helen Adshead / verse 3 words by Finbar Cullen
6 BUDDLEIA
words and music by William Cullum “The Town Gardens”
7. MOONLIGHT ON THE MALAGO / PATSY ALEXANDER’S
composed by Hiroko Uno Thompson / arranged by Russ Davidson
8. AS THE RIVER PULLS AWAY
words and music by Onora Alexander
9. LINE OF CONNECTION
(The Malago flowing into the Interceptor at Manor Woods Valley)
Description
Creative Team:
Liam Taylor-West – Project Lead and Music Arranger
Kate Fletcher – Choir Lead and Choir Arranger
Patrick Phillips – Recording Engineer and Producer
Recorded Musicians:
Helen Adshead (Vocals), Onora Alexander (Vocals, Piano), Patrick Alexander (Fiddle), James Anderson (Double Bass), Ramona Andrews (Clarinet), Sarah Bradley (Violin), Teri Bramah (Vocals, Guitar), Edie Church (Cello), Jayne Connell (Spoken Word), William Cullum (Vocals, Guitar), Russ Davidson (Bouzouki), Kate Fletcher (Vocals, Violin), Erik Geelhoed (Harmonica), Foxy Hoohargh (Percussion), Emily Jones (Vocals, Guitar), John Joseph (Guitar, Piano), Anthony Nasce (Synthesizer), Sophia Richards (Flute), Gerry Rowe (Vocals, Guitar), Sophie Scott (Cello), Anja Quinn (Vocals, Percussion), Hiroko Uno Thompson (Concertina)
Recorded Choir:
Helen Adshead, Onora Alexander, Patrick Alexander, James Anderson, Teri Bramah, Jayne Connell, Mark Connell, Jan Cowley, Finbar Cullen, Tim Cunion, Russ Davidson, Carmella Fletcher, Pete Fletcher, Tessa Fitzjohn, Foxy Hoohargh, Hilary Irvine, Ali Johnson, Andrea Jonat, John Joseph, Debbie Loosley, Rachel Peatfield, Sophie Scott, Lynn Templar, Hiroko Uno Thompson, Katie Winter, Deb Rowan Wright
Sound Recordists:
Alice Kirk – River Malago on Location
Dan Davies – Farm Adventurers at Windmill Hill City Farm
Becky Ripley – Jayne Connell at BBC Bristol
Additional credits:
Listening Exhibition Light Installation created by Zoe Broome and Liam Taylor-West
Project Documentary Film by Angel Sherrard and Poppy Moore of Lensfolk Media Photographs and additional footage by Natalia Kida and Sam Church
Archive of Public Events
Public Recording Session
Saturday 27 September, 2–4pm
Philip Street Chapel, Philip St., Bedminster, Bristol, BS3 4EA
Experience the first full performance of A River’s Song. The event includes audience participation: a mass choir (no experience necessary) will help create unique ‘river wash’ sound effects that will feature in the final recording.
Listening Exhibition
Thursday 2 and Friday 3 October, 5–8pm
Saturday 4 October, 12–6pm
Philip Street Chapel, Bedminster
Step inside an immersive installation of light and sound, where Taylor-West’s finished composition is presented alongside a new light artwork, created in collaboration with Bristol-based artist Zoe Broome.
Audio Walk Experience
Launches Saturday 4 – Sunday 5 October at ‘Art on the Hill’ arts trail
Explore Bedminster’s hidden river on an immersive audio walk, listening to A River’s Song while tracing the Malago’s presence through the city.
Further Reading:
A River’s Song is the culmination of an eight-month artist residency, commissioned to explore the green and blue spaces that flow through and around Bedminster Green. Commissioned by Ginkgo Projects and funded by Watkin Jones plc, with support from Bristol City Council, the project connects people with their river and with each other — making its unseen currents resonate through music.
Liam Taylor-West is a composer and audiovisual artist whose works often combine live musicians with new technology, exploring colour, rhythm, light, and movement. His practice embraces audience interaction and chance events, creating artworks that feel alive and responsive.
In 2018, Liam received the Ivors Composer Award in the Community or Educational Project category for The Umbrella, performed by the National Open Youth Orchestra. He holds a doctorate in composition from the Royal College of Music, London, and has worked with leading ensembles including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra. He is a Resident at Watershed’s Pervasive Media Studio in Bristol.
Ginkgo Projects is an independent public art and cultural producer, creating opportunities for artists and designers to work closely with clients and communities to build and reveal places that have a sense of narrative, distinctiveness and identity.
www.ginkgoprojects.co.uk
