A River's Song: Giving Voice to the Malago
Synopsis
Composer Liam Taylor-West and the Bedminster community are giving 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 has been working 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 results will be shared in a series of public events in September and October 2025, that invite everyone to listen, take part, and experience the Malago in a new way.
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
