Hayden Thorpe brings Ness to life, transforming Robert Macfarlane’s words into a spellbinding musical experience featuring the ethereal voices of London’s SYRINX contemporary choir.

Through resplendent choral arrangements set to innovative songs, Ness reimagines the atmospheric landscapes of Orford Ness – once a weapons development site, now a rewilded place of paradox. Inspired by Robert Macfarlane and illustrator Stanley Donwood’s Ness, Thorpe crafted the music by redacting words from the book to uncover hidden songs.

With haunting melodies, the echoes of history meet the forces of nature, brought to life in this one-of-a-kind performance. Following last year’s sold out run of shows on the Ness itself, Thorpe returns to Orford for this final incarnation of the much celebrated album.

SYRINX is a new contemporary choral project based in South London. The choir performs a wide range of music: medieval chants, folk tunes from far and wide, pop bangers, environmental protest songs,new choral compositions, urban shanties and Scandinavian herding calls. The choir’s name SYRINX comes from the vocal organ of birds. In Greek mythology, Syrinx was a beautiful nymph who metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then made his pipes. Claude Debussy, Benjamin Britten and several other composers have written works inspired by the character Syrinx, and that beautiful bird-like sound.

Hayden Thorpe creator, performer
SYRINX Choir