Decca Publishing has signed British contemporary electronic musician Darren J Cunningham, professionally known as Actress.
Actress has performed sold out shows at The Barbican Centre, Tate Modern (London), Sonar (Tokyo) and Berghain (Berlin)
He has collaborated with the acclaimed London Contemporary Orchestra, world-renowned photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, leading British visual artist Eddie Peake and brands such as Acne and Cav Empt.
Actress joins a roster that includes Max Richter, Clark and Will Gregory.
Decca Publishing launched in 2016 and is led by Executive Vice President, Natasha Baldwin.
This year sees Actress complete his project Actress x Stockhausen (Sin {x} II) – commissioned by Southbank Centre and Holland Festival.
This new composition for voice, AI and electronics premieres at London’s Royal Festival Hall on May 14, and sees Actress present his reimagining of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Welt-Parliament (1995).
This one-off live performance includes recordings of members of the UK Parliament debating the subject of love in the House of Lords during the Brexit negotiations.
Joining Actress on stage are Italian pianist, and student of Stockhausen, Vanessa Benelli Mosell, the Netherlands Chamber Choir and conductor Robert Ames, co-founder of London Contemporary Orchestra.
Actress and the Young Paint AI will manipulate the parliamentary recordings live through synthesis and electronics to accompany the Choral and Piano performance, delivering a multidisciplinary performance about the transcendent property of love in a world striving to assert borders.
Actress said: “I’m excited about this new relationship. This is an important moment in my career, and I feel the team at Decca and Universal are entirely right for me to realise my ambitions as a composer.
“We have several new projects already underway, from commissioned work to new technologies I am developing.”
Danielle Wade, Creative Director of Decca Publishing, added: “We are over the moon to have Actress join us here at Decca Publishing.
“He is in an incredible fertile creative place, and it is a privilege to support and amplify his ideas – further cementing his reputation as one Britain’s most forward-thinking artists.”
Baldwin said: “This is a big win for Decca Publishing, signalling our absolute commitment to building long and illustrious careers for the most talented composers out there – of which Actress is undoubtedly one.”
Source: Music Business Worldwide