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A sonorous performance by Exaudi brings to life Eugene Birman's Requiem for Peace, Russia: Today.

Ensemble 7Bridges, directed by Richard Rijnvos, Head of Composition at Durham University, and conducted by James Weeks, brings together some of the North East’s specialist professional performers of contemporary music, supported by Durham University, with the aim of contributing to the development of new music in the North East.

There was a strong focus on Danish composers at this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival; works by the young and audacious Simon Steen-Andersen featured in several concerts, whilst the Arditti Quartet’s performance of Hans Abrahamsen’s Fourth Quartet proved to be the highlight of the opening weekend.

Almost as remarkable as John Cage's actual music is how varied it is. Nothing obvious connects The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs, a beautifully simple four-note piece for soprano and piano lid, to Four Solos for voice, a late work in which four singers independently do a series of strange things at the same time.

In a pre-performance discussion, the vocal ensemble Exaudi's director James Weeks promised us that they were not just going to stand in a line for their Kings Place performance. And they were true to his word; the singers performed from all parts of the intimate Hall Two and created an immersive, involved listening experience.