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PRESS RELEASE
CLARA SANABRAS
NEW CD: Title/LABEL/(Cat.No):
A Hum About Mine Ears
feat. Britten Sinfonia,
Chorus of Dissent,
London Voices, Nigel Kennedy,
Lisa Knapp, Harvey & The Wallbangers
conducted by Harvey Brough.
SMUDGED DISCS/(SMU 607)
UK release date:
Barbican Concert Hall, 6th March 2016
Shakespeare’s The Tempest is set in new surroundings in this performance of vocalist and
composer Clara Sanabras’s new album A Hum About Mine Ears.
More than a simple soundtrack to the play, A Hum About Mine Ears takes some of The Tempest’s
ideas and themes – loss and retrieval, exile and reunion, highlighting the universality of
Shakespeare’s last play, while also relating them to Sanabras’s own experiences as a a modern
woman and an emigrant.
While some songs lift direct passages from the play, surrounding these in Britten Sinfonia’s soaring
strings and the swirling vocals of choirs Chorus of Dissent, London Voices conducted by Harvey
Brough, others place the characters in more modern settings - Sanabras’s powerful delivery
casting Ariel as a festival-crazed free-loving spirit, or Miranda as a free and independent woman,
emancipated from Prospero.
Originally commissioned by Ruth Whitehead for her community choir Chorus of Dissent in 2013, A
Hum About Mine Ears has grown from its grass roots in Stoke Newington to the world stage. The
CD recording also features the stellar talents of violinist Nigel Kennedy, folk singer Lisa Knapp &
80’s rock band Harvey & The Wallbangers.
Journalist Mark Ellen describes it as "... an enthralling, colourful work inspired by Shakespeare and
roaming through blues, waltzes, touches of avant-garde and even echoes of European folk music."
Born in France, raised in Barcelona now a Londoner, Clara Sanabras is an exceptionally versatile
musician and performer. Her enigmatic voice and multi-instrumentalism feature in top Hollywood
soundtracks such as The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Snow White and The Huntsman, For
Greater Glory, Titanic-Live. She has worked in film, theatre an TV, appearing on screen with Al
Pacino (The Merchant of Venice), on radio with Bill Nighy, on stage with Simon Russell Beale, with
Mark Rylance at the Globe Theatre. Clara has released five albums of her own music, produced
and arranged by maverick composer and conductor Harvey Brough.
She has collaborated with top artists across disciplines, including James Newton-Howard, Jarvis
Cocker, Natacha Atlas, John Rutter, Simon Schama and some of the most prestigious orchestras
worldwide. She was chosen by James Horner, as the voice of Titanic-Live before he passed away
last June. A Hum About Mine Ears is dedicated to him.
This concert takes place as a part of Shakespeare400 – a year of celebrations in 2016 to mark the
400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and specifically the Barbican Shakespeare Weekender:
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