Sid Peacock

Sid Peacock is one of the most exciting composers in that difficult-to-define area between jazz, contemporary music and improv. The main vehicle for his work is his self-formed Surge Orchestra, which offers a truly original take on Big Band Jazz. As Associate Artist at mac Birmingham, 2014 will see Sid and Surge perform the culmination of a year’s work with alongside a 10 piece string orchestra.

A firm believer in the power of music to transform lives Sid works regularly as a producer and educator with organisations such as Youth Music, mac birmingham and Moving on Music, Belfast. His work focuses mainly on inner city schools and marginalised communities. In addition, Sid is also artistic director for Celebrating Sanctuary Birmingham, an organisation that runs a World Music festival and assists local artists from refugee backgrounds in finding performance opportunities and developing their professional practice.

Sid had this to say about his forthcoming residency in Chongqing:

“Like many others I am in awe of the rise of China over the past two decades. There is so much to learn from both the old and new aspects of its culture and in understanding how that can influence my own artistic vision.
“The opportunity to visit Chongqing, the fastest growing megalopolis on earth, and explore music making with people from all walks of life is just incredible. Whilst there I hope to make long lasting artistic friendships and to share some of the creative musical eccentricity that we excel in and value here in our islands.”

To find out more about Sid you can follow him on Twitter and visit his website.