Jasmin Kent Rodgman: The Composers’ Fund
“One of the most exciting voices of a new generation”, British-Malaysian composer Jasmin Kent Rodgman’s music exists between contemporary classical, experimental, electronic music and sound art.
Her music has been heard in places from Queen Elizabeth Hall, Roundhouse, Wigmore Hall to London Fashion Week; in scores for award-winning VR and films at festivals such as Venice Film Festival, SXSW and Sundance; and in theatres including Olivier Award-winning play ‘Paradise Now!’ (Bush Theatre), ‘Julius Caesar’ (RSC) and ‘Titus Andronicus’ (Shakespeare’s Globe).
An interdisciplinary artist and collaborator across art-forms, Jasmin often constructs worlds for her music to be experienced in. Highlights include ‘what the dog said to the harvest’ (Southbank Centre x Shubbak Festival), site-specific performance ‘TRIPTYCH’ (Shoreditch Town Hall & Kakilang), Instagram opera ‘nineteen ways of looking’ (Kakilang & esea contemporary gallery) and short film ‘send back the echo’ (United Strings of Europe, featured on BBC Arts).
Activism is central to Jasmin’s work. In 2023, she was featured as one of 11 names for Southbank Centre’s Planet Summer, alongside Greta Thunberg, artists Cornelia Parker, Richard Mosse and writer Mikaela Loach. She creates powerful sonic identities that explore otherness and connectivity, challenging ideas centred around the female body, race and cultural heritage.
How to fight and how to stop fighting:
‘How to fight and how to stop fighting’ explores the forces of conflict and pacifism, two sides of a coin that have held humanity together since the beginning of time.
Taking the ancient text ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu and twentieth-century writing ‘The Art of Peace’ by Morihei Ueshiba, founder of the Japanese martial art of Aikido, as inspiration, ‘How to fight and how to stop fighting’ seeks to answer the question of what forces must be balanced to maintain human connection.
The work draws inspiration from the practices of deep listening, ambient music, Western and Chinese Traditional Opera and theatre, folksong and plainchant vocal styles. Central to the piece is the participation of a community chorus whose material will be both scored and devised/improvised. ‘How to fight and how to stop fighting’ investigates the space between opera and performance art.
Developed in collaboration with writer Jude Christian and director Elayce Ismail, supported by Opera North.