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Alongside a long-term relationship with the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London — spanning 12 years of teaching, lecturing, and cultivating creative and reflective practice — I have worked extensively in social arts throughout the UK and internationally, leading collaborative, participatory work in diverse settings and constructs. These projects centre on co-creating new music and sound with groups, drawing directly from lived experience or resonant thematic material. I love this work and feel it is a privilege to support and learn from people's creative power—a unifying force and, given the right conditions, a fundamental tool for human connection and understanding. As a practitioner in the social arts movement, I am passionate about shaping environments that use high-quality, engaging music-making as a vehicle for inclusivity, realisation, and the embracing of vulnerability as empowerment.
Partners, institutions and collaborators include The Barbican Centre (UK), The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (US), Aldeburgh Music (UK), London Symphony Orchestra (UK), Yong Siew Toh Conservatoire (Singapore), Only Connect Criminal Justice Charity (UK), ECCO International (The Gambia), Leaving Care Services (UK), Birmingham University (UK)
CURRENT ROLES
ELECTRONIC & PRODUCED MUSIC PROFESSOR
GUILDHALL SCHOOL OF MUSIC AND DRAMA - LONDON, UK
ASSISTANT LEADER: THE MESSENGERS
METAMORPHONICS - UK, ICELAND
The Messengers is a 30-piece band of strings, wind, brass, vocals and rhythm section. The band is funded by and delivered at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in collaboration with homeless charities across London. Membership is equally split between students at the school and people with lived experience of homelessness.
The Messengers have collaborated with the international record label, Luaka Bop, played Field Day Music Festival, The Jazz Café in Camden and performed for an audience of thousands at the Walthamstow Garden Party, where they were the warm up act for Toots and the Maytals.
In 2020 the band released their debut album, Bear Witness and continue to write new music and perform across London.
The band is led by Icelandic musician Sigrún Sævarsdóttir-Griffiths
Documentary about The Messenger's participant
Michael Benjamin
Directed by Karolis Andriulis
LISTEN ON BANDCAMP
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