Performer Name: Nia Harries

Show Name: The Unwinding

Show Description

Artist and author Jackie Morris reads The Unwinding alongside music for the cello created and performed by Nia Harries, with visuals of the inspiring paintings. Jackie Morris is an author and illustrator. Her works include The Lost Words and The Lost Spells, co-created with Robert Macfarlane, and The Unwinding, an illustrated book for dreamers, published by Unbound. Her works have been translated into many languages, though as she says, images need no translation. She has illustrated and written over 60 books, and now her work focusses on both peace and protest, in the most beautiful way possible. Nia has created a musical score to go with the reading of The Unwinding, alongside visuals of the beautiful paintings. The composition is hugely varied, drawing on elements of Bach and Welsh Folksong to express the inspiration of the poetic writing and pictures, all performed by Nia on the cello with Jackie reading.

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Nia Harries, cellist, currently lives in West Wales, and from there is busy with her teaching and recital work. Current projects include creating the music for the book The Unwinding with prizewinning author/artist Jackie Morris as well as chamber music concerts with Ensemble Cymru. She had the honour of being a student of Jacqueline du Pre for many years, and also a student of Steven Isserlis whilst at the Guildhall School of Music. She has worked extensively with early music groups including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique. Also interested in contemporary music, Alun Hoddinott wrote his 3rd cello Sonata for her, as well as a piano trio. Her recital and chamber music work has included numerous concerts at the Wigmore Hall and South Bank Centre. She was a teacher on the String Training Programme at the Guildhall School of Music for many years. Compelling…thoroughly appealing. The Strad