Delia Derbyshire Day is back, on Monday 23rd November, with a special online edition of Delia-inspired delights. The day was set up to advance the art and education of electronic music, via the iconic electronic music pioneer.
Artwork by Andrea Pazos
DD Day was founded and is run by Caro C, the Manchester based electronic musician, composer and studio engineer, and 23rd November is a memorable date.
Back in 1963, it was the date that Delia’s revolutionary realisation of Ron Grainer’s Dr Who theme first beamed into British living rooms.
This year DD Day celebrates online, with interviews, including with Cosey Fanni Tutti, a film premiere, and you can also contribute to a special survey.
Caro C says:
We are pleased to be able to offer a smorgasbord of Delia-n content – written, video and audio – with some leading names in music and art today. Delia consistently inspires, so we hope you will join us to honour and amplify this key figure in the development of electronic music in the UK and exciting new art she has inspired.
Highlights include:
• An exclusive interview with composer Segun Akinola about reimagining the Doctor Who theme tune
• A video interview with actor/director Caroline Catz and composer Cosey Fanni Tutti about making the feature “Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes” which premieres at BFI London Film Festival 2020
• Online premiere of “In the Footsteps (of Delia Derbyshire & Li Yuan-Chia)” - a short experimental film by Madelon Hooykaas, video art pioneer who worked with Delia Derbyshire in the 1970s/80s); plus a recorded Q&A with Madelon & Caro C, who Madelon invited to compose the soundtrack, of piano, prepared piano, voice and electronics.
• A review of DD Day’s educational work with guest blogs and video content.
• The launch of a survey exploring how DD Day can serve the public during the pandemic.
You can also find the inspiring Deliaphonica game on the website and play music!
Madelon Hooykaas, the world-renowned artist/film maker, who knew Delia, says:
During these challenging times it is important that art is being experienced. I am very happy that “In The Footsteps” will be shown online in the context of DD Day 2020, so that people will be inspired by these special moving images and sounds.
DD Day is making sure that Delia is recognised as a key figure in development of electronic music – a field with still only 10% representation of women (female:pressure FACTS 2019). The team feels that visibility, recognition and empowering opportunities for women identifying artists is still important.
Born in Coventry, Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001) was one of the pioneering figures in the development of electronic music in Britain. She worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1962 to 1973 producing a remarkable, evocative and distinctive body of work that explored, as she termed it, ‘psycho-acoustics’. She is still best remembered for her extraordinary realisation of Ron Grainer’s theme tune for Doctor Who (1963) - a piece of music that would become an iconic part of the soundscape of British popular culture. She also produced a wide variety of electronic music and sound design for TV, radio, film and theatre.
Delia Derbyshire Day is a Manchester-based developing organisation honouring the work of Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001). DD Day produces original arts heritage events, commissions new art and offers electronic music education centred around the Delia Derbyshire Archive which is held at the John Ryland Library in Manchester, UK.
Trailer for - “Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes”