Press and Media

Latest Press Release - January 2020

Downloads

Photos

Footage

Audio

Links

Find us on Twitter

Contact Us

Press release

 

Notes to editors

Biographies

Professor Julian Allwood, The University of Cambridge, Project Creator

Professor Julian Allwood FREng is Professor of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Cambridge. He is well known in the international engineering community and holds several patents for novel processes. He was the Chairman if the ICTP 2017 conference, the opening ceremony of which was a spectacular theatrical performance presented by Sir Tony Robinson and aimed at inspiring the next generation of metal-formers. This performance led to the legacy film available at www.ictp2017.org. His research output and link to the 88 Pianists project can be seen at www.uselessgroup.org.

Martin Riley, Composor

Martin Riley is a composer with a career spanning several musical genres. This has ranged from composing for the Moscow Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras to playing keyboards with Roger Daltrey and Alice Cooper.

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principle of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (part of Birmingham City University)

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber is the Principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Widely regarded as one of the finest musicians of his generation and described by Strad magazine as ‘the doyen of British cellists’, Julian has enjoyed one of the most creative and successful careers in classical music today.

 

Quotes

Professor Julian Allwood, The University of Cambridge, Project Creator

“I’m so proud of the collaboration that led to this World Record.  Watching 88 children performing on stage, with one of the key engineering team behind each group of 4 to support them, and knowing the stories behind each of the amazing mechanisms, the performance was for me a summary of a year’s joyful teamwork.  I’m really captivated by the opportunity that this project has revealed to explore the space for expansive imagination between the creative arts and technology. All of our work on Climate Change tells us that we urgently need a second Renaissance: there aren’t any technologies to take the problem away, and our current politics and economics doesn’t allow enough change.  We need to re-imagine how we live, while using much less energy, and the children we’ve worked with have shown us just how rich our imaginations could be, if only we remembered how to use them.

Professor Julian Lloyd Webber, Principle of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (part of Birmingham City University)

“This was a truly fantastic collaboration between engineering and music! The imagination of the children involved was astonishing and has to be seen to be believed. Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is so proud to have collaborated with ten UK Universities on this world record-breaking project which yet again proves music’s power to inspire children.”

 

Materials and Media

https://tinyurl.com/88p-all-media
 

Images

https://tinyurl.com/88p-images 

Footage
https://tinyurl.com/88p-footage

Audio

https://tinyurl.com/88p-audio

Contact

Fran Sergent / fvos2@cam.ac.uk / 07908638299

Website

www.88pianists.com

Twitter

@88Pianists