MFF2027: Rewild: Kantos Chamber Choir x Stevens & Pound

Part of Manchester Folk Festival 2027 Rewild: to return to a more natural or wild state. Kantos Chamber Choir unites for the first time with folk-classical duo, Stevens & Pound (percussionist Delia Stevens & harmonica/melodeon player Will Pound) in this unprecedented performance. Beginning with the sounds of seeds in the hands of Delia Stevens, the music grows through soil, roots, branches and birdsong, finally releasing into the air. Scattered throughout the programme are songs from a new song cycle co-written by Stevens & Pound with composer Kerry Andrew. In the Rewild Songbook, traditional British folk songs gently unravel, branching into the genre-bending soundworld of Stevens & Pound and ‘rewilding’ the classical voice. Improvised segues guide us from piece to piece with music as ancient as Hildegard von Bingen through to Stevens & Pound’s raucous reimagining of Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending. No two performances will be the same; in this experimental musical landscape, we embrace the spontaneity of improvisation, and even perform on wild forest instruments. A musical and ecological journey, Rewild invites us to rediscover our place within nature and reawaken our own wildness.