Tuesday 13 January 2026, 7.30pm
Plus Minus Ensemble presents three nights of music, joined by special guests Maddie Ashman and Kaj Duncan David, and Danish ensemble Scenatet.
ONLY BIRDS: TUESDAY 13 JANUARY 2026
Drawing on fragments of oral history, family stories, Welsh legends, and fairytales, Maddie Ashman’s Otherworld pieces together a narrative spanning three generations of women and their relationships with land, language, and self. Usually performed solo, this version sees Ashman joined by Plus Minus, in an arrangement that intertwines echoes of synth-pop, jazz waltz, and Ennio Morricone.
Kaj Duncan David’s Only Birds explores the tension between the artificial and the real, drawing inspiration from electronic voice technologies, new age and psychedelic aesthetics, and the sonic landscapes of video games. A concert-length journey, it frames a subtle, humorous, and deeply human meditation on the boundaries of our own humanity.
PROGRAMME:
Maddie Ashman - Otherworld (lyrics by Jessa Brown)
(arrangement by Matthew Shlomowitz)
Performed by Maddie Ashman and Plus Minus
Kaj Duncan David - Only birds know how to call the sun and they do it every morning
Music by Kaj Duncan David
Lyrics by Maikon K and Kaj Duncan David
Performed by Kaj Duncan David and Scenatet
Plus Minus will also perform a set with a very special guest, to be announced soon.
Plus Minus is a UK-based group dedicated to commissioning new works alongside modern and landmark repertoire. Formed in 2003, the group focuses on performative, electroacoustic, and conceptual pieces, Plus-Minus explores experimental works, including Stockhausen’s 1963 classic, after which the ensemble is named. The ensemble was resident at University of Edinburgh from 2019 to 2024 and in recent years has performed at Whelan’s (Dublin), BBC studios, Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon), MINU festival (Copenhagen) and Klangspuren Schwaz in Austria.
Scenatet (Denmark) is one of Europe’s most innovative ensembles, merging score music, performance, and dramaturgy in interdisciplinary, site-specific formats. Founded in 2008, Scenatet challenges artistic conventions and engages audiences through bold, genre-defying works. Collaboration across disciplines is central to its practice, resulting in original and commissioned productions that shape the future of scenic music. With a strong international profile, Scenatet tours widely and collaborates with leading composers, directors, choreographers, dancers, and musicians worldwide. https://scenatet.dk/
Kaj Duncan David is a Berlin-based composer and performer of electronic music. He has released two solo albums and composed large-scale music theatre works such as the award-winning Up Close and Personal (2018) for the Münchener Biennale. Most recently, he co-created the soundtrack for Michelle Moura’s tão carne quanto pedra (2025), commissioned by the São Paulo City Ballet. https://kajduncandavid.com/
Maddie Ashman is a London-based composer and songwriter whose work explores the resonance and expressive possibilities of microtonality, with a particular focus on just intonation. Fascinated by the purity and nuance of tuning, Ashman creates genre-fluid music that pushes the boundaries of instruments and form. https://maddieashman.bandcamp.com/
