Year 2: September 2019 - March 2020

A second year of ASA launches to support female and female identifying practitioners in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to develop their careers, skills and practice in sound-based creative activities.

ASA was initially piloted in 2018, responding to the under-representation of women in the fields of music, sound and associated technologies. The project attracted over 250 applications and significant attention on social media, demonstrating a strong demand and need for a project of this type.

The programme aims to:

• Support the development of new and existing skills in creative practice and entrepreneurship
• Offer participants the space to explore and plan their career progression
• Develop a creative community and networks to support peer learning and collaboration
• Strengthen the profile of women working within the sector, and open up new opportunities

In 2019, ASA will again work with 50 women, drawn from a broad spectrum of music and sound practice, from composers and musicians to audio engineers, sound artists and designers. The participants will take part in a seven-month programme that includes masterclasses and workshops led by UK and Brazilian professionals covering topics such as: music and sound production, audio storytelling, career planning, developing a personal brand, studio and field recording, and sound engineering. The workshops are designed to support the development of skills and enable the participants to explore new career options and pathways.

Throughout the programme the participants will receive creative mentorship and access to Oi Futuro’s Labsonica, a creative studio and co-working space which will act as a hub for the ASA community.

The second edition of the programme will take place between September 2019 and March 2020 and also reach beyond Rio de Janeiro, with some additional activities planned in São Paulo and Recife.

The sound and music artists and professionals taking part in ASA this year are:

Setting the Scene – 14 & 15 September 2019

Anna Sulley (UK)
Supervising Sound Editor Designer & Foley Mixer, Anna has worked on a wide variety of projects; including animation, documentary, feature and installations. Past projects include the Nativity franchise, Dave McLean’s Luna and a number of TV dramas including Shameless and Snatch. Recent projects include the Russian art project Dau, kids series Waffle and black comedy A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life.

Vivian Cacuri (BRA)
Vivian uses sound as a vehicle to experiment with sensory perception around issues related to history and social conditioning. Through objects, installations, and performances, her pieces create situations that disorient everyday experiences and, by extension, disrupt meanings and narratives seemingly as ingrained as the cognitive structure itself. Vivian has developed projects in many cities in Brazil and abroad, including the Amazon, Accra, Detroit, Helsinki, Vienna, Veneza, Kiev, Valparaíso, New Mexico, South India and more. During her career she has collaborated with several musicians such as Arto Lindsay (USA/BR), Gilberto Gil (BR), Fausto Fawcett (BR), Wanlov (Ghana) and has recently released her first musical project (Homa). Her sound works and compositions have been broadcasted in radio stations such as Resonance FM (London), Kunstradio (Vienna) and Rádio Mirabilis (Rio de Janeiro).

Lucy Harrison (UK)
Lucy is a composer and sound designer specialising in interactive sound. She focuses on the use of new technology and electronics and through this she creates immersive soundscapes, interactive sound installations and sound and music for theatre. Recent work has included sound and music for an immersive art event in partnership with the National Trust, a motion sensitive sound installation for Girlguiding at Alexandra Palace, an interactive library as part of a theatre production in Clapham and an Interactive blanket fort in East London. Lucy has a PhD in composition from Royal Holloway, University of London, where she investigated control, collaboration and audience engagement in interactive sound installations. She is also a lecturer on the Production and Games Academy courses at ACM (Academy for Contemporary Music) in London and Guildford where she teaches sound design, interactive audio and performance and technology.

Cookie Pryce (UK)
Cookie is a former rap artist, and member of the formidable Hip Hop group The Cookie Crew, who were a prominent and respected fixture on the UK Hip Hop scene. She’s had a full and extensive career working within the creative industries both as an artist and a music industry professional, including 20 years as an executive working within Music Marketing, Promotion, PR and Digital. As a creative consultant she’s also worked for several UK and US entertainment companies, specialising in media relations, events and communications. Cookie has worked for companies such as Universal Music, Atlantic Records, Koch Entertainment, The 02 Arena, Timezone International NYC and is currently a Senior Label Manager at The Orchard, UK.

Letrux (BRA)
From one side to the other of the Atlantic, Letrux, alter-ego of Letícia Novaes, has stirred Brazilian independent music with her solo debut Letrux em Noite de Climão (2017). With a new identity, Letrux gained new prominence in the Brazilian music scene after her album was considered one of the best albums of 2017 by the media and awarded by the Multishow Awards.

Beatrice Dillon (UK)
London’s Beatrice Dillon is a producer, artist and NTS DJ with acclaimed solo releases, remixes and collaborations across Hessle Audio, The Trilogy Tapes, PAN, Boomkat Editions, Timedance and Where To Now?. Recent performances include MUTEK Montreal, Dekmantel, Documenta Athens, Masåfåt Cairo, Moscow Save, Borealis Norway and Barbican Centre, London. She has collaborated with award-winning visual artists at ICA, Tate, Lisson Gallery, Southbank Centre, Centre d’Art Contemporain Geneva, Nasher Sculpture Dallas and Mona Tasmania amongst others. Dillon was the recipient of Wysing Arts Centre’s artist residency in 2016 and is a resident at Somerset House Studios, London.

Year 1: October 2018 - March 2019

Following a competitive selection process during which 246 applications were received, 50 participants living in or around Rio have been chosen to take part in the programme. They received training in audio engineering and/or music and sound production over the course of 6 months.

The six month pilot phase kicked off with a three-day event in Rio, 26-28 October 2018. Four leading sound artists and practitioners from the UK traveled  to Brazil to deliver a talk and workshop for the participants: Ain Bailey, Cathy Fitzgerald, Hannah Catherine Jones and Vanesa Lorena Tate. In the months following the event (November-March) the UK experts each mentored four Brazilian Mentors, who, in turn, mentored the ASA participants as they developed and produced new works, with technical support and access to the recently launched Labsonica facilities at Oi Futuro - an arts and culture organisation working across Brazil to deliver education and creative/professional development programmes, including initiatives aimed at emerging artists/practitioners from disadvantaged communities.

The pilot phase of ASA concluded in March 2019 with an event where the 50 participants presented ideas and work developed through the programme to an audience of creative community and industry guests from Brazil.

About the partners:

British Council contributes to the development of Brazilian creative industries, exchanging and showcasing quality Brazilian and UK artistic content and providing skills training.

Oi Futuro is Oi corporation’s social responsibility institute. Their mission is to develop and support ideas capable of building a better future working across arts and culture, social enterprise and education. Labsonica is a new space recently launched at Oi Futuro, which aims to become a laboratory that converges art, innovation and technology through shared ideas. It focuses on research, prototype, and creation in the music and sound field.

Lighthouse is a Brighton-based arts charity specialising in connecting new developments in art, technology, science and society. They provide an accessible programme of training, talks, exhibitions, commissions and education initiatives.