PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial
PRS Foundation’s New Music Biennial is a critically acclaimed free festival presenting 20 pieces of new music across two festival weekends, at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture (6th – 8th June 2025) and London’s Southbank Centre (4th-6th July 2025), broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and available for download from NMC Recordings. Click the link here to learn more.
We are delighted to present the world premiere of this brand new 15 minute commission, conceptualised and created by former mjf originals and hothouse artist, Verity Watts.
Does music about peace have to be peaceful? What does peace sound like in 2025?
Drawing on her creative catalogue, Verity Watts brings together four world-class artists from contrasting experiences: musically, culturally and spiritually. In the gloriously diverse city of Bradford, where the first Peace Studies department was inaugurated and now houses the Peace Museum, ‘P E A C E’ finds musical commonality in the cracks and creates something beautiful by joining together contrasts. Featuring electronic sounds, rap, scratching, spoken word, bassline improvisation and fused with historic archive audio samples, mjf presents a radical and ambitious commission.
The collaborators will include world champion turntablist DJ Woody; legendary jazz bassist Dave Kane; Bradford-born singer, rapper and songwriter Kenzo Jae; poet and spoken word artist Scout Tzofiya Bolton and Archive Producer Anna Rhodes who will curate audio samples from Bradford, that feature in the music.
Thank you to the Peace Museum, University of Bradford’s Peace Studies Department and Bradford City Museum for their generous support.
Verity Watts (Creative Director)
Leeds-based Verity Watts is a uniquely creative composer, sound artist & audio producer connecting audiences with stories drawing on extensive experience across the radio industry (BBC Radio Leeds, BBC6Music, Chapel FM, Rock Radio). Recent commissions include Leeds 2023 ‘Sonic Stops’ & ‘How to Build a Spaceship’; mjf originals 2024, ‘Seance’ featuring Testament. Verity specialises in composing with wildcard collaborators, whilst audiences submit audio samples influencing the creative process.
2 Times World Champion, DJ Woody is one of the UK’s most influential scratch DJ’s. Known for his innovations, he helped design the world’s first ever musical turntable instrument (Vestax Controller One) and is famed as a prolific pioneer of new scratch techniques. His musical approach to the turntable has led to recordings for labels including NinjaTunes, BBE, Universal, and Tokyo Dawn with artists as diverse as UK rap legends Blade and Gunshot to DJ Yoda and Jamie Cullum.
Dave Kane is a self taught virtuoso of the double bass and has performed and recorded internationally at many established festivals. Kane’s current main compositional musical output is producing electronic music under the moniker REX REBO. This work is exploring experimental and adventurous dance music created using hardware synths and Ableton Live. The aim of the project is to work within short musical forms and pop music structures, but then to fill those structures with more abstract or experimental sounds, although still maintaining an aesthetic of mainstream left field electronic music.
Kenzo Jae is the alias of the Bradford born singer, rapper and songwriter. Raised in a multiethnic family, Kenzo concocts a unique blend of old school hip hop with alternative indie and punk influences. His lyrcism is something to be noted, as he is not shy to boast his point of view of the world and his view of himself. This leads to more melancholic tracks like ‘carnival’ but also energetic ska-infused rap songs like ‘marigolda’. Kenzo has self-described his music as the ‘Tales of an Arrogant Samaritan’.
Scout Tzoyfiya Bolton (Poetry and Spoken Word)
Scout Tzofiya Bolton is a poet, radio broadcaster, and Mad activist. She has had her work published in both national and international media. Scout has published four full collections of poetry, and her latest book, ‘The Mad Art of Doing Time’ is available through Broken Sleep Books. Scout likes to write about art, the human experience, existentialism and madness, and likes to use her own struggles with schizoaffective disorder as a lens through which she can dismantle her own philosophies, faith, and self-awareness.
Anna Rhodes (Archive Curation)
Anna is a heritage and interpretation specialist with a background in museums. She’s spent the last 17 years working in museums across the north west including the Wordsworth Trust, Macclesfield Museums, Science and Industry Museum and Buxton Museum and Art Gallery. Her freelance work has included working with communities to collect and curate stories about Buxton Opera House and being the research and interpretation lead for visitor experience at Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust.
Performances
Verity Watts’ Previous Work
Séance
During mjf 2024, we commissioned Verity to create Séance: a moving musical performance, transforming The Deaf Institute venue into a space for connection.
Click the link here to learn more.
