The Experimental Sound Society New Music Norwich

Step into the sonic unknown with The Experimental Sound Society: New Music Norwich - a bold, immersive series pushing the boundaries of electroacoustic and experimental music. 

Funded by Arts Council England, in conjunction with Norwich Puppet Theatre this ongoing series of gigs curates radical soundscapes, avant-garde performances and genre-defying collaborations, inviting audiences to experience music at its most innovative and thought-provoking. 

Whether you’re a devotee of the unconventional or a curious newcomer, prepare to be challenged, inspired, and transported by artists redefining what music can be. 

Join us as we celebrate the cutting edge of contemporary sound in one of Norwich’s most unique and inspiring venues.

Event Programme -

17th July 2026 

Partial Wave Child + Daniel Sonabend

Partial Wave Child

Collaborative project by Geoixos and Jockel Liess
Instrument: Augmented flute
Soundworld: Electroacoustic - flute and live electronics
Structure: Improvised composition
Speaker arrangement: stereo or quadraphonic

Partial Wave Child is a collaboration by composer Geoixos and audiovisual artist and composer Jockel Liess. It is an electroacoustic live improvised performance project. For their first 2 works they have developed the augmented flute; a purpose-built software environment that exits in a close symbiotic relationship with the physical instrument. Partial Wave Childs' compositions are immersive sonic environments, joining improvised acoustic playing with sampled and live-processed sound into seamless tapestries. Since their conception in 2023 Partial Wave Child have performed their works at the Center for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Spirit of Gravity in Brighton as well as various gigs in London including The London Group Open25 and the Hundred Years Gallery.

Stillness Moving Mountain
Stillness Moving Mountain is Partial Wave Child’s second improvised composition. Featuring a new incarnation of the augmented flute, the symbiosis of the acoustic instrument and a purpose built digital software environment. It is a work that explores the tension that exists within Stillness. Where microtonal and micro-textural changes that occur from the variety of extended flute technics: of air sounds, whisper-tones, harmonics, vocalisations and multi-phonics; are drawn out and gently manipulated by the digital sampler. This reductionism in form allows for an exploration of the imperfection of sound. Where the subtlest of gestures in acoustic delivery are digitally expanded upon allowing them to exist and grow within their own right. Where the smallest microtonal shift can develop into new harmonic landscapes. And where seemingly static pulses break apart and reform into a terrain of ever-changing Movement and fluidity. A minute change creates friction, friction builds tension, tension amplifies the smallest of gesture into a shining monolith within the flow of music. Nothing goes unnoticed, everything stands out.

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Above Fire Below the Lake
Above Fire Below the Lake by Partial Wave Child is an improvised electroacoustic live performance for augmented flute. The performance explores a wide variety of flute techniques ranging from breath tones to high pitch partials. It utilises a purpose-built software environment to extend the capabilities of the acoustic instrument by blending them with live-processed, manipulated, and sampled electronic textures. Guided by a score outlining 12 modal areas, this piece is an indeterminate journey through a dynamic musical terrain, weaving rhythms and tonalities fluidly into an ever-evolving soundscape. Take a moment to exist alongside this piece of performance art that fuses musical concepts in seeming opposition, transforming the space into an immersive sonic environment of unpredictable beauty and tension. A wondrously meditative experience that last for around 35 minutes where audiences are encouraged to slip into a trance,
exporting them into a new sensory realm, both foreign and yet extraordinarily intimate. A work that altered the edges of perception and leaves listeners staring over the corners of reality.

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Daniel Sonabend

Daniel Sonabend is a London-based composer, producer and sound artist. With a distinctive sound that blends his jazz background with contemporary composition and experimental music production, his music can be heard in a wide range of works, spanning across film, TV, album releases and installation art.

Daniel’s recent film and TV credits include scoring the Netflix Original feature film Le Masque (Passion Pictures), the 3-part mini-series Cursed Gold (BBC Studios, Disney) and BBC’s documentary series Cold Case Investigations: Solving Britain’s Sex Crimes. Other recent work includes co-scoring the award-winning documentary feature film Piano to Zanskar (alongside Werner Herzog’s composer Ernst Reijseger), writing additional music for Earthsounds (Apple TV+, narrated by Tim Hiddleston) and The Louis Theroux Interviews (BBC2) as well as providing arrangements for the BAFTA-nominated score of BBC’s mini-series House of Maxwell.

As a collaborator, Daniel has worked on numerous screen projects including Napoleon (dir. Ridley Scott), Loki (Marvel Studios), Crime 101 (Amazon), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+), The Crown (Season 6), Gun No. 6 (2019 BAFTA winner for Best Single Documentary), Wildcat (2023 Emmy nominated score, Amazon Studios) and many more. In addition to his long-form work, Daniel has worked on award-winning short films and brand campaigns, including John Lewis’ Moz the Monster (dir. Michel Gondry), featuring the Beatles’ Golden Slumbers, performed by the band Elbow.

Drawing from his Iraqi, British and Jewish heritages, Daniel grew up in the jazz scene, quickly becoming a sought after arranger, music producer and instrumentalist. Specialising on bass and piano and often performing on his own compositions, he proceeded to study at the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and at University of Westminster under acclaimed composer Shirley Thompson OBE and avant-garde musician Steve Beresford, where he quickly became known for his unique approach to sound design, his attention to detail with orchestration and texture, and his emotive and forward-thinking works.

Alongside his film and TV work, Daniel has composed music and sound art for award-winning installations, often centred around themes of spirituality, scent and nature. His work has been presented worldwide, including at the Museum of Future in Dubai, Palais de Tokyo, the Grand Museum of Perfume in Paris, The Royal Academy of Arts in London, De Electriciteitsfabriek at The Hague and The Louvre in Abu Dhabi to name a few. When not working on scores, Daniel produces, performs and collaborates with other artists, including Eliza Shaddad with whom he created the Arab/Jewish experimental electronic-jazz duo Sandscape, with their debut album Phenomenology to be released in June 2026.

4th September 2026 - To Be Announced

16th October 2026

The Last Toadsmen of the East (John Bowers and Liam Wells) + support

John Bowers (UK) works with modular synthesisers, home-brew electronics, feedback systems, self-made software, field recordings, esoteric sensor systems, experimental film, and spoken text. He often combines performance with walking and the investigation of selected sites to research an imagined discipline he calls ‘mythogeosonics’. He has performed at festivals including the Venice Biennale, Experimental Intermedia New York,Transmediale/CTM Vorspiel Berlin, Piksel Bergen, Electropixel Nantes, BEAM London, Faster Than Sound Aldeburgh and Spill Ipswich, and toured with the Rambert Dance Company performing David Tudor’s music to Merce Cunningham’s Rainforest. He contributed to the design of The Prayer Companion - a piece exhibited twice at the Museum Of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and acquired for their permanent collection

20th November 2026

Adam Weikert + Phil Archer

Adam Weikert is a Contemporary Musician, Producer, and Artist from Oxfordshire, residing in Leicester, England.With over 60 million streams across his solo projects, various pseudonyms, and the acclaimed post-rock group "Her Name is Calla", his work spans a vast sonic landscape—from folk and classical to cutting-edge electronic. An award-winning multi-instrumentalist, Weikert explores the intersection of digital performance and traditional acoustic pedigree. His live work centres on Dionysian dynamics, utilising asynchronous looping, randomised field recordings, and evolving performance environments to scaffold moments of happenstance amoungst traditional practice.In the studio, his work delves into themes of identity, historical figures, science, and folklore, informed by unique production palettes developed over decades of experience. His recent explorations have focused particularly on quadraphonic improvisation and the expressive potential of MPE controllers.

Phil Archer's main areas of interest are circuit-bending and hardware hacking, the creation of electro-mechanical musical instruments and interfaces, and the use of these in live performance situations.Past works have involved modified CD players, electronic music boxes, and the live circuit-bending of a mains-powered Yamaha keyboard by dripping water onto the circuit-board. His music has been played and broadcast around the world, and he has performed with artists ranging from Nic Collins to Dat Politics.Phil also played guitar in the Anglo-Japanese electro punk-pop band Hyper Kinako, makes solo recordings, and is a member of Transept.

18th December 2026 - 

Navigator + support

5th February 2027 - 

Ingrid Plum + support

Ingrid Plum (UK/DK) is a singer and sound artist who uses their voice with field recordings, percussion and electronics. Described by The Guardian as “gorgeously atmospheric vocal techniques woven around field recordings & electronics” they have performed and exhibited internationally since 2002, creating work that combines Folk Music, Contemporary Classical Music and Sound Art. Incorporating their research into folk traditions withstudying directly with Meredith Monk, their recent performances have been described as “succinct and nourishing... a luxuriant space between almost excessive precision and looser improvisation" by The Wire. Their work has been played by Late Junction on BBC Radio 3, where they were also invited to perform in session at Maida Vale Studios. Plum took part in Radio 4’s New Weird Britain and was commissioned to compose and perform a new work for International Womens Day 2019 for The Verb on BBC Radio 3. Their self-soothing sculpture, sound and scenes series of compositions ‘Dulme’ were featured on Radio 3’s Unclassified. Their latest album ‘Corporeality’ was commissioned by Ryoanji Records and the Lily Greenham Archive.

12th March 2027 - To Be Announced

16th April 2027 - 

Kar Pouzi + support

Further Information

Seating is unreserved

Doors: 7pm

Start: 8pm

There is a fully stocked bar at the venue serving drinks and snacks.

Additional Access

All performances have unreserved seating. Please note that there is a flight of stairs to get into the auditorium. If you require the front accessible row or step-free access, please book Accessible Tickets.

Tickets

General Admission - £10.00

Student Ticket - £5.00 (please show your student card at the door)

Carer Ticket - £8.00