About Me.

I took up saxophone after leaving school and learnt by playing along with records until falling upon the (greatly missed) Lewisham Academy of Music in Deptford. The Academy gave me the chance to try lots of instruments and play in many different ensembles, and gave me the confidence to believe that I could, perhaps, somehow, be a musician. 

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I am interested in all types of music from the melodious to the utterly discordant, from the experimental to the beautifully structured. I love listening to and learning about music from all parts of the world and the different roles music plays in different cultures.

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For my own part as a composer and player, I enjoy the interaction of improvisation and so have found myself loosely aligned to the jazz world, using jazz structures for most of my composed music, though with an open approach.

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I also enjoy working on soundscapes, using natural and industrial/urban sounds recorded on ambient & contact mics and hydrophones, which I have then mixed together and messed with to create semi-abstract compositions. Structuring soundscapes is an absorbing challenge!

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During Lockdown I learnt to play the English concertina, and am now  playing regularly with Romney Marsh Morris, which has been great fun & they have been so friendly and welcoming.

     I hope you enjoy listening.   -  Anita Spence