What a day! The Discovery season began yesterday, celebrating the opening of the Library of Birmingham.

The day began with the library’s official launch, with special guest Malala Yousafzai, the 16-year-old education activist and campaigner for the rights of women and girls. Malala launched the library in front of the world press, and there were over 10 000 visitors over the day.

The season began with a magnificent performance by 100 + brass players. Encircling the crowds in the Book Rotunda, Together We Breathe brought together horns, trumpets, trombones, cornets and tubas to create a mass of sound to a huge crowd of visitors . Here’s a little video of the performance and you can see footage on the BBC Culture Show next week

Juneau Projects also invited people on a vegetable quest; you can see their vegetable characters on the third floor terrace. They’ll be doing another workshop on Saturday 28 September.

The Commentators are in residency at the Pavilion all week, commenting on all the activity in the new building, from the peculiar, to the mundane (we’ve particularly been enjoying their sartorial judgements, big fans of the pashmina it seems) You can hear their commentary online.

There’s tons going on over the next four months. Read the brochure online and we hope you enjoy the Discovery season.

Together We Breathe performers in rehearsal over the weekend

Capsule have been hard at work this year, putting together a four month season celebrating the opening of the Library of Birmingham. We’re really proud of this season, and very excited that Birmingham is now home to the largest public library in Europe. In honour of the ‘people’s palace’, the Discovery season will feature performances, residencies, exhibitions and lots of opportunities to participate in workshops and try something new.

“For the LoB managers to choose possibly the noisiest, most experimental arts organisation in the city to open a library is a radical step.” www.paradisecircus.com

So, tomorrow is opening day, and below is a brief round up of what you can see and do at the Library of Birmingham this week. Read the full programme online.

Together We Breathe rehearsal, the performance will feature 100 players

Tuesday 3rd September

11.30 – Library of Birmingham opens it doors to the public.

12.30 – Together We

Breathe, Book Rotunda, Free
A large-scale performance installation created by the Australian sonic arts company Supercritical Mass, with over 100 brass players.

11.30 – 17.00 The Commentators, Discovery Pavilion, Free
Brought to you by theatrical provocateurs and internationally renowned performance company Stan’s Cafe, The Commentators will be in residence to carefully document everything they see, from the vital, to the peculiar, or the mundane.

14.00 – 17.00 Vegetable Quest Workshop, Third Floor Terrace Garden, Free
Join artist duo Juneau Projects to make your own vegetable characters

Juneau Projects invite you on a Vegetable Quest

Wednesday 4 September

19.00 Malorie Blackman, Studio Theatre, £5 www.birmingham-box.co.uk
Author talk by the Children’s Laureate

Leftfoot present soul singer Omar

Friday 6 September

20.00 Leftfoot presents Omar, Studio Theatre, £15 www.birmingham-box.co.uk
A British soul singer, songwriter and musician, his work is often compared to Stevie Wonder’s work of the 1970’s, he is described by some as the father of British neo soul.

Laura Kate Chapman’s illustrations can be found in the Children’s library

Saturday 7 September

14.00 Laura Kate Chapman workshop, Middle Earth, Free
Join artist Laura Kate Chapman whose work takes inspiration historic Parker Collection of Children’s Books and Games, celebrating the tradition of hand drawn artistic methods

Bring red food for the first of our public picnics

Sunday 8 September

12.00-16.00 Harvesting Stories, Free
Coinciding with ‘4 Squares Weekender’, we will be hosting a RED PICNIC at 1-1.30pm, and we ‘dare’ visitors to wear red, bring red food and drink and a red picnic blanket. Food-artist in residence Lizzy Bean will be making bread on the 3rd floor terrace. Small World Animation will be hosting a stop-frame animation workshop in the Children’s Library where visitors can help to create an edible alphabet.

It’s nice to see that there’s a been a bit of a buzz about the Discovery season, here’s some nice pieces of press…

Creative Review love the Discovery Pavilion

This month’s Brum Notes interview Capsule Creative Director Lisa Meyer

And Paradise Circus give a gracious salute to the Central Library

We’ll do regularly round ups here of things you can see and do at the library over the next four months. For more info see www.libraryofbirmingham.com/discoveryseason or read the brochure online

To mark the official public launch of Library of Birmingham, Capsule have invited Australian producers Super Critical Mass to present ‘Together We Breathe‘, a large-scale project comprising up to 150 brass players from the region, strategically positioned to play their instruments throughout the new library building.

We require a small team of enthusiastic volunteers to help us deliver this ambitious event.
Duties include:

– greeting brass players prior to the performance
– stewarding brass players to and from the performance space
– assisting Super Critical Mass in the positioning of players throughout the Library building
– engaging with audiences regarding the project during the performance
– setting up and clearing refreshments for brass players

Interested?

Volunteers will need to be over 18 years old and available at the following times:

Thursday 29 August, 10am – 12pm (volunteer briefing meeting)
Sunday 01 September, 10am – 3pm (rehearsal)
Tuesday 03 September, 9am – 2pm (performance)

Volunteers will be appointed subject to an advanced DBS check (formerly known as CRB check) which Capsule will arrange on behalf of applicants.
Please email [email protected] with ‘VOLUNTEER’ in the subject line for a registration form.

Deadline for applications: Friday 02 August 2013, 5pm

And if you play a brass instrument, there’s still time to get involved with this mass participatory performance. More details here

 

Australian producers Super Critical Mass have been commissioned to present Together We Breathe, a large-scale project to celebrate the opening of the Library of Birmingham, and we’re looking for players to help us make this a truly a magnificent spectacle!

A mass of brass players from the region will be positioned throughout the new library building, filling the air with a dramatic opening fanfare. From the deep throb of tuba, the wash of trombone, and the sinewy swirl

of trumpets, audiences will be welcomed to the Library of Birmingham by a forest of brass. This is a really great opportunity to part of the

opening of a crucial new cultural building in the region, and it’ll all be filmed for BBC’s Culture Show.

Performers:

We are currently looking to work with existing brass bands and players who meet the following criteria:

– owns or has access to their own brass instrument

– has achieved Grade 3 (or equivalent) on their brass instrument

– is available for a workshop, rehearsal and performance on the dates detailed below

– is happy to be filmed as part of the BBC’s Culture Show feature on this event

Schedule:

– Workshop
Saturday 31st August :time TBC

– Rehearsal
Sunday 1st September: times tbc

– Performance
Tuesday 3rd September: 9am – 1pm

Application:

Please email [email protected] by 5pm on Monday 29th July with your interest. We will then send you a short registration form.

100 flutes at Carriage Works, Sydney