Poppy Ackroyd announces Nottingham date on spring tour for new album
Acclaimed composer and pianist Poppy Ackroyd has announced a new run of UK live dates in support of her intimate new album Liminal.
The UK tour runs throughout February and March and includes a stop at St John’s Church in Nottingham on March 19.
For the first time since her debut, Liminal brings piano and violin together exclusively, with every sound drawn from the two instruments alone.
This imaginative and tactile approach to sound comes alive in her performances, where Poppy moves beyond conventional piano playing, reaching inside the instrument to mute and pluck strings while building captivating layers of percussion, melody and rhythm, revealing the remarkable versatility and expressive range of the piano.
She said: “In the last three years everyone I loved most in the world needed me, all at once.
"There has been new life and death, heartbreak and many other things that are not my stories to tell.
"I have also moved across the country to a part of the world I have never lived in before.
"I had such a chaotic few years, but the only way to cope was to allow things to be messy – embracing the messy and imperfect but still getting things done.
"I decided to apply this approach to my music making and I found that I still maintain the same attention to detail but without the pressure, and I fell in love with making music again in a whole new way.”
Poppy’s music has featured across documentary, dance and theatre, including work with New York City Ballet, while the National Theatre used The Calm Before as the opening music for The Seagull.
Her collaboration with Ainslie Henderson, Shackle, won Best British Film at the London International Animation Festival.
She added: “There’s a euphoric feeling after doing something you’re scared of.
"I feel like I’ve been broken in a way I never thought I could be, but I’m also stronger than I ever thought I could be.”
Visit poppyackroyd.com/shows/st-johns-church/ for tickets.