Not Strictly Speaking: A three part podcast series on the voice | Assembly 2024

Listen to our new three-part podcast series exploring different manifestations of the voice in response to the Assembly programme: channel.somers...
Underpinned by a new sound commission from French composer Felicia Atkinson, each episode follows an artist featured in the 2024 programme as they unpack the power of the voice beyond speech, in dialogue with a number of guests.
The voice is the first sound we encounter and the first instrument we learn to play, we are subject to the disembodied voice of politicians while the communal voice is raised in protest. In conjunction with this year’s Assembly at Somerset House, this 3 part podcast series explores different manifestations of the voice and how it informs our ways of thinking.
Each episode follows one artist featured in the 2024 programme, as they unpack their work with the voice in dialogue with another artist. Vocalist and composer Elaine Mitchener is joined by the pioneer of extended vocal technique Joan La Barbara to explore the voice as an instrument, looking at how the human voice can channel meaning without words. Artist Prem Sahib plays with the shape shifting nature of political speech and its potential to inhabit other bodies alongside composer Felicia Atkinson on the mercurial nature of recording, while the vocal work of sound artist Vivienne Griffin is placed in dialogue with artist Helen Cammock on the concept of the voice as a site of resistance.
The sound for the series is composed by French composer and sound artist Felicia Atkinson who crafts a series of bespoke sound commissions for each episode.
Series commissioned by Somerset House Studios
Producer - Alannah Chance
Exec Producer - Eleanor Ritter-Scott
Series Composer - Felicia Atkinson
Mix - Harry Murdoch