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Pupils meet international sound and media artist, Bill Fontana WCS Wells Cathedral School Independent Prep Somerset England

Pupils meet international sound and media artist, Bill Fontana

On Tuesday 9th May, a combination of pupils from the Prep and Senior Schools made the most of a rare and exclusive pre-Private View opportunity to meet internationally renowned artist Bill Fontana in the Undercroft of Wells Cathedral ahead of the launch of the UK premiere of Bill’s sound sculpture installation, Silent Echoes: Notre Dame at Wells Cathedral – first installed at the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Bill is a pioneering American composer and artist who ‘uses sound as a sculptural medium’. He has created, recorded and installed sound based work all over the world in a host of diverse locations, from The Millenium Bridge, Big Ben and Tate Modern in London, to the Rub’ al Khali desert in the United Arab Emirates and a forest of 3000 year old Sequoia trees near the Kaweah River in California.

Art, Music Technology and Music pupils from Years 5 and 6 in the Prep School as well as Years 10 to the Upper Sixth in the Senior School were able to experience Bill’s work first hand, guided by the artist himself, ahead of having a Q&A session with Bill to discover more about his career and work to date.

With the pupils being captivated by Bill’s work and many eager to put their newfound knowledge and awareness of ‘sound sculpture’ to good use, there is already a related cross-curricular (Art and Music Technology) project in the pipeline inspired by Bill’s work – so please watch, or should one say ‘listen’, to this space!

Silent Echoes: Notre Dame, at Wells Cathedral Undercroft (beneath the Chapter House) is open to the public, with free admission, from 11th May – 3rd July.