British Council and PRS for Music Foundation announce residencies in China for innovative UK musicians.

KerryAndrew, Mira Calix and Bella Hardy have been announced as the next three musicians to spend up to six weeks in China as part of the British Council and PRS for Music Founda-
tion’s Musicians in Residence programme. The immersive programme, part of the 2015 UK-
China Year of Cultural Exchange, will provide the musicians with an opportunity to create original work and explore new international influences while reaching and inspiring new au-
diences.

The initiative, which is now in its third year, will see the UK-based musicians spend time separately in three Chinese cities during autumn 2015. While resident there they will collaborate with local artists, write new material and explore new creative and professional opportunities. Whilst any creative output will necessarily be shaped by their experiences in China and the people that they meet and collaborate with, each musician has already submitted plans about what they aim to focus on during their residency.

The Musicians in Residence - China programme was launched in September 2011, with Gareth Bonello, Imogen Heap, Jamie Woon and Matthew Bourne relocating to the cities of Chengdu, Hangzhou, X’ian and Xiamen in 2011 and early 2012. The 2014 residencies saw Oliver Coates, Sam Genders, Arun Ghosh, Anna Meredith and Sid Peacock travel to Hong Kong, Changsha, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Chonqing respectively.

The residencies have resulted in a diverse range of collaborations and outputs. Imogen Heap in-
cluded the track XiZi She Knows, composed during her time in Hangzhou, on her 2014 album Sparks. In 2013 Gareth Bonello released the album Y Bardd Anfarwol, combining Welsh and Chi-
nese folk music to tell the life story of the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, which won Welsh Album of the Year at the 2014 National Eisteddfod, and was nominated for the 2014 Welsh Music Prize.