Award winning composer eaten by dog
Nathaniel Robin Mann’s Pigeon Whistles project captured the media’s imagination last summer, when he took a kit of sonically-enhanced Birmingham Roller pigeons to arts festivals around the country, as part of Oxford Contemporary Music’s Audible Forces tour. It has to be said that much of the press coverage focused on Nathaniel Mann himself, a person whose role was largely limited to supervising Pigeon Pete as he strapped whistles to the pigeons prior to their performance.
So, it is gratifying to see that the contribution of the Birmingham Rollers has finally been recognised with the award of the George Butterworth Prize for composition, scheduled to take place at a special Audible Forces event in Stoke on 29-31 August.
This is the first time this award has been made to a non-human composer. However, in sad news, it is also the first time one the recipients has been eaten by a dog in advance of the award ceremony. With several other composers frightened off and failing to return to the loft, the kit has been left depleted and both the Pigeon Whistles show and the award presentation can no longer go ahead.
Last minute alternatives were discussed, including strapping a giant whistle made out of a dustbin to Mick Squalor’s back and asking him to ride in circles around the crowd on his moped. This is no joke. This was a genuinely put forward as an idea, before health and safety concerns ruled it out.
