Sarah Smout

Location: Skipton, UK

Pronouns: She/Her

Artforms
Folk Music / Poetry / Spoken Word / Storytelling / Video Art / Sound Art / Pop Music / Alternative-Folk Music

Topic Areas
Capitalism / Feminism / Geographical Privilege / Biodiversity / Legacy

Change-Making Skills
Public Speaking / Storytelling / Active Listening / Facilitation / Critical Thinking / Persuasive Writing

Website . Music / Project . @bernard_thecello . sarahsmoutmusic@gmail.com

About

I am a cellist, singer, and poet whose work is rooted in a deep love of the natural world. Blending live-looped cello soundscapes, songwriting, field recordings and poetry, I create immersive music that explores our relationships with nature in this time of climate crisis. My work has taken me from Yorkshire peat bogs to Arctic ice, where I gather field recordings, write in collaboration with nature, and perform in wild landscapes. All my work explores the stories that nature tells us, and invites people to slow down, to listen deeply to the living world. I firmly believe in the power of storytelling to inspire connection, care and action for the planet. I also collaborate regularly with environmental charities to add an artistic perspective to their public awareness campaigns, and interweave creativity with science. My current focus is on the Arctic, where I was lucky enough to spend two weeks on a creative residency listening to the melting ice and performing amidst the glaciers.

Project Goals for the next 6-12 Months

I am looking to collaborate with wider networks on my Arctic project. Inspired by a two-week residency sailing around Svalbard, I have field recordings of glaciers, ice and water, and filmed improvisations on carbon fibre cello. Alonside this, I am writing songs and poetry to record an album that aims to raise awareness of how the Arctic is changing, and what that means for all beings. I also think it serves as a document and legacy for future generations of what is happening now, and is a way to bring people together, to be in community and to hold reverence for the Cryosphere. Telling this story can then also become a catalyst for imagining alternative, sustainable futures. I am looking for opportunities to perform and share this material, events to speak about the experience and reasons behind the project, and ways to reach wider audiences through collaborating with scientific researchers and charities.

Open to collaboration