Thanks for visiting my Just Giving page - I’m Rob Kelly, a London based composer. For Motor Neurone Disease Awareness Day (June 21st 2018) I am releasing a new piece called Synaptic Counterpoint. The piece is for saxophone quintet and tuned percussion and all proceeds from the sale, streaming and broadcast of the music are being donated to the Motor Neurone Disease Association to support their work into finding a cure for this fatal disease that currently kills 6 people a day in the UK.
Inspired by some images of her research, I wrote the piece for my friend Jenny Greig, a neuroscientist working on the disease at the Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience at King’s College London. The piece features Jenny on soprano, alto and tenor saxophones, Josie Simmons on baritone sax and me on percussion. We recorded it at Strongroom Studios, London.
The music can be purchased for download and unlimited streaming via our Bandcamp page (or the Bandcamp smartphone app) for as little as £1.50. Through the ‘name your price’ feature you can also choose to donate as much as you wish to support the MNDA’s work at the point of purchase, so if you are able to donate a little more, it all goes to support research into finding a cure for the disease.
The music can also be streamed on Spotify, Apple Music and the other streaming platforms (and downloaded through iTunes). If you’ve enjoyed listening to it on the streaming services (or if you’d just like to support the work of the MNDA) I’ve set up this Just Giving page as I’d like to ask if you would consider making a donation to support their work.
The cover art was created from images of motor neurons created in the lab from patient stem cells, taken by Jenny as part of her research, with graphic design by James Bergersen. The piece features two custom-built Bütone drums (a type of steel ‘tank drum’) designed by James and me, and built by James.
Research and imaging was performed at King's College London. It was funded by a Medical Research Council CASE studentship in partnership with Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Jenny and I hope you enjoy the music and would be very grateful of any donation you can make to support the work of the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
For more information please see:
https://www.mndassociation.org/
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/depts/bcn/DRI/Lab-Groups/Chris-Shaw-Group/Chris-Shaw-Group.aspx
