Elaine Samantha Mitchener MBE is a British-Caribbean experimental vocalist, composer, and movement artist. A member of the avant-garde group Apartment House and the electroacoustic act Rolling Calf.[1] She attended the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London[2] and was later mentored by opera singer Jacqueline Straubinger-Bremar.[1] Her 2017 "cross-disciplinary music piece" Sweet Tooth debuted at St George's, Bloomsbury. Commissioned by the Bluecoat Arts Centre, the International Slavery Museum, and the Stuart Hall Foundation, it pertains to slavery in the British Empire, with a focus on the sugar industry.[3] In 2021, she performed NAMES II—a "roll-call of the 2,000 enslaved African people owned by an 18th century Jamaican sugar planter"—at the British Art Show.[4] Mitchener is an associate artist at Wigmore Hall until 2026.[1]
Mitchener was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to music.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c Allan, Jennifer Lucy (20 August 2021). "'Come on this journey with me': Elaine Mitchener, Britain's boldest vocalist". The Guardian.
- ^ "Elaine Mitchener". British Art Show. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
- ^ "Breaking the chains: Elaine Mitchener on the British Empire's legacy of cruelty". The Wire. February 2018.
- ^ Begbie, Scott (9 July 2021). "Review: British Art Show offers an immersive voyage of discovery". The Press and Journal.
- ^ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B22.