Hugh Nankivell
I am an active social musician and songmaker based in Bristol.
I play accordion, piano, viola and melodica.
Every day I sit at the piano and sing up a song. I’ve been making music all my life.
I am known for creating instant songs, playing in many bands, cooking cakes, questioning approaches and supporting emerging music leaders.
Much of my work is collaborative, making music with the elderly, the very young, family groups and those with health issues.
I am a reflective practitioner working not only in music but also with visual artists, geologists, dancers, academics, medics, children, care home managers, orchestras and more.
I have recently been commissioned to make a series of songs with those experiencing grief, explore social prescribing with medical students, direct a series of performances of Sufjan Steven’s songs for Christmas, teach undergraduates at Edinburgh and Southampton Universities, co-compose ‘Leith Side Stories’ and begin writing a book on my practice.
I am a Music Associate for both Awards for Young Musicians and The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. I am about to begin new projects in two hospitals and am continuing to compose some ‘Birdsongs’ and work on developing intergenerational practice.
I have been commissioned to compose and play music with people in Poland, Namibia, Japan, the USA, France, Canada, Scotland and Milton Keynes.
Works I have written and helped create have been produced and performed on radio, in castles, underneath motorways, in care homes, on tv, in national parks, on London bridges and in concert halls and theatres.