Changing Gear: meet our chosen creators

After a callout which brought a host of wonderful music from across Yorkshire and the Humber pouring into the YSWN inbox, we’ve managed to narrow down the applications for our Changing Gear project to the final chosen three. And here they are:

Helen Papaioannou
Based in Leeds, Helen Papaioannou’s compositions and performances draw from her varied experiences across electronic music, DIY band scenes, improvised musics, and experimental ensemble compositions. Across her work, Helen tends towards a fascination with minimal sound palettes and evolving patterns, matched with an unrelenting intensity that spills out into music that is at once stark, visceral, playful, and precarious. Helen’s recent focus has been her solo project, Kar Pouzi, which melds baritone saxophone and electronics into singular textures which move between heavy, fractured beats, ecstatic drones and incessant repetitions.

Cherry Seraph
Cherry Seraph is the solo alt-pop electronic project of producer, artist and musician Sophie Russell. Supported several times by BBC Introducing, she has been named ‘The Next Big Thing’ by Crash Records and recently released a single backed by Youth Music’s NextGen fund. In 2023, she made her live debut in Paris and has since performed across England and at multiple festivals using hardware synths and Ableton Push. She was the January 2024 artist in residence at Leeds Beckett University and most recently completed a further residency at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music in July/August 2024.

Artists’ Child
Artists’ Child is the solo electronic music project of performance designer Bethany Wells. A modular synth alchemist, she sculpts powerful narratively-driven journeys, moving between drone, ambient and techno, with a sonic palette of glitches, wild texture and driving rhythms. Drawing on her background in architecture and performance design, Artists’ Child creates immersive spatial worlds for audiences to enter. Her recent work has been inspired by shamanic healing rituals and plant medicine ceremonies, bringing audience members together in an expansive communal experience.

Look out for more updates as our selected creators start working on the new music which will be premiered in Yorkshire next spring as a celebration of Daphne Oram’s centenary!

YSWN is a PRS Foundation Talent Development Network Partner supported by PPL.