Exquisitely simple melodies and hard edged lyrics bring to life the anxiety and impatience of pregnancy; the shadow of loss; the joy of birth; the wonder and sleep deprivation of having a tiny baby; and finally the ambivalence of watching the baby start to grow up.  Lasting 40 minutes, the piece is tightly constructed with a literary sense of narrative. Yet in the tradition of the great song cycle, it also takes the listener through an intimate emotional experience.  The theme of losing a child is one which Toby Litt has returned to several times, both in his novel Ghost Story, and in autobiographical writing. 

Written for female voice, cello and piano, Life Cycle is built around an exceptional group of performers. The extraordinary voice of singer Mara Carlyle (a collaborator of Matthew Herbert and Plaid), whose unforgettable voice (recently made ubiquitous by the latest Ikea advert) mixes fluency with a soaring purity.  She is joined by cellist extraordinaire and Southbank artist in residence Olly Coates and pianist John Reid.

Life Cycle is more than simply a concert, as Netia Jones of Lightmap visually threads the songs together with a video design that combines the song cycle’s musical inventiveness with a lightly handled theatricality.

The piece is the latest result of the fruitful partnership between Emily and Toby, who have been working together since 2006.  Their songs have been performed at Aldeburgh, Latitude Festival and The Southbank Centre.

Life Cycle was commissioned by Opera North Projects in 2010, as part of Resonance, Opera North’s rolling programme of artistic development and commissions. 

Toby Litt is a novelist, and author of 10 books, including Ghost Story, Dead Kid Songs and Beatniks. He was named one of Granta's Best of young British novelists and is a journalist and broadcaster for The Guardian and Radio 4, and regularly appears on Radio 3's The Verb. 

Emily Hall is a composer who mainly writes songs. She won the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Award in 2005, before writing a chamber opera in 2006 which got her into song writing. Sante was produced by Aldeburgh Productions and the London Sinfonietta and was described by the Times as “a dynamic new opera, worth everyone's time and hopes” and was winner of the Genesis Opera Prize. She has also written for groups such as the London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra and the Brodsky Quartet.

Mara Carlyle is a singer whose debut album The Lovely was released on Matthew Herbert's label in 2004. A track, titled "Pianni", can currently be heard in the IKEA "Happy Inside" television commercial. She has also released EPs I Blame Dido and Ancient and Modern.  December 2008 saw the release of Classist, a collaboration with composer Max de Wardener under the name "Max de Mara". She has also collaborated with The Guillemots, Plaid and Matthew Herbert.

Olly Coates is a cellist and Artist in Residence at the Southbank Centre, He performs classical and new music as well as writing and recording electronic music for installations and for collaborative projects. He has played at the Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place, Wilton’s Music Hall and Tate Modern. He also curates events and plays as guest principal cello with the London Sinfonietta and principal cello with the Aurora Orchestra.

Netia Jones is a director/designer and video designer in opera and theatre, using video, film and projected media in most of her work. She is founder and artistic director of transition, which launched in 2007, the 'energetic' Guardian) and 'vibrant' (Independent) performance group which combines live music and opera with new media, video and film

John Reid  is a pianist who has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, Bridgewater Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall,  King's Place, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with artists including Joan Rodgers, Alexander Baillie, Alison Balsom, Jennifer Pike, Sarah Williamson, the Barbirolli Quartet and William Bennett. He has worked with contemporary music groups Radius and the Ossian Ensemble, and is a principal of the Aurora Orchestra. 

Life Cycle is intended to be performed in a wide range of contexts, including music and literary festivals.  Its technical requirements are simple and the show tours with its own sound engineer. 

The duration of the piece is 40 minutes. The company can offer full evening if required, comprising a prelude of instrumental music and postscript of readings from Toby Litt.

Life Cycle is available for touring. 

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