Earth & Sky at Penistone Hill Country Park

Bradford 2025 is a total transformation of the wider area as well as the cultural cornucopia of the city itself. Two of the inventive ways in which the surrounding landscape is being embraced into the artistic happenings is through four large-scale art commissions, Wild Uplands, which you can explore whilst listening to a bespoke soundwalk, Earth & Sky, created by Opera North.

Three composers, Caterina Barbieri, Nyokabi Kariũki and Gwen Siôn have been invited by Opera North to create new music and sound art inspired by the untamed upland site which sits one thousand feet above Haworth. Their new work will be interwoven with the music of Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius. Through the use of state-of-the-art geolocation technology, these musical landscapes will be combined with the natural space of the uplands for you to listen to as you walk through. You can expect to hear moments of deft electronica, alongside African influences and moments of natural sound produced in the field recordings of Sarah Keirle.

Opera North have previously created soundwalks through Leeds in collaboration with cellist Abel Selacoe, which were met with an overwhelmingly positive reception. They also created a walk across the Humber Bridge as part of Hull’s UK City of Culture in 2017. With such a strong track record of curating these stunningly rich, orchestral-textured journeys through specific spaces, we can’t wait to experience their contribution to Bradford’s landscape. 

Earth & Sky is located amongst the expansive moorland views of Penistone Hill Country Park. The landscape is a sea of earthy colour with heather and rock punctuating its surface, as well as being well laced with walking paths. Both the musical journey through the landscape and the paths that lead you have intricate twists, moments of wonder and intricate detail to appreciate simultaneously. 

This is just a snapshot of the wider cultural happenings in Bradford throughout this year. Be sure to check out the Bradford 2025 website to see the full programme.