SONORBITUS: A YEAR OF SUNDERLAND INSOUND COMES TO A CLOSE

Sunderland Music City invites the city to celebrate the finale of its extraordinary
365-day musical portrait of Sunderland.

After a year of listening to Sunderland, SonOrbitUs, the ambitious year-long musical
project created from the sounds, movement and data of the city, is coming to its
conclusion.

Commissioned by Sunderland Music City and funded by Arts Council England,
SonOrbitUs has transformed Sunderland’s everyday life into an evolving piece of music,
changing continuously in response to its people, environment and activity.

Created by Sunderland musicians and artists including Peter Brewis, Ed Carter and Tim
Shaw, with research and technical input from Becky Allen, SonOrbitUs draws on sounds
recorded around Sunderland alongside live city data.

The project will be celebrated at a special Closing Event on Saturday 17th October in The
Exchange on floor 1 of the newly opened Culture House in Keel Square. From 11:00 – 13:00 there will be an improvisation workshop led by Faye McCallman. Musicians of all abilites are invited to join this workshop where there will be a range of instruments on the day to use and interact with.

After a break between 13:00 and 14:00 a collective improvised performance will take
place between 14:00 – 17:00, following a short introduction from Peter Brewis. For
this part of the event, residents of Sunderland can come along to compose (or simply
observe!) the final hours of SonOrbitUs before it turns off at 5pm.

ASendees who have claimed a ticket for this second session can come along anytime
between 14:00 and 17:00 to experience live the ebbs and flows of this special piece
coming to an end.

Everyone is encouraged to claim a ticket online, but Sunderland Music City welcomes
people to turn up on the day too so long as the room capacity isn’t reached.

Peter Brewis, SonOrbitUs producer, said: “It’s been amazing to make a changing Sunderland audible over the course of a year. Everything has been in flux – the seasons, the tides, the people. For the last few hours we’d like people to actually come and play alongside SonOrbitUs.”

SonOrbitUs forms part of Sunderland’s wider transformation into a recognised Music
City, following Sunderland’s admission to the international Music Cities Network in
January 2025 and the city’s inaugural Year of Music 2025–26 which ended earlier this
summer on 21st June.

The Year of Music has seen more than 600 music events, projects and activities take
place across Sunderland, celebrating the city’s musical heritage while creating new
opportunities for artists, communities, audiences and the wider creative economy.
SonOrbitUs represents another side of that ambition: not simply bringing music to
Sunderland but creating music from Sunderland itself.

Frankie Francis, Sunderland Music City Music Officer said: “SonOrbitUs has been an extraordinary experiment in listening to our city. For an entire
year, Sunderland has e]ectively been composing through its people, its weather, its
movement and its everyday sounds.

The closing event is an opportunity to come together, hear the project in its final form
and celebrate everyone who has contributed to making this remarkable piece of work.”
The project has highlighted the potential for music, technology, data and creativity to
work together in new ways, while o]ering audiences a di]erent perspective on familiar
places and everyday experiences.

Event information:

• SonOrbitUs Closing Event
• The Exchange, Floor 1, Culture House Sunderland, Keel Square
• 11:00 – 13:00, 14:00 – 17:00
• Free tickets: SonOrbitUs Closing Event — Eventbrite