Prudence Rees-Lee – Sound and Utopia

Composer, performer and researcher. Music and utopias, collaborative practices, and electronic music.

Upcoming

“Atlantis Anew”: Daphne Oram and the Utopian Potential of Electronic Sound

Presenting my research on Daphne Oram at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Society for Utopian Studies.
When: October 30 to November 1, 2025
Where: Trailborn Surf and Sound Resort. Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, USA

SONOROUS XII

Delighted to share that I have been commissioned by the Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio (MESS) to compose a new octophonic work using the MESS Collection of rare and significant electronic instruments.

When: 20 November 2025
Where: Melbourne Recital Center

The Hidden Reverse

Sound design for the exhibition Creative Acts: Artists and Their Inspirations

When: August 2025 – May 2026
Where: State Library of Victoria, Victoria Gallery

Tape Performance with Paul Cousins

Popular Music did a one off collaborative performance with London artist Paul Cousins.

When: 9 June 2025
Where: The Horse Hospital, London

Popular Music EU/UK Tour

A 15 date tour through the EU and Uk.

When: May – June 2025
Where: Ljubljana, Prague, Jena, Vienna, Berlin, Offenbach, Hamburg, Kraków, Leeds, Margate, London, Glasgow

All Things Listen

A five hour durational performance by Golden Sands.

When: February 2025
Where: MPavillion

Carols for Consumers

Incidental music for abandoned department stores, by Popular Müzak

2024

Archive Performance Spatial Sound

How Do We Remain?

Guest artist performing in a sound installation for moving speakers, with musicians and audiences who come and go. By Madeleine Flynn and Tim Humphrey.

Archive Release

Against Men – Popular Music

A tour exclusive, cassette-only release, Against Men was available at shows during Popular Music's 2024 West Coast tour, "You Can Never Go Home Anymore."

Archive Music Video

Jennifer

Music Video for the song Jennifer from Minor Works of Popular Music

Archive Spatial Sound

Woven Waves

Improvizations with the Roland 100M modular synthesizer, Moog Grandmother, and Echoplex. Composed for 5.1 surround sound and exhibited at the Australian Center for the Moving Image.

2023

Album Archive

Minor Works of Popular Music

"a remarkably multi-sensory record.” The Quietus

2023

Archive Ensemble Performance

MESS Synthesiser Orchestra

The MESS Synthesiser Orchestra (MSO) is a mass mobilisation of the MESS Collection, providing a distinct opportunity to engage with rare and difficult to access instruments as both the performer and audience.

2023

Archive Music Video

Lifetime Achievment

Music Video for the first single from Popular Music album Minor Works of Popular Music

2023

Archive Spatial Sound

Beyond Nature

A 12-channel work inspired by site visits and field recordings taken by the Birrarung in Collingwood.

2022

Archive Spatial Sound

Crystal Universe

Crystal Universe is an audio visual work for 16 speaker array that uses time-lapse to explore the limits of our perception and evolution of complexity.

2022

Archive Release

Inner Voices

Chamber music recorded with Opensound Orchestra. 3 movements for strings.

Archive Collaboration

SchemaSynth

Generative ambient music made with Tone.JS and realtime environmental data.

2021

Archive Collaboration Release

Stereophonic Experiments in Magnetic Tape and Circuitry

Inspired by the pioneering explorations of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, San Francisco Tape Music Center and Manhattan Research Inc., Max Foreman (Bouquet) & Prudence Rees-Lee (Popular Music) present the first in a series of improvised analog synth experiments for musicassette.

2020