Lydia Samuels

As a singer and composer Lydia’s interests centre around the vast possibilities of the human voice, which she uses to explore folk traditions in a contemporary and experimental style. Inspired by experimental composers such as Meredith Monk, most of her compositions are purely vocal. Her most recent work was the arranging, adapting, and transforming of three women’s folk songs from the British Isles, performed by HOWL, the all female and non-binary vocal collective which Lydia founded in her home city of London in 2021. In her adaptations of these traditional folk songs Lydia focuses on bringing to life the joy, sorrow, and violence of the female experience. Current works in progress include a series of settings of Mexican women’s poetry (inspired by her time spent living in Mexico City from 2018 – 2021), and a collaboration with the award winning poet Erin Robinsong to create a song cycle out of new poetry she has written around the theme of weeds.

Lydia makes her residence in Can Serrat during the month of February and May 2023.