When: Thursday 21st March

Where: St Brides Church

Info: This year we revisit our 2007 commission by Adam Gorb, John McCarthy and Ben Kaye, Thoughts Scribbled on a Blank Wall –
“You never forget, the pressure of the gun barrel at your head; an indelible impression on your temple – changing the contours of your mind forever. Or the thud as the rifle’s butt slams into you; the guard unseen, hiding his guilt and pleasure, behind the blindfold you have to wear.”, the opening words of Thoughts Scribbled on a Blank Wall by John McCarthy. This extraordinary work – a ‘Protest Cantata’ according to Sean Rafferty on In Tune – is based based on the experiences endured by John McCarthy as a prisoner in various Lebanese jails between 1986 and 1991. For nearly all of this period, he had virtually no contact with the outside world – indeed until the final year of his imprisonment, nobody had any idea of whether he was alive or not.

JAM – Music of our Time