Fantasy Orchestra leader and guiding light, Jesse D Vernon, writes:

As committed-for-life fans of Ursula Le Guin, my wife Kate and I decided to start running appreciation days when we discovered some amazing music, composed by Todd Barton, to accompany one of her  books, Always Coming Home. Published in 1985, about a cultural group of humans—the Kesh—who “might be going to have lived a long, long time from now in Northern California.” (p. i) Part novel, part textbook, part anthropologist’s record, Always Coming Home describes the life and culture of the Kesh people.

Todd Barton wrote a selection of folk songs and music which the Kesh might have been going to sing and they make wonderful listening and a great subject for a singing workshop and performance.

You can find the original compositions here:
http://toddbarton.com/music/music-of-the-kesh/

Our Event took place at Café Kino in Bristol, UK and we started off with the singing workshop.

Here are some recordings we made on the day:

http://soundcloud.com/the-fantasy-orchestra/sets/songs-of-the-kesh

We started with the singing workshop 2-4pm

5pm we watched the film “The Lathe Of Heaven” followed by a discussion lead by Sheryl Robinson and the Bristol Utopian Book Collective.

7pm We were treated to a talk by Helena Hoyle-King about maps featured in the novels of Ursula Le Guin. This was followed by a map making workshop  lead by . Helena.

Here are some of the maps made:

8pm “Mothers Of The Terrible Glow” performed some of their sci-fi inspired instrumentals with excellent introductions, explanations and insights from Daniel Potter.