Ruby Colley: the Story of "Hello, Halo", Celebrating Artistic Expression and Neurodiversity
Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman
06/29/26
•52m
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I’m so happy to bring you this episode with the British Ivor-nominated composer, violinist and sound artist Ruby Colley. She grew up with her artist parents and her brother Paul who is neuro-divergent and non-speaking. This conversation shines a light on her beautiful album Hello Halo with the brilliant Exaudi vocal ensemble. She composed this alongside her brother, transcribing Paul’s sounds and using recordings of his voice to make a vocal map of his life & relationships. You’ll be hearing music from this work as well as her project Overheard. Ruby spoke to me about the influence of Breton folk music and J.S. Bach and how she uses field recordings. You’ll also hear about how she has collaborated in some of her audiovisual projects with her mother the artist Kate Adams who founded Project Art Works, a visual arts organization that collaborates with neurodiverse individuals and those with cognitive impairment and high support needs. We talked about navigating music education, stepping away from competitive environments, the joy of improvisation and Ruby’s upcoming project inspired by the beauty of swifts. You’ll find the track information for the musical excerpts in the timestamps and everything is linked in the complete show notes on my website.
You can watch the video on my YouTube or listen to the podcast on your preferred platform, and I’ve also linked the transcript. It’s a joy to bring these inspiring episodes to you, and I do all the many jobs of research, production and publicity. Have a look at the show notes of this episode on my website, where you’ll find all the links, including different ways to support this podcast, and other episodes you’ll enjoy, with Karen Power, Gaelynn Lea, Ian Brennan, Mack Hagood, Mark Growden and Teagan Faran, among so many since 2021.
(00:00) Intro
(02:28) Hello, Halo, Paul’s communication with clips of track 1, 4
(09:37) Kate Adams Cosmology of Care with clip of track 6, what we all need
(13:37) notation, clip of track 3, field recordings, Ivor Novello nomination, film
(17:13) Project Art Works, makaton sign language, connecting with other families
(22:46) Overheard, Edgeland, audio-visual work, how birds change their song, with clips of track 7, 8, 2 from Overheard
(31:20) other episodes you’ll enjoy and ways to support this podcast
(32:13) field recordings, creating Overheard, clip of track 5 Bell of the Waves from Overheard, improvisation, Bach, Breton folk music
(37:56) music education, Dartington College, neurodivergent
(42:51) becoming a parent, interdisciplinary approach to the arts
(46:52) new project with swifts, teaching
Previous Episode
This episode is with Duo FAE violinist Charlene Kluegel and pianist Katherine Petersen. The first part of this conversation focuses on their album Dissidents of the Gilded Age. You’ll be hearing excerpts from this beautiful program and learning about the composers Dame Ethel Smyth, Cécile Chaminade and Amy Beach. Charlene and Katherine are long-time collaborators and close friends and we got into conversations around education, what a path to a career in classical music can look like, and how they have dealt with challenges including becoming mothers. Wth hundreds of kilometres separating us, I really felt like I was enjoying a thoughtful coffee date with brilliant new friends, and I hope you feel that as well.
Show notes bring you to: their websites, suggested episodes, video version, transcript, podcast merch, podcast newsletter and how you can buy me a coffee to support this independent project! Show notes with all the links
(00:00) Intro
(02:17) Dissidents of the Gilded Age album Amy Beach, Cécile Chaminade
(06:58) Dame Ethel Smyth, Sufragette movement, clip of her anthem March of the Women complete video linked in show notes
(09:08) Dame Ethel Smyth with clip Track 6 Smyth A minor sonata, op. 7, III Romanze
(12:40) Cécile Chaminade with clip Track 1 Chaminade Trois Morceaux, op. 31, no. 1 and Track 3 no. 3 Bohémienne, finally clip of track 2 Romanza)
(19:23) Amy Beach, linked episodes with Samantha Ege and Juliana Soltis, with clip of Track 11 Beach Sonata in A minor, op. 34, IV Allegro con fuoco
(25:47) friendship started at the Aspen festival 2008
(27:36) touring the program in Europe, clip of Track 9 Beach Sonata in A minor, op. 34 II Scherzo
(29:28) FAE, bonding over Brahms and starting the duo, Boman Desai’s book
(32:43) Charlene’s university years, baroque violin minor
(34:51) other linked episodes and ways to support this podcast
(35:54) Charlene’s pedagogical handbook on style considerations in orchestral excerpts
(38:52) Charlene’s decision to pursue music, broader education at Cornell
(40:42) Katherine’s educational path and discovering chamber music with clip Track 10 Beach Sonata in A Minor, op. 34 III Largo con dolore
(45:04) collaborative pianist career, Sarah Lehman mentor
(50:03) classical music career danger of burnout
(52:45) next projects and past experiences
(59:32) European educational differences
(1:02:00) becoming parents and taking care of ourselves
(01:05:44) music educators
Photo: Brittany Purlee
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