Alice's Solo Show • Shifting Soundscapes Live
2026 | Creator & Performer
First presented at TOAST’s Autumn Winter Launch 2025 at 14 Cavendish
Shifting Soundscapes Live is a solo performance by musician, sound artist and field recordist Alice Boyd, blending live vocals, synths and field recordings to explore how Britain’s landscapes are changing through sound.
Developed from Alice’s BBC Radio 4 documentary Shifting Soundscapes, the performance retraces the work of legendary field recordist Martyn Stewart, weaving together archive recordings, newly captured environmental sounds and original music. Through layered voice, ambient textures and live electronics, Alice invites audiences to listen more closely to the natural world - and to hear what is being lost, what is returning and what still remains.
Part gig, part sound work, part ecological listening experience, Shifting Soundscapes Live takes us on a journey through song, story and soundscape.
The performance has been developed with support from Arts Council England and Britten Pears Arts, and was recently performed across Europe as part of Alice’s support tour with Yann Tiersen.
In early 2026, Alice presented a 30-minute first iteration of the show while supporting Yann Tiersen across Europe. It marked an early stage in the show’s development, testing how these materials could live on stage and connect with audiences in a concert setting.
About the show
In the 1970s, field recordist Martyn Stewart travelled across Britain documenting the sounds of the natural world. Almost fifty years later, Alice Boyd returned to some of those same locations to record them again.
What emerged was a portrait of a changing country: quieter birds, louder roads, altered habitats and moments of unexpected return.
Shifting Soundscapes Live brings this research into a live setting, combining Alice’s voice-led music with field recordings gathered from across the UK.
For venues and festivals
Shifting Soundscapes Live is suitable for arts centres, music venues, festivals, churches, galleries, listening spaces and environmentally focused events.
The performance can be presented as:
a full solo concert
a double bill or support set
a listening-focused performance for seated audiences
an event paired with a post-show Q&A, talk or field recording workshop
a site-responsive version connected to a local landscape or environmental theme
The show is particularly suited to audiences interested in folk, ambient music, field recording, ecology, nature writing, sound art and environmental storytelling.