Animation and photography degree students create backdrop for unique music performances in Bradford and London

Rachel Smith June 3, 2025

An animated film created by our animation and photography degree students is being unveiled as part of composer Ellie Wilson’s incredible immersive soundworld uniquely based on moth activity at the exciting New Music Biennial 2025 at Bradford UK City of Culture 2025 celebrations and in London’s Southbank Centre.

Called Moth x Human, the performance is based on recorded moth data which has been cleverly transformed into sound to create a beautiful immersive composition which is played alongside live musicians.

Over the course of four hours last summer, 80 different moth species were recorded at Natural England’s Parsonage Down National Nature Reserve near Salisbury, including elephant hawk, burnished brass, water veneer and ruby tiger moths.

Moths are rather unassuming creatures, often playing second fiddle to their insect cousins, butterflies, but in this work they take centre stage.

Speaking to the BBC, classically trained composer violinist Ellie explained that the data was put through a computer and she attached sounds to the movement of each species and “pressed play”.

“It’s the ebb and flow of their activity that night,” she explained, rather than the literal sound of moths, which are usually very quiet.

“It’s like a chat between moths and humans.”

Whilst Ellie admitted it was out of her “comfort zone”, she said she wanted to explore biodiversity and the idea to use the insect activity came to her at breakfast one morning.

She was then commissioned for the project by the Oxford Contemporary Music charity.

The animated film was a staff-led project by Senior Lecturer Matthew Burton, working with a number of students collaborators across BA (Hons) Photography and visual arts degree programmes and selected (BA) Hons Animation degree student interns.

They went on display at the School’s Degree Show before being unveiled with Ellie’s composition at Bradford’s free weekender which is part of New Music Biennial, a festival presented in partnership by PRS Foundation which explores the cutting edge of contemporary music.