Surge Forward delivers high-quality intercultural and cross genre collaborations. We create opportunities for established and marginalised talent from a wide range of communities and bring world-class culture from across the globe to local audiences. We firmly believe in the power of music to transform lives, heal divisions and in the words of Duke Ellington “music washes away from the souls the dust of everyday life”.
Surge was formed in 2003 by composer-musician Sid Peacock with a commission from Brum legend Paul Murphy to mark Birmingham’s St Patricks’ Day. It expanded over time into Surge Orchestra with concerts featuring up to 25 musicians. In 2019 we developed Surge Forward Music and Arts CIC in order to take our work further. The name is inspired by the Birmingham motto of “Forward”.
The four main strands of our work are:
The main vehicle for Surge Forward musical output - a large scale contemporary, jazz, roots and folk large ensemble that seeks to redefine the Orchestra for the 21st century.
Our annual festival with musical interests spanning many genres and cultures including local, national and international artists.
Our composer talent development programme which commissions three Midlands based / born composers to write new works for Surge Orchestra to develop skills in composing for large ensemble including mentoring from Sid Peacock and sessions with musicians on more unfamiliar instruments such as tabla and marimba.
Surge has a commitment to developing large scale collaborative projects which bring communities together. Recent collaborative projects have involved rapper Juice Aleem, Irish flautist Eimear McGeown, Piper Darren Milligan, Guinea Bissau singer Nifeco Costa, Congolese singer Didier Kisala and Palestinian clarinettist Mohamed Najem.
Our team
Sid Peacock - Artistic Director
Sid was born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland and in his youth played in rockabilly, folk and garage bands. He taught himself music theory whilst working in the local library and left for England in 1997 to pursue formal studies. Arriving at Birmingham Conservatoire in 2000 he then established Surge Ensemble in 2003 as his main vehicle for artistic output, which has grown from strength to strength ever since.
Sid is currently Associate Artist at Mac with Surge producing regular concerts and their yearly festival Surge in Spring. With musical interests spanning many genres and cultures Sid has worked with musicians from around the world conducting residencies in Poland, Berlin, Paris, Ireland and as PRSF China musician in residence with Sichuan Opera Troupe in Chongqing, China.
Sid has extensive experience of working with a wide range of people and communities to develop and express creativity throughout their life. From youth and community projects across UK, delivering Peace & Reconciliation projects in Northern Ireland, through to acting as Artistic Advisor since 2007 for Refugee Arts organisation Celebrating Sanctuary developing music projects, artists’ careers and collaborations with artists from conflict environments.
Becky Woodcock - Producer
Becky is a freelance Producer with over 5 years experience delivering high-quality collaborative projects with a focus on producing talent development & engagement programmes alongside one-off projects and festivals. She seeks to forge long-lasting personable and authentic relationships with artists, communities and partners, which enable the nurturing & empowerment of artists at all stages of their creative life, break down barriers and offer the support to reach their full potential. Alongside Surge Forward she currently works for Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Friction Arts and Severn Arts.