Tag: Aurora Engine

New composition to premiere at Railway 200 celebration event

LNER has been announced as sponsor of the world premiere of a new music composition celebrating 200 years of the modern railway called ‘Engine Shed’.

The piece, composed by Shildon-born Edinburgh-based composer Deborah Shaw (aka AURORA ENGINE), will be performed by the Linlithgow String Orchestra at a free public concert on Sunday 9 November 2025.

The project is supported by the charity Making Music and their ‘Adopt a Music Creator’ programme.

As well as supporting Railway 200, the concert also celebrates the 10th anniversary of the founding of the string orchestra and 90 years of the charity Making Music.

The concert will take place at the historic St. Michael’s Parish Church, Linlithgow with the performance starting at 7pm on Sunday 9 November 2025.

You can book your free tickets via the orchestra’s website here. 

Deborah Shaw, the composer of the new celebratory piece of music, is from the historic railway town of Shildon, situated on the original route of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, which is front and centre of this year’s celebratory Railway 200 events. Her new striking work explores Scotland’s rail history through music while amplifying often unheard voices.

Commissioned through Making Music’s ‘Adopt a Music Creator’ initiative and developed in collaboration with the Linlithgow String Orchestra, their musical director Bill Jones, and with mentorship from composer Ailie Robertson, the composition explores sounds of the railways, whilst reimagining stories of trains, industry, and identity.

Deborah explains: “The piece incorporates snippets of archival recordings and field sounds from the steam engine ‘Twizell’ which was built by Robert Stephenson & Company and is now lovingly cared for by the Tanfield Railway. Orchestral cues are directed with authentic LNER guards whistles and traditional railway hand signals.

“This new composition is so much more than a celebration of trains, I wanted my work to shine a light on the underrepresented voices in both rail and music, from women and marginalised workers to African American railroad traditions.”

Edinburgh-based harpist, songwriter and sonic artist Aurora Engine  (Deborah Shaw) releases her new single ‘Coal Dust’, the first from an upcoming EP  ‘Railway Queen‘ exploring women’s roles in industrial towns 

 LISTEN HERE

WAV MP3 HERE

VIDEO SHORT TEASER HERE

Raw, mechanical textures intertwine with harp, electronics, and voice, creating a sonic landscape that merges the industrial and magical. The EP has been written, recorded and produced by Deb mixing  collected industrial sounds. 

‘Coal Dust’ single draws inspiration from women like the Winterton Sisters early pioneers in railway signalling engineering, as well as the countless women who kept domestic and emotional labour turning while industrial progress was built around them.

Field recordings from steam trains collected by Deborah herself can be heard as a steady undercurrent, collected from railways towns where she was brought up. Lyrics blend nursery rhymes with story of labour and graft.

Funded by Stockton and Darlington Railway for Rail 200 celebrations, and PRS Foundation

Aurora Engine www.auroraengine.com

Aurora Engine / Deborah Shaw is a composer, harpist and pianist based in Edinburgh originally from CO. Durham.

Fusing real instruments, voice and progressive electronica, her work encapsulates a singular and striking sonic landscape. Currently with Hen Hoose as a mentee, recent performances include Celtic Collections, Belladrum and Hidden Door Festival.

Her 2024 work Flutter  about women and Torette’s syndrome is being programmed at CRYPTIC  2026. 

‘Magical and Delicate’ Tom Robinson BBC 6 Music

‘Splendid….mellifluous harp playing elegantly woven around electronic fizzles…dark magic abounds’ – Electronic Sound Magazine (Feb 2024)

HARK! Earth in Common and Aurora Engine announce new Soundwalk

Launches Sunday 26 May 2 – 4pm at Earth in Common, Leith Links

  • Announcing a new collaboration between Earth in Common and Deborah Shaw (Aurora Engine), supported by the National Lottery Community Fund’s Together for Our Planet Fund 
  • Highlights include environmental songs from Karine Polwart, works from Tinderbox Sparks Orchestra, stories from Edinburgh’s Gaelic community and Scottish International Storytelling Centre, poems from Ash Dickinson and Alec Finlay, folksong from Kirsty Law, sonic works from Siôn Parkinson and Aurora Engine, incorporating political themes of land rights, references to highland clearances and the Edinburgh housing crisis as local rents continue to increase 

Coinciding with Earth Day, a new soundwalk at Earth in Common has been announced, with an upcoming launch event scheduled from 2 – 4pm on Sunday 26th May 2024, with live performances and a guided tour of the new installation with Deborah Shaw. 

Tickets are now on sale for the launch event with various price options available. Book now: https://bit.ly/harksoundwalk 

Environmental organisation Earth In Common presents HARK!, an immersive soundwalk nestled within the grounds of Leith Community Croft.

This unique experience will offer a tapestry of compositions, soundscapes, poetry and stories, curated by composer and sonic artist Deborah Shaw (Aurora Engine), supported by Together for Our Planet fund.

HARK! aims to foster a deeper connection to nature and reflect Earth In Common’s values regarding crofting, land and the intrinsic relationship between arts and the environment. 

Alongside the pastoral, is the political, with themes of land rights, references to highland clearances and the Edinburgh housing crisis as local rents continue to increase. Some works explore the effects on communities, raising the importance of nature access in urban landscapes which the Croft provides. 

Visitors will be able to access recordings through their electronic devices, and experience sonic folk tales, haunting choral compositions and immersive soundscapes featuring the collected sounds from nature and wildlife. 

HARK! contributors include renowned musician Karine Polwart with a brand new song composed for the croft, “Earth In Common” inspired by her passion for nature and environmental causes. Tinderbox Orchestra will present “ICE” from their Sparks collective a piece composed in response to an ice installation at Dynamic Earth. 

There will be pieces from Edinburgh’s Gaelic community, a story from Donald Smith, Director of Scottish International Storytelling Centre, and a haunting choral from Earth In Common’s own climate choir and a song from folk singer Kirsty Law. 

Poet Ash Dickinson will be featured with poem ‘Fox Fishing’ about declining nature, and Alec FInlay’s words from their Push the Boat Out Poetry festival commission ‘Manifesto for Urban Crofts’ will also play as part of the soundwalk.

Sonic works will include pieces from Siôn Parkinson, composer and sound artist currently an AHRC Research Fellow at RBGE with ‘Pastoral blah’, curator Deborah Shaw (Aurora Engine) with a sound work about land rights and pieces inspired by birdsong. 

As participants navigate the Croft with a provided map on their smartphones, they are invited to immerse themselves in the sounds and music at their own pace. A visit to the charming farm shop/café can enhance the experience, allowing for leisurely exploration of the works on display. 

Deborah Shaw, HARK! curator, said: “I wanted to create a magical world that invites audiences to leisurely experience music while immersing themselves in nature.

“HARK! facilitates this journey, inviting listeners to tune into music, sounds, poetry and stories while also sparking conversations about land rights, climate and current housing issues”. 

Alec Finlay, featured artist in HARK!, said: “I was inspired by Leith Urban Croft, which was conceived by Evie Murray, and is a contemporary twist on the traditional allotment, with an attempt to encourage a more communal approach, as well as broadening the social activities, helping with wellbeing, and giving young people an experience of nature and nurture.

“Some of the growing plots are run by schools. There’s a wee cafe, they sell produce, and are developing a visitor centre. It’s used by parents and toddlers … I think in terms of pandemic culture and climate breakdown, every park and green space should have an urban croft.

“It aligns with the idea of a ‘culture of recuperation’, which I’ve been thinking about for the past few years, and more specifically, with a project I did in Glasgow, with the Walking Library, exploring ideas of urban rewilding.” 

Evie Murray, Earth in Common’s Founder and CEO said, “The Soundwalk project embodies Earth in Common’s ethos and builds on all we have achieved over the last decade.

“Leith Community Croft is an established hub for social, cultural and environmental regeneration. The Soundwalk enhances our identity at a crucial time for Earth in Common, when we are recovering from disruption caused by a major capital building project and our reserves are running low.

“If people like our work, they can visit the ‘Soil-idarity’ page on our website to learn how they can help us survive and thrive.”