Sylvia & I

If you are looking to dive into some genuinely unique soundscapes this month, mark your calendar for Thursday, February 26, 2026. The duo known as Sylvia & I—featuring London-based multi-instrumentalist and composer Sylvia Hallett alongside Norwich trumpeter and workshop leader Chris Dowding—are bringing their collaboration to The Coach House in Brighton. Their music is built around creating dreamy soundscapes from overlapping loops, evolving out of a fascinating meeting point between folk and jazz backgrounds. It’s the kind of contemporary, experimental music that promises something truly different for a mid-week evening.

What makes their performance particularly intriguing is the sheer variety of instruments they employ to achieve these textures. Forget standard setups; Hallett and Dowding utilize everything from violins and trumpets to a bowed saw, a bicycle wheel, various pedals, electronics, and found objects. Hallett is well-known for incorporating instruments like the hurdy-gurdy and the bowed bicycle wheel into her work, while Dowding regularly performs with groups such as Natural Causes and Rude 2.0. This blend of traditional and unconventional instrumentation is what gives their sound its distinctive character. If you want a taste of their previous work, the duo released the cassette and download ‘the holding breath’ back in 2018.

The evening is set to begin at 7:30 PM, and before Sylvia & I take the stage, the Wildcard Quartet will be performing the opening set. The venue for the night is The Coach House, located at 22 Walpole Road, Kemptown, BN2 0EA. Entry is priced affordably, with standard tickets available for £9.00 and concessions (for members, students, etc.) available for £6.00. It sounds like a solid night for anyone keen on seeing how far the boundaries of contemporary folk and experimental jazz can be pushed right here in Brighton.