Eliza Marshall - A Renowned flautist and composer

Eliza Marshall

The fabulous flute of Eliza Marshall. – Peter Gabriel

The other-wordly sound of Eliza's bansuri is warmly engaging, yet at the same time deeply mysterious. – Joby Talbot

At the heart of Ranagri's sound are the melodies, counter-melodies and harmonies that come from Eliza's extensive armoury of flutes and whistles. – Folk Radio UK

Marshall and company should be applauded for having created a collection so inspirational and thought-provoking from the base materials of our madness.– Songlines

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Renowned flautist and composer Eliza Marshall set to released her first collection of solo music on a new EP via Petyer Gabriel on Real World X.

Renowned for her work with the award-winning folk group Ranagri, Eliza is also an in demand session player contributing to records by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney, First Aid Kit, Florence & The Machine and The White Stripes. She was a member of Peter Gabriel's New Blood Orchestra and also appears on his current album i/o.

Classically trained, Eliza grew up listening to Steve Reich, Paul Simon and the aforementioned Gabriel, along with traditional music from all over the world. Her passion for defying genres is put into play on this first single New Birth – that weaves layers of percussion, haunting flute melodies and hypnotic balafon rhythms, shrouded in tribal chants and electronics - and the subsequent EP. The tracks were recorded at Real World Studios, England and Dakar, Senegal with world class musicians from Senegal and The Gambia (Ady Thioune and Ansumana Suso) and the UK (Andrew Morgan, Dònal Rogers), and production from Ivor Novello recipient Graeme Pleeth.

"New Birth is about new beginnings, new life, new ideas," says Marshall. "It looks to this time, 2025, in the life of our planet; Our Times, our era, the way we connect and interact, and who we share our lifetimes with. In Spring, I imagine new life beneath the soil, roots quietly intertwining and nurturing one another, while above, new shoots grow. What is the first light for a plant or a child? A beautiful, yet daunting, world to behold?

This EP is unlike anything I've written before. It pushes me far beyond my comfort zone. It's filled with tribal chanting vocals, powerful percussive layers, lots of whistles and electronics.

I've had a whole range of influences in my life that are beyond classical music, which have shaped the musician I am today - a mix of many different genres. I don't believe artists need to be confined to a single style. I love the idea of cross-pollination, of sharing influences and ideas across cultures globally. I hope this spirit of openness and exchange comes through in my EP."

First single New Birth is available now on all digital platforms and the New Birth EP follows

ABOUT ELIZA

Not frightened to put her mind to ventures new, Eliza was a founder member of Award-Winning folk group Ranagri who have 5 highly acclaimed albums, have signed with prestigious folk label Stockfisch Records, and have appeared all over the UK, Germany and Ireland, at festivals and venues including Cambridge Festival, Montelago Celtic Festival (Italy), Birmingham Symphony Hall and Buxton Opera House. Most recently they received Best Band of 2022 Fatea Award.

March 2020 saw Eliza realising a pioneering musical dream she had been conjuring since 2018, with the gift of new found time presented by the Covid lockdowns. A new album, with co-writers and performers Jackie Shave, Catrin Finch and Dónal Rogers, commissioning and co-producing a new documentary with director Nicholas Jones, and collaborating with visual artist Amelia Kosminsky to direct the epic production Freedom To Roam: The Rhythms Of Migration. Fatea Innovation Project Award winner 2021, it was supported by Arts Council of England, Royal Philharmonic SocietyFoundation.

Working as co-producer for the documentary 'Connected', Eliza harnessed many people including Virginia McKenna and Will Travers of the Born Free Foundation, Alan Watson Featherstone who founded Trees For Life, Nick Hayes - author 'The Book Of Trespass', Nick Ray, recently voted No 2 in The Herald Top 20 Scot's People 2022, and Alexandra Mckenzie who planted 50,000 trees with children from Glasgow as part of cop26.

No stranger to radio broadcasts, Eliza has appeared as soloist with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for Classic FM, has performed on In Tune for Radio 3, RTE Lyric FM, and all national BBC radios. Her music can regularly be heard on many local folk shows and she was interviews for Rob Hopkins From What If To What Next podcast.

With a love for crossing musical boundaries and bringing together musicians and music from all over the world – Eliza is passionate about the binding qualities that cross-cultural music-making has to offer. Tours and collaborations have taken Eliza all over Africa, North and South America, throughout Europe, Scandinavia, India, Japan and Australia, with some exciting new music coming in 2025. Watch this space!

ARTISTS SHE HAS WORKED WITH

A-ha, Abel Selaocoe, Alexander Armstrong, Alfie Boe, Alison Moyet, Bat For Lashes, Bette Midler, Bonnie Tyler, Catrin Finch, Craig David, First Aid Kit, Florence & the Machine, Groove Armada, Kate Walsh, Katie Melua, Ladyhawke, Michael Buble, Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Robbie Williams, Rufus Wainwright, Sam Smith, Seckou Keita, Stacey Kent, Stevie Wonder, The Divine Comedy, The Feeling, The White Stripes, Tony Christie, Travis, UB40

FILMS/VIDEO GAMES I WORKED ON & COMPOSERS I WORKED WITH

Alan Silvestri, Alexandre Desplat, A R Rahman, Daft Punk, Danny Elfman, David Arnold, Ennio Morricone, Garth Knox, George Fenton, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Howard Shore, James Horner, James Newton Howard, Johan Söderqvist, Joby Talbot, John Metcalf, John Powell, Lorne Balfe, Marc Streitenfeld, Mark Mothersbaugh, Paul Englishby, Terry Davies...