SonOrbitUs to End Year-Long Sunderland Sound Project With Culture House Closing Event

Sunderland’s year-long musical portrait of the city will reach its finale this October as SonOrbitUs comes to an end with a special free closing event at Culture House in Keel Square.

Commissioned by Sunderland Music City and funded by Arts Council England, SonOrbitUs has spent the past year transforming Sunderland’s everyday life into an evolving piece of music. The work changes continuously in response to the city’s people, environment and activity, combining sounds recorded around Sunderland with live city data.

The project was created by Sunderland musicians and artists Peter Brewis, Ed Carter and Tim Shaw, with research and technical input from Becky Allen. Across the year, SonOrbitUs has drawn on everything from the sounds of the city itself to information such as weather, movement and traffic, creating a piece that has shifted as Sunderland has changed around it.

The project will be celebrated at a special closing event on Saturday 17 October 2026 at The Exchange, Floor 1, Culture House Sunderland, Keel Square.

The day begins from 11am to 1pm with an improvisation workshop led by Faye McCallman. Musicians of all abilities are invited to join the session, with a range of instruments available on the day for people to use and interact with.

After a break between 1pm and 2pm, the event resumes with a collective improvised performance running from 2pm to 5pm. Peter Brewis will introduce the final session before residents are invited to join in, help shape the last hours of SonOrbitUs or simply watch and listen as the piece reaches its conclusion.

Those who have claimed tickets for the afternoon session can arrive at any point between 2pm and 5pm to experience the changing sound of the project before it switches off at 5pm.

Sunderland Music City is encouraging people to claim a free ticket online in advance, although people can also turn up on the day provided the room has not reached capacity.

Peter Brewis, SonOrbitUs producer, said: “It’s been amazing to make a changing Sunderland audible over the course of a year. Everything has been in flux – the seasons, the tides, the people. For the last few hours we’d like people to actually come and play alongside SonOrbitUs.”

The closing event comes after a major period for Sunderland’s music scene. Sunderland was admitted to the international Music Cities Network in January 2025 and the city’s inaugural Year of Music 2025–26 came to an end earlier this summer on 21 June.

Across that year, more than 600 music events, projects and activities took place around Sunderland, celebrating the city’s musical heritage while also creating new opportunities for artists, communities, audiences and the wider creative economy.

SonOrbitUs has represented a different side of that programme. Rather than simply bringing music into Sunderland, the project has built music directly from Sunderland itself, using the city’s sounds, movement, weather and changing activity as part of the composition.

Frankie Francis, Sunderland Music City Music Officer, said: “SonOrbitUs has been an extraordinary experiment in listening to our city. For an entire year, Sunderland has effectively been composing through its people, its weather, its movement and its everyday sounds.

“The closing event is an opportunity to come together, hear the project in its final form and celebrate everyone who has contributed to making this remarkable piece of work.”

The project has also highlighted the potential for music, technology, data and creativity to work together in new ways, while giving audiences a different perspective on familiar places and everyday experiences across Sunderland.

SonOrbitUs Closing Event takes place at The Exchange, Floor 1, Culture House Sunderland, Keel Square, on Saturday 17 October 2026. The improvisation workshop runs from 11am–1pm, followed by the closing performance from 2pm–5pm. Both sessions are free.

Free tickets: Book for the SonOrbitUs Closing Event via Eventbrite. You can also view the official Sunderland Music City event page.