Formed in 2014, Abstruckt are one of the most exciting percussion ensembles to come out of the UK in recent times. With a focus on theatrical performance, the ensemble reworks its repertoire to uniquely fit their performance space, creating an immersive experience for the audience.
As well as performing core works for percussion ensemble, such as Reich’s ‘Mallet Quartet”, Cage’s ‘Living Room Music’ and Xenakis’ “Okho”, Abstruckt are passionate about pioneering new repertoire for percussion, and have given a huge number of UK and World premieres of pieces by composers based all around the globe.
Equally at home performing in concert halls, basements, crypts and car parks, highlights of the ensemble’s work include multiple projects for Multi-Story/Bold Tendencies and Nonclassical, as well as recitals at venues including the Barbican, St David’s Hall, Cardiff and Nottingham Royal Concert Hall.
Photographer: James Cameron
Photographer: Dimitri Djuric
Joe Richards
After two years of training at the prestigious Purcell School of Music, Joe was awarded a scholarship at the Royal College of Music. Having graduated with First Class Honours, he continued his studies for a Masters in Performance, receiving a Distinction as an Ian Evans Lombe and Mary Dobson Scholar.
Joe performs all over the UK and abroad in a huge array of musical contexts; ranging from work as a contemporary solo artist, to that of an orchestral, chamber, West-End and session musician. He appears frequently with numerous ensembles including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra, often featuring on national radio and television. He has also been invited to feature as Guest Principal Percussionist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.
Other projects have allowed him to share the stage, and/or recording studio, with internationally renowned musicians such as Deep Purple, Jacob Collier, Stewart Copeland (The Police), Mark Ford, Kuljit Bhamra and Nebojsa Zivkovic, to name but a few.
Emma Arden
Emma is a percussionist who prides herself in covering a vast range of disciplines, and a performer at the forefront of the commercial, contemporary and avant-garde genres.
After graduating with the Joy Hockings Percussion Prize from the Royal College of Music, Emma went on to direct the UK's premier performance drumline, Box 9 Drumline. With Box 9 she has performed for the NFL, Rugby World Cup Finals, Strictly Come Dancing, The London Marathon, Glastonbury Festival, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Classic FM and many more.
As a freelancer, Emma has recorded in Abbey Road Studios, Air Studios and Angel Studios for the likes of Diana Ross, Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman. Emma joined the LSRO on their stadium tour around the UK for ‘Planet Earth II’ in 2022. She also appeared on BBC1 & MTV with Clean Bandit and acted as Drum Captain for performances of their single 'I Miss You' in the UK and Europe. Emma has performed in a number of productions at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre since 2018 as an onstage musician. She made her orchestral debut with the Aurora Orchestra in September 2019, performing in their theatrical interpretation of Berlioz’s ‘Symphonie Fantastique’ at the BBC Proms.
Outside of music, Emma manages and produces for the comedy & gaming YouTube channel, UpIsNotJump.
Ensemble Collaborators
Ana Gasco-Gomez
Ana is a Spanish percussionist and timpanist based in Canada. After finishing her studies with distinction at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, she moved to London to complete a Master in Performance at the Royal College of Music, winning a scholarship from the ‘Mary Jobson and Neville Wathen award’.
Ana has performed with different orchestras and bands around the world including Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Opera, Netherlands Philharmonic, Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, Film Symphony Orchestra and Banda Municipal de Madrid.
Freelancing mostly between Canada, Spain and UK, Ana shares her love for both classical and contemporary music, playing with different ensembles. As a solo artist she premiered the percussion piece 間 [ma] by Raquel Garcia Tomas at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Ana enjoys boxing, pilates and of course…a nice hike through the Canadian forests!
Hui Wai Nok
Angela Wai Nok Hui is a percussionist and performer dedicated to researching and promoting new music. Angela searches for the unexplored possibilities between classical music, musical theatre and art, and collaborates with composers, artists, poets and painters, incorporating a multitude of instruments and styles.
Angela has graduated from the Royal College of Music in BMus(Hons) and with distinction in Master of Music in performance. She was awarded the Joy Hockings Percussion Prize 2016. She was one of the percussion finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2010. Nowadays, Angela is heavily involved in the contemporary classical scene in London. She has worked with many ensembles and composers, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, co-director at Metapraxis Ensemble, Tangram Ensemble, Octandre Ensemble, Explore Ensemble, Riot Ensemble, Plus Minus Ensemble, etc. Angela has participated in editions of Sonorities Festival of Contemporary Music In Belfast, the percussion studio at Darmstadt Ferienkurse für Neue Musik 2018 in Germany, Linea Ensemble Summer Academy for contemporary music in France, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2018/19, Impuls the international ensemble and composers academy for Contemporary music in Austria and Warsaw Autumn Festival in Poland.
Elsa Bradley
Elsa Bradley is a London-based freelance percussionist and timpanist, born and raised in Yorkshire. She graduated from King's College, London and the Royal College of Music with first-class degrees and has gone on to play in a variety of orchestral and chamber ensembles across the UK, Europe and Canada.
As an orchestral musician, Elsa has freelanced in many of the UK's main orchestras including regular work with the BBC Symphony and Concert Orchestras, Britten Sinfonia, Opera North, City of London Sinfonia and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
Both period and contemporary music feature heavily in Elsa's life and she plays in regular projects with various period ensembles, the award-winning Multi-Story Orchestra and new-music collective Plus Minus Ensemble.
Elsa also plays the hammered dulcimer and cimbalom professionally, with the latter (and larger!) instrument notably having taken her to the BBC Proms with the London Sinfonietta and across to Montréal, Canada to play with Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. Folk music, both traditional and modern, is a genre Elsa really enjoys exploring on the hammered dulcimer and has played in numerous ensembles at venues including the Royal Academy of Music and Ronnie Scotts.
In her free time Elsa likes to be outdoors, mostly cycling and exploring new places.
Jude Carlton
At 5 years old Jude began the traditional percussionists training on pots and pans and cardboard boxes. He went on to study music at Cambridge and timpani and percussion at the Royal College of Music before embarking on a busy freelance career playing with orchestras such as the LPO, Philharmonia, RPO as well as period ensembles such as OAE, Gabrieli and the Hanover Band. Enjoying playing new music as much as old music, he has premiered concertos by Ruta Vitkauskaite (with the Lithuanian National Orchestra) and Kate Whitley (with the Multi-Story Orchestra) as well as solo works by Joel Rust and Michael Piasaro.
Working with young people has also been an important part of his musical life. From devising and leading workshops for Multi-Story Orchestra or the BBC Proms, or simply as a musical cog in a bigger project with LPO or OAE – this is a strand of work that he finds continually energising.
When not engrossed in some sort of musical activity he enjoys the usual – good food, walking, watching too much Netflix and occasionally driving dumper trucks.