REVERENCE
A generative sound installation shaped by music, code and breath
Originally presented in collaboration with artist Anna Blom at Brompton Cemetery Chapel
London, Oct 3-4, 2026
REVERENCE is a generative sound installation built from over 500 fragments of musical material that I composed and recorded with my longtime collaborator, cellist Clare O’Connell. Through an intricate system of code developed over months of experimentation, these fragments are continually rearranged and layered to create an infinite soundscape, exploring breath as a musical structure through the gradual emergence, accumulation and dissolution of sound.
Sweeping cello lines, bells, chimes and organ chords emerge from silence, gather into rich, resonant textures and gradually dissolve back into stillness, each cycle unfolding differently from the last. Rather than following a fixed composition, REVERENCE becomes a living, breathing sonic environment that never repeats in quite the same way.
Live performance adds another dimension to the work, as the musician listens, responds and improvises alongside the evolving composition, never knowing exactly where the music will journey to next.
Film by Bobby Williams
Originally conceived in collaboration with visual artist Anna Blom, REVERENCE was first presented alongside her monumental paintings at the Chapel in Brompton Cemetery, London, in October 2026. Created outdoors on the Swedish forest floor using raw pigments, Anna's paintings carry traces of the natural world. Together, our works transformed the chapel into an immersive environment of painting and sound, exploring a shared question: How do we stay connected with what sustains us?
The original exhibition also included a live performance by Clare O’Connell, improvising alongside the generative composition, and a breath workshop led by Jamie Clements.
REVERENCE extends my ongoing exploration of breath as a structural and musical principle, seeking to create an embodied experience in which music becomes a transformative emotional and ritual force.
Artists: Alex Mills & Anna Blom
Cellist: Clare O’Connell
Filmmaker: Bobby Williams
Photographer: Rita Silva
Max Programming: Tom Whiston
With sincere thanks to Lucy von Goetz, Jimmy Blom, Rakesh Anand, Catherine Li and the volunteers at Brompton Cemetery Chapel who helped make this happen.