Speakers Imogen Heap: Diva

Classically trained composer, multi-instrumentalist and singer Imogen Heap finds her muse in unlikely places. She's mined sonic mystery from sources ranging from cardboard tubes to cheap samplers to the data gloves--not to mention her own vocal cords.

A relentless experimenter, Heap's latest song cycle is built around some 900 fan-submitted "sound seeds," or samples of everyday sounds. The first six of these "Heapsongs" have been released via her website, and include the lovely "Propeller Seeds," inspired by a chance meeting at a past TEDGlobal. During this year's TEDGlobal she will be recording a song in various locations in Edinburgh, "anywhere that has a piano and they let me turn up with a microphone."

She has also composed the orchestral score for the crowdsourced nature film "Love the Earth" and is just back from a residency in China.

"Heap is not just a compelling vocalist from the Kate Bush school for the intensely intriguing. She's a charismatic singer willing to dig deep."

David Wild, Rolling Stone Records

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