A MUSICIAN is to premiere his new composition with a marina concert.

Artist Ed Carter will unveil his new work False Lights Seaham, at Seaham Marina on Saturday, November 15 as part of the East Durham Creates Festival.

The piece commemorates the 52nd anniversary of the George Elmy lifeboat disaster in 1962, in which eight men and one child lost their lives off the coast at Seaham.

It also alludes to the “false lights” seen along Durham’s treacherous coastline in the 1860s that were the cause of many shipwrecks, leading to the construction of 10 electric lighthouses, of which Seaham is one.

The centrepiece of the performance is a large-scale wooden instrument in the shape of an upturned boat and the staithes that once dominated the Seaham coastline.

Accompanying Mr Carter’s musical sculpture will be tuned percussionists and a brass quintet from Durham Miner’s Association Brass Band.

Alongside the music there will be dramatic lighting displays inspired by the Seaham lighthouse and key incidents in the witness statements taken after the George Elmy lifeboat capsized.

The premiere is preceded by a performance by East Durham based singer-songwriter Jez Lowe, whose repertoire will consist of songs about sailors and the sea, and songs commemorating the George Elmy disaster.

The project is supported by Durham County council and is funded through Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places. They hope to increase the number of people being inspired by the arts across the whole of the UK.

Tickets for the performance, which starts at 4.30pm, are £10, or £3 for East Durham residents, available from www.eastdurhamcreates.co.uk or the Lookout Cafe at Seaham Marina.