The ‘De Mowbray Songbook’ is originally a collection of short musical compositions by award-winning composer Benjamin Ellin. Written at the start of the UK lockdown in 2020, each piece is a short snapshot of Benjamin’s new surroundings of Thirsk, North Yorkshire within a world that had changed so completely.

Following a social media call from Benjamin and Rural Arts in Thirsk, a community of local and regional artists, working in different mediums, signed up to create their own response to a chosen track from the songbook without knowing the background, name or inspiration for the piece; they just had the music itself, without any context.

The project is a communion of visual art and music as well as a celebration of community; originally separated through Covid but united in creativity. The aim is create further songbooks complete with visual artistic responses in the coming years.

An exhibition was held and book of the artworks was produced. Below are a few examples of art produced by the local artists and some of the music that inspired them: