About Us
Participation, curiosity & play
Science Communication & Sonic Art
Learning through experimentation
Previous events listed by year: here
Why?
Effective science communication and arts participation rely on meaningful engagement with all kinds of people, in all kinds of settings. We bring imagination, humour, fascination, passion, creativity, a lot of experience and some very innovative contraptions to help push the message: learning how the world works is a beautiful and creative journey.
Most of our work is focussed around:
- science, especially physics
- music/sonic art/organised noise
- e-waste awareness and repurposing/upcycling
Who?
Noisy Toys is run by the artist and educator Stephen Summers, who works with a small team of freelance artists, Makers and performers for specific projects. You can find out more about them below.
What?
Scavenger Labs C.I.C. is a Community Interest Company that Noisy Toys operates through as a trading name. The Directors are Stephen Summers & Mick Chesterman.
Where?
Noise HQ is in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire. We travel all over the country and beyond to deliver our activities and performances.
Stephen Summers
- Artist/ musician/ science communicator
- Designer & Maker of instruments & installations
- Composer specialising in electroacoustic music
- Cellist; acoustic, electric & acoustic + electronics
- Qualified teacher with 20 years’ experience in education
- MMus (Masters in Music); Electroacoustic Composition and Interactive Controllers, Manchester University, Distinction, 2018
- Started Noisy Toys in 2007, but has still not yet dominated the global noise market.
Olivia Rhoden – Liv for Science
Silliness and Science on tap. Liv loves the curious corners of the world and asking ‘why?’ to nearly everything. A passionate noise-maker and environment carer, noisy toys is the perfect place to make noise about why we should save the world from e-waste and make a racket while doing it!
Rachele Evaroa
A cultural producer, social entrepreneur and performer working at the intersection of community, creativity, and youth empowerment. With a strong track record in social enterprise, she has developed initiatives that use culture as a tool for social change. Alongside this, she has been a regularly gigging musician in the band Galivantes, and has set up her own venue for Grass Roots music, The Old Abbey Taphouse in Manchester.
Black Cat
Our Cymatics specialist; Blackcat has been researching and demonstrating cymatics patterns with sound and music for several years, building her equipment during an artist residency at Bidston Observatory.
Yorgos – Georgios Stenos Frantzios
Yorgo is a sonic scavenger; a full-time explorer of hardware stores, kitchens and junkyards in quest for noise-making treasures. You can find out more about his work here.
