Our Heritage
Delia Derbyshire (1937-2001) was a pioneer of electronic music in the UK. Her most famous work is her iconic rendering of the original Dr Who theme for the BBC in 1963.
The Delia Derbyshire Archive is based at John Rylands Library in Manchester. This project will animate the archive and engage the public with the unique heritage of early electronic music. Among the 267 audio archive items are many examples of Derbyshire producing genres of electronic music decades before they rose to prominence, such as ambient music, synth pop and even electronic dance music/minimal techno in the 1960s and 1970s.
Delia Derbyshire Day will run a variety of participatory activities with local schools and young people, all inspired by Delia and her musical working methods.
The project will create educational short films, an interactive web platform (the 'Deliaphonic Soundbank'), host three public events in collaboration with Digital Women’s Archive North.
Information about all the exciting public events taking place as part of the project can be found on the DD Day website.