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Music of Douglas J. Cuomo Featured in Juliet Ellis's A Symphony of Flesh and Bones at the Manchester International Festival

Aug. 28, 2025

A Symphony of Flesh and Bones, a new film and live installation from Juliet Ellis, was presented from July 11-13 at the South Warehouse, Aviva Studios as part of the Manchester International Festival. The film features music by composer Douglas J. Cuomo, including Savage Winter; Proverb; Only Breath; Veronika and others.

In this contemplative new film and live installation, artist Juliet Ellis deconstructs the relationship between our body, mind and self. A Symphony of Flesh and Bones draws on the artist’s family history to create a profound and hallucinatory work that both probes and provokes universal questions about personas and impermanence.

Focusing on the experiences of her father Lloyd, a world champion bodybuilder, and her brother, Anthony, a former cage fighter, Ellis explores how and why we build our bodies as shelters or armour – and how the physical effects of aging impact the different identities we construct.

A Symphony of Flesh and Bones is grounded in Ellis’ Buddhist practice. Deeply meditative, the piece comprises of film split across multiple screens, and a stage performance responding to the film’s content. Ellis sits at the centre of this in the flesh as the live element conducting the work, while dreamlike images of Lloyd and Anthony as younger men, their bodies today and their unrealized dreams appear on screen.


In the Studio with Juliet Ellis | Interview | Factory International

To learn more about Douglas J. Cuomo, visit schott-music.com.

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