FOETUS performed as a 20 piece chamber orchestra
JG Thirlwell will be performing as Foetus, presenting material from the latest Foetus album HALT (2026) and selections of earlier Foetus material. The Foetus show will be performed as a twenty piece chamber orchestra featuring string section, brass section, harp, woodwind, keyboards and percussion as well as guitar, bass and drums.
It will be his first appearance as Foetus in the UK over 25 years, and only the second time the work has been presented by a live orchestra (the first being at the Donaufestival in Krems, Austria in 2005). Thirlwell has worked extensively with ensembles in the last thirty years and will be bringing all his arranging talents to the pinnacle for this unique performance, a UK exclusive.
“I am so excited to be presenting the Foetus material the way that it is intended to be heard and with all the nuance and power that will be brought by these great musicians. It is a rare and special occasion that I’m able to present the Foetus material in this way and it allows me to close a chapter on this project with a bang. I’m not afraid to go big and this show will be mammoth.”
JG THIRLWELL BRIEF BIOGRAPHY
JG Thirlwell is a composer/producer/performer based in Brooklyn, NY. Born in Melbourne, he moved to London in 1978, then relocated to NYC in 1983, where he has been based ever since. As well as his own name, he works under many pseudonyms including Foetus, Xordox, Manorexia, Steroid Maximus, Baby Zizanie, Hydroze Plus, Clint Ruin and Wiseblood.
He has released over forty albums. If there is a common thread to his varied musical styles, it is a dramatic intensity and an evocative, cinematic quality. Thirlwell has also featured as producer, remixer, collaborator or arranger for a wide variety of artists including Karen O, Noveller, Zola Jesus, Helm, Mivos Quartet, Melvins, Swans, Nine Inch Nails, Lydia Lunch, Coil, Z’s, The The, Simon Hanes, Tony Oursler, Nick Cave and many more.
JG created the musical score for the Emmy-winning FX show Archer, and for Adult Swim / Cartoon Network show The Venture Bros, for which he was nominated for an Annie Award. He has also scored several features and short films, as well as the first season of Dicktown.
JG has completed commissions for Kronos Quartet, Bang On A Can, Alarm Will Sound, String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Experiments in Opera, Zephyr Quartet, Great Learning Orchestra, Alterity Chamber Orchestra, Dither, Jeffrey Zeigler, William Basinski and more. He is also an acclaimed graphic artist. In 2010, he received a fellowship from New York Foundation of the Arts in sound / composition. He has created sound installations which have exhibited in Santarcangelo, Kaliningrad, Vienna and Gotland, and is a member of the freq_out sound art collective.
He performs live with chamber ensembles, with his multi-channel electro-acoustic “Silver Mantis” project and with his electronic project Xordox.
