On Wednesday 23 May, Richard Durrant comes to the Purcell Room to launch his new album Hijo de Hombre. The concert will celebrate Richard’s inspirational musical journey through Paraguay with a mix of his virtuoso guitar playing, beautiful visuals and captivating storytelling. And as a special honour, the concert will be held in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Miguel Solano-Lopez. C, the Paraguayan Ambassador to the UK.
We are offering a third off tickets – to purchase tickets for only £10 (full price £15), simply quote DURRANT when booking online, by phone or in person.
For a sneak preview, watch this trailer below:
Extra tickets have become available in rows B and C – to book these tickets for only £10 and for more information about the showclick here.
The New Music 20×12 Weekend Celebration at Southbank Centre presents 20 new compositions of 12 minutes in length, encompassing a range of genres and composers – from jazz to folk, brass bands to contemporary classical – all inspired by the dynamism of sport.
On Friday 13 July, Northern Ireland Opera present new short opera works including Our Day by Conor Mitchell and Mark Ravenhill, set against a backdrop of events in Northern Ireland in 1972.
On Saturday 14 July, Imagined village and An Tobar combine for a folk double bill, and on Sunday 15 July the London Chamber Orchestra are joined by Graham Fitkin’s The Band to perform Track to Track, a new work by Graham Fitkin with text by Glyn Maxwell.
The weekend also includes a host of workshops, one-to-one composer surgeries, talks and free related events.
Find out more about the full weekend of free and ticketed events.
Next Wednesday 23 May, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra return to Southbank Centre to perform Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Violin Concerto No.5 in A and K.219 as well as Dmitry Shostakovich’s post-Stalin piece – Symphony No.10 in E minor.
Israeli conductor and violinist Pinchas Zukerman takes the baton and also performs alongside the orchestra, and discusses his path into music from a young age including his education in New York, the quality of British musicians and how at the age of 63, he’s still learning something new every day.
On Sunday 24 June, 11.30am the exuberant Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra performs a concert especially for families in Royal Festival Hall.
With introduced popular classical and Latin-American music for an orchestra, conducted by young conductors from Venezuela’s El Sistema, this concert will have an informal atmosphere and is perfect for children.
More tickets have just been put on sale, so don’t miss your chance to hear this vibrant orchestra, who are a sensation wherever they play. BOOK NOW!
On Tuesday 12 June, 7.30pm at Queen Elizabeth Hall, members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Foyle Future Firsts perform new works by current members of the LPO Leverhulme Young Composers programme – Mark David Boden, Laura Jayne Bowler, David Curington & Hollie Harding.
Onyx Brass are one of the most acclaimed brass ensembles in Britain. On Thursday 24th May, 7:45pm at Purcell Room, Queen Elizabeth Hall they are joined by Baritone Mark Stone to showcase their talent in a concert of new works, premieres and arrangements of old classics from their new CD ‘Time to Time’ .
Catch up with the group as they answer questions about life inside and outside the music world.
You’ve been working together as an ensemble for quite a while now, what has been the highlight of your career so far?
Andrew: It was probably our first ever performance at Wigmore Hall. Our reception brought me very close to blubbing!
Amos: We’re lucky enough to have had lots of highlights! Our Wigmore Hall début is definitely up there, but doing a masterclass and recital at the Juilliard School in NYC was great too (with a great meal after which also sticks in the memory…)
Two composers have commissioned works for the concert (Andrew Hamilton and Dan Jenkins). What challenges/rewards has each new commission presented you with?
Amos: Andrew’s piece looks simple on paper, but that’s highly deceptive! It’s completely original and full of emotion, and the challenge lies in achieving accuracy and pathos at the same time.
Niall: It’s always fun deconstructing a new piece. Usually new pieces look fantastically difficult and prove to be slightly easier than expected. The Hamilton was the opposite! It looked very simple at first sight and in fact proved to be quite difficult.
Dave: Without giving the game away, the Jenkins has a specific set of challenges centred around being extrovert, which has a different appeal to different members of the group. As in each new commission case we have had over the years, there is an inner satisfaction that we are able to help contribute to what is a relatively meagre repertory.
If you could commission a piece for Onyx from any one great composer of the past, who would it be?
Andrew: Beethoven! If we could have anything like the late string quartets, brass quintet as a medium would be so much more mainstream!
Niall: Well it’s a difficult because how can one imagine how Brahms or Beethoven would have written for that line up? I’d like to try a quintet by Haydn though – very difficult tuba parts I should think!
Great answers! Do you think anything is lost or gained from arranging these classic works from the repertory for brass ensemble?
David: The purists will say a lot has been lost but I would encourage them to wake up and smell the coffee! All the great composers, Bach especially, were happy to rearrange their music. If it means it appears in the public domain more often then it has to be in everyone’s interests.
For this project you are teaming up with the baritone Mark Stone. How would you describe Mark’s voice in one word?
David: I’d say Velvety…
Niall: Treacle?
Amos: Hmm. Bovril! (warm, smooth and meaty!)
So if you could do karaoke with Mark Stone, what would you sing?
Amos: It would be ignominious, but probably Burt Bacharach’s “Close to you”…
David: I’d have to go for “How Deep is Your Love” – the Bee Gees version.
That sounds like a great future collaboration! So do you guys have any strange pre/post-performance rituals that you go through?
David: We strip our clothes off and dance around a fire chanting to the Greek Gods of music. No that is a lie. We just relax and chat usually, taking the Mick out of ourselves and each other.
I was worried for a moment there, but it sounds fun! So when the concerts end and you get time off, what hobbies do you have outside of music?
Andrew: I enjoy cycling and Real Ale (not any old beer and certainly not mass produced lager!)
David: Well, trying to raise two children and see as much of my family as possible, combined with tuba playing, does not leave much time for other stuff. But when there is more time, I hope to go to the theatre a bit more. I love it.
What is your greatest fear?
Andrew: Leaving the bell section or mouthpiece of my horn at home…
Amos: My greatest fear is that I will never be able to persuade John Adams to write us a piece!
Niall: Probably watching an entire episode of Coronation Street!
Where do you see yourselves as an ensemble in 10 years time?
Amos: World domination!
David: Yes, and hopefully just chugging away at what we do best. Digging out new repertoire and performing it in a non gimmicky, but informative way
Ok my final question. What is your favourite ever piece of music?
Amos: Aaargh. I’m going to have to say ‘Daphnis and Chlöe’.
Niall: I don’t have one, and if I did it would change every week. But I know you’re simply dying for an answer so I’m going to say ‘Rite of Spring’!
For more information about Onyx, have a look at their website www.onyxbrass.co.uk, and catch a glimpse of their work below in a clip from their recent tour to Ireland.
Steve Reich said of David’s work: “ ‘Morning’. Integration of voice with string quartet beautifully done – Very honest stuff”.
We catch up with David ahead of the concert.
What are you particularly looking forward to about your forthcoming concert at Southbank Centre?
It’s been a few years since I had something played here, it will be good to return as I love the atmosphere – it’s very relaxed and ‘human’. As a composer I suppose I should say I’m looking forward to the performance itself. However, it can be rather stressful to be honest, being stuck in the stalls while others play, as it’s out of one’s hands, so I’m looking forward to it being over and getting back to work on my new piece – I much prefer composing to having concerts, although I’m extremely pleased to be having them of course!
Is there a piece of music you would pick out as one of the ‘best’ works ever written?
Well there are the obvious ones by the big three composers, discussed a great deal by others I expect, so I’ll avoid those and say Sibelius’ 5th Symphony – What to say about it though? – too much, it speaks for itself really, but in brief: such unbelievably perfect structure plus its powerful and somehow inevitable geometry across time – music that tells you something/everything about spacetime that cannot be even slightly approached by using language – also his 7th Symphony of course, plus a great number of John Dowland’s lute songs, clearly in the same class as Schubert’s, but a lot closer to home for me; Lutoslawski’s 4th symphony also – transcendent!
What other talent or skill would you like to possess?
Time travel obviously – facing forward of course! I would like to have a chat for a few hours with someone from 15,000-20,000 years in the future (I’d have to bring an army of linguists and philologists with me of course – he/she/it would have to bring historians too so we could understand each other). It would need to be someone who is very well-informed on the then-current scientific, artistic and ethical developments. I would risk blowing a mind-fuse for this.
If you could programme your ideal Southbank Centre show, which artists (living or dead) would you bring together?
I’d get Bach to come and improvise on the organ! If he was busy that day I’d ask Dowland to come and play the lute.
What is the most played piece of music on your mp3 player or in your CD collection?
I only really listen to vinyl these days and I have no mp3 player as I can’t listen to music that much as it distracts from composing, so I never bought one. So, most-played? Glenn Gould’s record of Byrd and Gibbons, (I’ve actually got two copies of this so when the first wears down I have a spare) followed by Beecham’s Sibelius’ 7th (only one copy of this unfortunately – hence its 2nd place).
Do you have any strange rituals you carry out before or after you perform?
I’ve not performed for many years so not as such. However, before a performance of my stuff I tend to worry a lot and drink a couple of beers to be quite honest.
Conductor Claudio Abbado and pianist Maurizio Pollini were the big name winners on a night that celebrated revelatory live music making. Pianist Mitsuko Uchida was presented with the Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, the society’s (and one of classical music’s) highest honours. Wins for composer Jonathan Harvey and cellist Oliver Coatesmade it a strong night for contemporary classical music.
“Still in his twenties, cellist Oliver Coates receives the award for diverse and virtuosic performances with ensembles including Aurora Orchestra, London Contemporary Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. Meanwhile, the playing and eclectic programming of his Harmonic Series has drawn a new classical audience to the Southbank Centre, where he is artist-in-residence.”
