Autumn 2022: London’s Classical Music Scene
“Berlioz on acid”, an immersive orchestral experience, Mozart in a pub, and a silent film with live piano music…book for these unconventional classical concerts and strap in for the ride!
Saturday 24 September, 2pm-4.30pm, free
Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo
The orchestra is a thing of wonder, and of mystery; many musicians making a perfect collective sound. How does this happen? You’re invited to climb inside Paraorchestra and find out. The musicians of the orchestra spread across the Royal Festival Hall foyer and you’re welcome to wander throughout, exploring each individual sound and creating a personal sonic mix as you move. Today’s music is The Four Sections, one of composer Steve Reich’s rare works for symphony orchestra.
Tuesday 27 September, 7.30pm-9pm, £15-£69
Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo
Introducing “Berlioz on acid”... Waltz through a glittering ball, enter a feverish dream, march to your own execution, and spin into dark delirium at a witches’ sabbath. Take on the opium-infused visions of a tortured artist haunted by unrequited passion in this Orchestral Theatre production of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique by Aurora Orchestra. This show got rave reviews at its premiere at the 2019 BBC Proms, garnering 5 stars from The Evening Standard and described by comedian Kieran Hodgson as “one of the best concerts I’ve seen in my entire life”. Go and discover what a unique theatrical concert is like, complete with stage design, lighting and movement.
Thursday 1 September & Saturday 10 September, 7.30pm, £17 / £22.50
Bold Tendencies, Peckham
Pick between the Kanneh-Mason siblings in these car-park performances in September. At the start of the month, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason performs with improvising pianist and jazz composer Harry Baker, English-Moroccan singer-songwriter Zak Abel, and four fellow cellists. Where else can you hear music by Bach, Gwylim Simcock and Nile Rogers in the same concert?!
Later that month, 20-year-old pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performs Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 in the same venue with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by celebrated young American conductor Roderick Cox. Head up to Frank’s Cafe afterwards for a drink in this cool rooftop bar with stunning views over London.
1-2 October, 7.30pm, £30-£40
Barbican Centre, Barbican
Composer Max Richter performs two special shows exploring the idea of the orchestra as a medium for ambient music, rather than electronic instruments. He has selected pieces that create space to reflect on ideas and feelings, some of which have never been performed in the UK before. It’s this intersection between the music and the listeners’ biographies that interests Richter – the way a musical performance becomes conversational. Richter will be joined by 12 Ensemble and soprano Grace Davidson. Hurry if you want tickets as there aren’t many left!
Interview with Max Richter about classical music gatekeeping >>
Sunday 30 October, 7pm-8pm, £15
Barbican Cinema, Barbican
Prepare to enter an unpredictable and unsettling world in this silent film with live piano music. This is our world, but not as you know it. The ghosts and ghouls come out to play as pianist Clare Hammond adds live accompaniment to a spooky set of specially conceived images by the Quay Brothers. The soundtrack is an unbroken sequence of fragments, last thoughts, elegies and absences by Schubert, Mozart, Wagner, Janáček, Stravinsky, Jacquet de la Guerre and Schumann, interwoven with movements from John Woolrich's Pianobooks.
Monday 21 November, 7pm-8.20pm, £15-£25 (£5 students & <25s)
Village Underground, Shoreditch
City of London Sinfonia invites you to a contemporary version of a traditional Vienna salon at Village Underground, Shoreditch’s cultural hub, housed in revamped Tube carriages, shipping containers and a warehouse. Pick between a chair or a cushion for this performance of Franz Schubert’s Octet, composed in 1824. The musicians will swap places so even from one seat you’ll get to enjoy different soundscapes.
Sunday 25 September, 7.30pm-9pm, £10-£30
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank
South African cellist and musical innovator Abel Selaocoe moves seamlessly across a plethora of genres and styles, redefining the parameters of the cello. In his autumn shows he explores the meaning of home, drawing on diverse influences from across Southern Africa and the baroque era. You’ll hear a varied mix of musical styles that aren’t often paired together, launching Selaocoe’s debut album, out on 23rd September.
The Night Shift
Camden, Walthamstow & Shadwell, 7.30pm, £5-£10
27 September, 25 October & 29 November
Experience the authentic Mozart night out at The Night Shift, where classical music is taken to pubs around London. This autumn you can book in at The Fiddler’s Elbow in Camden, Ye Olde Rose & Crown in Walthamstow and The George Tavern in Shadwell. Between each hit, musicians will share music trivia and stories about what it was like to roll with the punches as a musician in the 1700s.
Hannah Fiddy is a creative entrepreneur, developing new audiences for classical music. She has created and promoted numerous concerts outside of traditional spaces, including warehouses, pubs, clubs, museums, hospitals, prisons and even in Primark. Hannah is also an interviewer, writer and guest lecturer, and runs the Avon Chamber Choir in Bristol. In a past life she founded London Flashmob, producing quirky events from wedding proposals to cultural pranks for up to 1,000 people.
Follow Hannah on Twitter @Hannah_Fiddy.