February 2019: London's Alt Classical Scene
This month in London you can go to a classical concert hosted in a loft bedecked with fairy lights, listen while catching up with friends in a pub, or hear classical music alongside other genres including R&B, folk and Broadway tunes. If you’d like to receive our recommendations once a month to your inbox, sign up for our mailing list. We’re also on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
CLF Art Cafe, Peckham & Ye Olde Rose and Crown, Walthamstow
Tuesday 26 & Thursday 28 February, 7.30pm, £5-£10
‘Classical music, minus the rules’. A good choice if you want to catch up with friends and have a few drinks while hearing decent music. In Peckham you’ll hear both classical and folk music. The line-up for Walthamstow hasn’t been announced but it’s the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s first time in the area and there’s going to be pop-up food and a wide range of beer.
The Hall, Barbican Centre
Tuesday 26 February, 8pm, £20-£30
This 1993 Oscar-winning gothic romance is screened with a live performance of Michael Nyman’s popular minimalist score by the London Contemporary Orchestra.
The Albany, Deptford
Tuesday 12 February, 1.30pm - 2.30pm, £5
The ever-brilliant City of London Sinfonia is doing a series of comfortable classical concerts, the first of which is hosted by Deptford’s arts centre. You are encouraged to draw, colour or knit while listening to this lunchtime performance, and you’re welcome to pop in and out as you like. This series continues in March at the Canada Water Theatre.
DEBUT at Shoreditch Treehouse
Shoreditch Treehouse, Old Street
Sunday 24 February, 6pm - 9.30pm, sold out
If you like the sound of a loft adorned with fairy lights, cushions and even a swing, get yourself to Shoreditch Treehouse. DEBUT performs a range of opera, classical and Broadway tunes in this trendy space. The February event has sold out but there is another coming up in March and there are still a handful of tickets available. Hurry!
Bussey Building, Peckham
Wednesday 27 February - Saturday 9 March, 7.30pm - 9.30pm
An immersive production of Robin Hood, re-told through opera over three floors of the Bussey Building by The Opera Story. With music by up-and-coming composer Dani Howard, this opera offers a modern take on the traditional tale of the outlaw, with Robin Hood addressing the conflicting forces of capitalism and environmentalism. Your ticket also gets you discounted entry to the club night that follows.
Kings Place, King’s Cross
Sunday 24 February, 11.30am, £19.50
Bach, the Universe and Everything is Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s Sunday service for curious minds. This morning event themed around stars mixes science with music, combining a lecture about the Big Bang with a Bach cantata (‘How Beautifully Gleams the Morning Star’), which was performed on a Sunday morning back in 1725.
Kings Place, King’s Cross
Friday 22 February, sold out
Singer, songwriter and cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson is a rare exception to the rule that classical and alternative R&B music cannot successfully co-exist. She puts on a mesmerising show; however, this concert is already sold out (congrats Team Marketing).
1901 Arts Club, Waterloo
Friday 22 February, 6pm - 7.30pm, £30
Relax with a glass of Champagne during this hour-long piano recital performed from memory in the intimate salon-setting of London’s 1901 Arts Club. Finished by 7.30pm so the night will still be young…
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 also hosts monthly drinks for the classical music industry and runs a choir in Stoke Newington. Her alter ego is the Founder of London Flashmob, producing quirky events from wedding proposals to cultural pranks for up to 1,000 people.
Follow Hannah on Twitter @Hannah_Fiddy.