January 2020: A Classic Start to the Year
We start 2020 with a bang, with a BYOB concert (no dry January here 🤫), a dog-friendly series on the top of a hill, The X Factor of the experimental classical scene (minus Simon Cowell), an opera with an on-stage orchestra and two brilliant festivals. If you enjoy our monthly round-ups, please feel very free to share this post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, by email or even by good old carrier pigeon. We also have a Ko-fi page if you want to show your support financially by buying us a cuppa. Enjoy reading!
10-12 January, free-£25 (£8 students, £5 <18s)
LSO St Luke’s, Old Street & St James, Clerkenwell
This ‘no-rules early music festival’ invites you to imagine if Bach was a jazzman, Monteverdi a minimalist or Dowland a protest-singer. Leading musicians from all backgrounds take the music of the baroque and see where it leads them at this annual festival, now in its third year. ‘No rules, no programme notes, no lectures. All you need to know is how to listen.’
23 January - 9 February
Coventry, Stourbridge, Birmingham
An exciting 2-week festival of cutting-edge music and art with a focus on connecting experimental audiences and performers of different genres across the West Midlands. The programme spans free improv, contemporary classical, opera, electronica, sound art and more. Watch out for interdisciplinary theatre collective Waste Paper Opera Company at the newly refurbished Gala Pool at Birmingham’s most iconic swimming baths and the Drawing Orchestra with 10 artists, 10 iPads and 10 projectors.
Friday 10 January, 7.30pm & 9.30pm, £24
Hayward Gallery, Waterloo
Music from the 17th century to the present day for acoustic and electric guitar performed against the backdrop of Bridget Riley’s iconic monochrome paintings of the 1960s in the Southbank’s contemporary art gallery. The concert by innovative Scottish musician Sean Shibe includes his rendition of Electric Counterpoint, described by Steve Reich as ‘one of the best ever’. The event consists of a 45-minute gallery viewing and a 50-minute performance.
12 January - 1 March, 7.45pm - 8.45pm, free
St Martha-on-the-Hill, Chilworth
A series of atmospheric contemporary music recitals for intrepid concert-goers at the top of St Martha’s Hill in Surrey (only accessible by foot), which on a clear day offers stunning views of eight counties. Wrap up warmly and take a torch and binoculars! Dogs are welcome and hot chocolate is available to warm you as the music plays. The Holywell Ensemble kicks off on Sunday 12 January with contemporary chamber music and there are concerts with different artists every fortnight until March.
Wednesday 29 January, 8pm - 11pm, £10 (£6 students)
The Victoria, Dalston
Nonclassical’s annual Battle of the Bands contest – The X Factor of the experimental classical scene – is always a fun night. Emerging musicians and groups perform new music to a judging panel of industry experts, and the audience gets a chance to vote for their favourite act.
Friday 24 January, 7.15pm, £10
Oxford House Chapel, Bethnal Green
A BYOB concert in the hidden wooden chapel at the top of the Grade II listed Oxford House overlooking Weavers Fields. This the opening night of the second series of eavesdropping, a double-bill concert series in which performers present their latest works or works-in-progress in an informal setting. Tonight you will hear singers Sophie Fetokaki and Jennifer Walshe. Disposable cups and a corkscrew will be provided.
Friday 17 January, 7.30pm, £15-£25
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Waterloo
London-based composer and electronic producer Ryan Lee West aka Rival Consoles (who created the music for Secret Cinema’s edition of Stranger Things) performs a new work for 16 string players. In this performance, an AI installation inspired by the visual art of Bridget Riley responds to the sound of the London Contemporary Orchestra playing Michael Gordon’s mesmerising piece Rushes.
Saturday 11 January, 8pm - 9.20pm, £15-£40 (£10 <25s)
Barbican Centre, Barbican
Follow one woman’s personal struggle against political oppression in this dark, seething and engrossing new minimalist opera from the co-founder of pioneering new music collective Bang on a Can. Unusually, this opera is designed for performance with the orchestra on stage.
Saturday 25 January, 8pm - 9pm, £16
LSO St Luke’s, Old Street
Remixing ideas of what Chinese music and contemporary classical music can be, Tangram rings in the Lunar New Year with new music. This concert interweaves reimagined folk melodies with brand-new compositions. There is also a free pre-concert panel discussion exploring different perspectives on how transnational Chinese aritsts engage diasporic narratives through music.
15-19 January, £10-£20 (£8.50-£10 students)
Leeds, Glasgow, London, Manchester
The latest show from risk-takers Manchester Collective combines instruments that have literally never been heard before: a string quartet with bones (cow ribs used as percussion), ancient flutes, bells and drums. Ancient music brought vividly to life for 21st-century ears.
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.
Photo credits: Sean Shibe by Pete Woodhead; LCO by Michael Gordon; David Lang by Chris Lee; Oxford House Chapel by Charles Flint