Aurora Orchestra 2010 London Season
Resident at LSO St Luke’s
Welcome As it approaches the milestone of its fifth birthday in March 2010, Aurora is thriving. The past year has seen a nomination for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2009 ‘Young Artist’ Award, a move into our splendid new base at Kings Place, and news of major inaugural awards from Arts Council England and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation for a series of cross-arts events to be staged over the next three years at LSO St Luke’s. Aurora’s 2010 London season is our richest and most varied to date. Based around residencies at two of the city’s most attractive venues – LSO St Luke’s and Kings Place – it features a collection of thrilling repertoire, ranging from medieval troubadour music to cutting-edge works by Berio and Adams; from Weimar-era gems by Hindemith and Weill to the dazzling textures of Gershwin; and from Stravinsky’s playful Danses Concertantes to Scott Bradley’s virtuosic scores for Tom and Jerry cartoons. During the course of the season we shall be welcoming a diverse host of guest artists, including mezzo-soprano Loré Lixenberg, the outstanding young performers of Mahogany Opera, the Cordão de Ouro capoeira group, and students from Central St Martins College of Art and Design. We will also be extending our work in London schools, with a raft of participation and learning initiatives bringing music to young people in the capital. We look forward to welcoming you to an Aurora event soon.
Nicholas Collon Principal Conductor & Artistic Director
John Harte, General Manager
Ravaged by war and its economic aftermath, German and Austrian cities in the years after 1918 nevertheless proved to be astonishingly productive cultural crucibles. Artists, filmmakers, musicians and writers set about shattering the established frontiers of their respective disciplines in the pursuit of ‘modernity’, bequeathing a remarkable artistic legacy that would survive and flourish in spite of later Nazi attempts at its eradication. A week of music, film and cabaret, Aurora’s inaugural residency at Kings Place explores the explosive creativity which illuminated the inter-war cultural landscape from Vienna to Weimar.
Chamber Contrasts Thursday 28 January 7.30pm Stylistic Crossroads Saturday 30 January 7.30pm Cabaret after Dark Saturday 30 January 10pm
Supported by JMI ICSM Spoli Fund Austrian Cultural Forum Artistic advisors Erik Levi & Lloyd Moore
From Vienna to Weimar
Kings Place 27–30 January 2010
Chamber Contrasts
Thursday 28 January 7.30pm
The versatility and transparency of chamber music was perfectly suited to iconoclastic composers seeking to experiment with new sound worlds in the wake of the First World War. This diverse programme showcases neglected gems by Krenek and Hindemith alonsgide Webern’s extraordinary distillation for five players of Schoenberg’s first Chamber Symphony, together with transcriptions for solo violin of movements from Weill’s jazzinfused Threepenny Opera.
Hindemith Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano Weill (arr. Frenkel) Seven Pieces from The Threepenny Opera Krenek Serenade for Clarinet and String Trio Schoenberg (arr. Webern) Chamber Symphony No. 1 Alexandra Wood (violin) Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra
Venue Hall One, Kings Place 90 York Way, N1 9AG
‘As pacy and invigorated a reading of Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 1 as I’ve heard.’ The Sunday Times
Tickets £24.50, £19.50, £15.50, £9.50 available online at www.kingsplace.co.uk or on 020 7520 1490 (offline bookings subject to £2 surcharge)
Jane Mitchell Principal Flute
John Reid Principal Piano
Stylistic Crossroads
Saturday 30 January 7.30pm
The climax of Aurora’s ‘From Vienna to Weimar’ residency, this performance surveys a selection of orchestral highlights from the interwar cultural melting-pot characterised by Austrian composer Franz Schreker in 1928 as a Stilwende, or ‘stylistic crossroads’. Korngold’s sparkling score to Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing rubs shoulders with the youthful audacity of Hindemith’s Kammermusik No. 1, the cool clarity of Kurt Weill’s Violin Concerto (with guest soloist Clio Gould), and the lush textures of Schreker’s own Chamber Symphony.
Hindemith Kammermusik No.1
‘A typically inventive programme from the brilliant young Aurora Orchestra under their talented Principal Conductor, Nicholas Collon’ Evening Standard
Weill Violin Concerto Korngold Suite from Much Ado about Nothing Schreker Chamber Symphony Nicholas Collon (conductor) Clio Gould (violin)
Venue Hall One, Kings Place 90 York Way, N1 9AG Tickets £24.50, £19.50, £15.50, £9.50 available online at www.kingsplace.co.uk or on 020 7520 1490 (offline bookings subject to £2 surcharge)
Cabaret after Dark
Saturday 30 January 10pm
The charismatic Loré Lixenberg, celebrated for her role in Jerry Springer: The Opera, joins pianist Iain Farrington and members of Aurora for a pulsating evening of cabaret music, including UK premières of songs by Spoliansky and Holländer alongside wellknown favourites by Kurt Weill.
Including works by Holländer, Spoliansky and Weill Nicholas Collon (conductor) Loré Lixenberg (mezzo-soprano)
Venue Hall One, Kings Place 90 York Way, N1 9AG
‘Glorious music played, by Aurora Orchestra, as if it has been delivered straight from Heaven.’ The Times
Tickets £11.50 (offline), £9.50 (online) available online at www.kingsplace.co.uk or on 020 7520 1490. 20% discount available when also booking for ‘Stylistic Crossroads’
Loré Lixenberg Mezzo-soprano
Other ‘From Vienna to Weimar’ events Weimar Voices
Lyric Suites
Date Wed 27 January 7.30pm
Date Fri 29 January 7.30pm
Venue Hall One, Kings Place
Venue Hall One, Kings Place
Song recital with Christian Immler (baritone) and Helmut Deutsch (piano). Works by Eisler, Gàl, Goldschmidt, Korngold, Krenek, Schreker and Zemlinsky.
The acclaimed Artis–Quartett Wien perform works by Wellesz, Weigl, Berg and Zemlinsky. Tickets £24.50 / £19.50 / £15.50 / £9.50
Tickets £24.50 / £19.50 / £15.50 / £9.50
Study Day
Films
Date Sat 30 January 10.30am–4.30pm
Date Wed 27–Sat 30 January
Venue St Pancras Room, Kings Place A distinguished team of scholars explores the fascinating crossfertilisation between art and politics during the turbulent inter-war years in Central Europe. Tickets £37.50
Venue St Pancras Room, Kings Place Daily screening of a silent Weimar classic (English intertitles) followed by a talkie (German dialogue, English subtitles). Series curated by Fred Bridgham. Tickets £5.50
For further details of all events and tickets see www.kingsplace.co.uk or call 020 7520 1490. Offline bookings subject to £2 surcharge.
Max Baillie Principal Viola
‘The quality of sculpted simplicity... lent most astonishing resonance by Aurora Orchestra.’ The Guardian
March 2010 sees the start of Aurora Orchestra’s groundbreaking residency at LSO St Luke’s. Supported by Arts Council England and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation, this unique cross-arts series comprises nine concerts over three years, each featuring a different collaboration with, or commission from, an emerging artist or ensemble of outstanding quality. Enriched in its first season by partnerships with animators, dancers and singers, the series promises to push the boundaries of the concert experience, and to offer new perspectives on a thrilling variety of repertoire.
Inferno Friday 19 March 8pm In-Flight Entertainment Friday 9 July 8pm Yankee Doodles Saturday 9 October 7.30pm
Supported by Arts Council England Jerwood Charitable Foundation Ernest Cook Charitable Trust City of London Festival Mahogany Opera Michael Tippett Musical Foundation Season ticket offer 20% discount available when booking for all three Aurora performances at LSO St Luke’s in 2010. Offer available online at lso.co.uk/lsostlukes or by phone on 020 7638 8891.
New Moves
LSO St Luke’s 2010
Inferno
Friday 19 March 8pm
Aurora welcomes back Mahogany Opera and its acclaimed director Frederic Wake-Walker for a concert celebrating the orchestra’s fifth birthday. Berio’s monumental Laborintus II – a semi-staged work for singers, tape, narrator and ensemble written to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth – inspires a programme which arcs from the medieval troubadour music beloved of Dante himself to John Adams’ effervescent Son of Chamber Symphony.
Gabrieli Canzon Duodecimi Toni a 10 Britten Sinfonietta, Op. 1 Adams Son of Chamber Symphony Anon. Music of the Troubadours Berio Laborintus II Nicholas Collon (conductor) Frederic Wake-Walker (director) Mahogany Opera Venue LSO St Luke’s 161 Old Street, EC1V 9NG
Charmian Bedford Soprano
‘One of the most exciting and electrifying evenings I’ve spent at the opera in recent seasons.’ Opera Magazine on Aurora’s 2008 collaboration with Mahogany Opera
Tickets £25, £18, £10 (20% student discount) available online at lso.co.uk/lsostlukes or on 020 7638 8891. 20% season discount when booking for all three LSO St Luke’s performances. Sponsor-a-ticket scheme: buy a ticket for a secondary school student for £8 Part of Mahogany Opera’s ‘Towards a New Movement’ project
In-Flight Entertainment
Friday 9 July 8pm
Inspired by the Russian folk tradition of the ‘round dance’ and infused with elements of ballet, jazz, and house music, Julian Anderson’s kaleidoscopic Khorovod underpins a stunning new collaboration with the London-based capoeira group Cordão de Ouro. Works by Rameau, Stravinsky and Balakirev complete an electrifying evening of virtuosic dance music inspired by the themes of this year’s City of London Festival.
Stravinsky Danses Concertantes Rameau Suite from Platée Anderson Khorovod Balakirev (arr. Farrington) Islamey Nicholas Collon (conductor) Mestre Ponciano Almeida and the Cordão de Ouro capoeira group
Venue LSO St Luke’s 161 Old Street, EC1V 9NG Tickets £25, £18, £10 (20% student discount) available online at lso.co.uk/lsostlukes or on 020 7638 8891. 20% season discount when booking for all three LSO St Luke’s performances.
‘A brilliant combination of Aurora Orchestra and tightwheeling capoeira dancers.’ Time Out, Critics’ Top Five Musical Events of 2008
Sponsor-a-ticket scheme: buy a ticket for a secondary school student for £8 Part of the City of London Festival
Mestre Ponciano Almeida Cordão de Ouro
Yankee Doodles
Saturday 9 October 7.30pm
A feast of music and moving image, this groundbreaking programme features screenings of the brilliant Tom and Jerry cartoon The Cat Concerto alongside Gene Kelly’s lavish ballet finale from the 1951 film An American in Paris, with live performances of their respective scores by Scott Bradley and George Gershwin. This performance also sees the unveiling of an exciting new partnership with Central St Martins College of Art and Design, with a major new moving image commission based around SaintSaëns’ Carnival of the Animals.
Scott Bradley The Cat Concerto Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals Copland Music for the Theatre Gershwin (arr. Farrington) An American in Paris Nicholas Collon (conductor) Tom Poster (piano) Iain Farrington (piano) Live screenings of The Cat Concerto and an extract from An American in Paris with a new moving image commission from students of Central St Martins College of Art and Design
Venue LSO St Luke’s 161 Old Street, EC1V 9NG
Tom and Jerry in The Cat Concerto © MGM 1946
‘Though I’ve heard and loved this music a hundred times, it has never seemed so sweetly melded or convincing.’ The Independent
Tickets £25, £18, £10 (20% student discount) available online at lso.co.uk/lsostlukes or on 020 7638 8891. 20% season discount when booking for all three LSO St Luke’s performances. Sponsor-a-ticket scheme: buy a ticket for a secondary school student for £8
Aurora: Coming of age
Since its creation in 2005, Aurora Orchestra has established a reputation as one of the most dynamic, innovative and challenging emerging voices in British classical music. Its projects combine outstanding musical quality with inventive programming and an ambitious commitment to reaching new audiences. Bringing together some of London’s most exciting young soloists in a virtuosic and versatile ensemble, the orchestra appears under the baton of its inspirational Principal Conductor, Nicholas Collon. It has attracted particular praise for its cross-arts collaborations, and has appeared in many of the UK’s leading venues and festivals, including Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall and the Barbican theatre, and as part of the BBC Proms and the Aldeburgh, Sounds New and Spitalfields Festivals.
Aurora’s 2010 season includes appearances at the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, the Snape Proms, the Sounds New Festival, Wigmore Hall and as part of the BBC Proms Inspire scheme. Aurora was nominated for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s 2009 Young Artist Award. For more information please visit www.auroraorchestra.com
‘Gossamer threads, crystalline chords and dancing, shimmering passages were simply beguiling.’ Musical Opinion
Top row: Thomas Gould (Principal First Violin), Jamie Campbell (Principal Second Violin), Nicholas Collon (Principal Conductor) Bottom row: Aurora wind, Chris Cooper (Principal Bassoon), Cordão de Ouro
Top row: Dave Brown (Principal Double Bass), Aurora Orchestra at Aldeburgh, Aurora brass Bottom row: Jonathan Deakin (Cello), Henry Baldwin (Principal Percussion), Timothy Orpen (Principal Clarinet)
Photos 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 by Simon Weir
Photos 2, 4 and 5 by ben@erproductions.co.uk; photo 3 by Simon Weir
Participation and learning
Supporting Aurora
Aurora continues to place a commitment to young people and the future of live music at the centre of its work, laying a foundation for both the musical talent and the audiences of the future.
‘Edgy, adventurous... the future of music’ Evening Standard
In 2007, Aurora launched the innovative schools’ programme Listen Up! as part of a unique partnership with the outstanding music education organisation, the Da Capo Foundation. This partnership has now reached over 4,000 children across the UK, with Aurora players appearing regularly in sixteen London primary schools on Listen Up! projects, side-by-side schemes and teacher-training programmes. The orchestra has also developed a reputation for ambitious concerts for young people, including performances at Wigmore Hall, the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, Aberystwyth Musicfest, the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh and the Spitalfields Festival. 2009 also saw Aurora present its first Summer School, alongside the Da Capo Foundation, for children aged three to sixteen.
Aurora relies for most of its income on the generosity of its supporters, who over the past five years have enabled the orchestra to establish itself as a permanent and vibrant force.
Aurora’s participation and learning programme continues to expand, with Listen Up! projects taking place in four Hammersmith and Fulham primary schools over the winter term of 2009–2010; concerts for families and schools at the Wigmore Hall in January 2010; and the launch of a new Listen Live! initiative as part of the 2010–2012 LSO St Luke’s residency. Capitalising on the appeal of the season’s exciting and colourful cross-arts partnerships, the latter scheme brings members of the orchestra and collaborating artists to secondary schools in Southwark and in Hammersmith and Fulham, and also enables students to attend the performances at LSO St Luke’s, supported by a unique ‘Sponsor-a-ticket’ scheme.
Aurora’s 2010 London season is made possible with support from its Friends and Patrons scheme, and particularly by grants from its Principal Patrons, Mrs Monica Bertoni and two anonymous donors. We would like to thank our wonderful team of supporters for breathing life into our ideas. To join them, and help carry Aurora forward to its tenth birthday, please contact John Harte on +44 (0)20 7014 2834, or by email on john@auroraorchestra.com.
Hans Krasa’s childrens’ opera Brundibar with Jubilee Opera in Aldeburgh. Photo by Dave Hermon
Honorary Patron Sir Colin Davis Honorary Advisory Patron Dr Jill White Trustees John Alpass, Hannah Barry, Michael Collon, Jonathan Deakin, Sanjivan Kohli, Louis Watt Principal Conductor & Artistic Director Nicholas Collon Principal First Violin & Leader Thomas Gould General Manager John Harte Participation and Learning Manager Jane Mitchell Creative Projects Co-ordinator Kate Wakeling Arranger-in-Residence Iain Farrington Aurora Orchestra is a UK-registered charity, no. 1116352. Aurora Orchestra The Music Base Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9AG UK +44 (0)20 7014 2834 info@auroraorchestra.com
www.auroraorchestra.com Design The Partners (www.the-partners.com) Photography Ruth Crafer (www.ruthcrafer.co.uk) except where otherwise stated All listings correct as of November 2009. Aurora reserves the right to make changes to artists and programmes when absolutely necessary.
Thomas Barber Principal Oboe
Kings Place From Vienna To Weimar Chamber Contrasts Thursday 28 January 7.30pm Stylistic Crossroads Saturday 30 January 7.30pm Cabaret after Dark Saturday 30 January 10pm
Aurora Orchestra 2010 London Season
LSO St Luke’s New Moves Inferno Friday 19 March 8pm In-Flight Entertainment Friday 9 July 8pm Yankee Doodles Saturday 9 October 7.30pm
Honorary Patron Sir Colin Davis Principal Conductor Nicholas Collon www.auroraorchestra.com