Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
A new light on music by women
programME 2019 A
Kerry Andrew
‘Someone, I tell you, will remember us. We are oppressed by fears of oblivion.’ Sappho (631-580 BC)
‘I want to show the world (to the degree that it is granted to me in this profession of music) the foolish error of men, who so greatly believe themselves to be masters of high intellectual gifts which cannot, it seems to them, be equally common among women.’ Maddalena Casulana (1544–?1590)
Recent research into the 2018–19 concert seasons of 15 of the world’s leading orchestras revealed that just 2.3 per cent of the music being performed was by women composers. And this is a creative industry which, in this century, has actively sought to find a gender balance. One stock response to this is, ‘Women didn’t compose in the past. Who is there, apart from Clara Schumann?’ Where do I begin? There are more than 6000 female composers currently catalogued. In Venus Unwrapped we present music by 140 of those: it’s a start. Yes, Monteverdi did have female contemporaries, as did Bach, Brahms and Stravinsky; yes, there are female gospel composers and female jazz composers. We thought it was high time that we threw a light on this rich historical treasury, while also celebrating the wealth of original female creatives working in music today. Women may have been written out of the musical canon, but they were never absent from music. What was fascinating about roving through the centuries while we programmed Venus Unwrapped was identifying the different roles the female composer has had to play: the medieval nun was a servant of God, creating music for spiritual devotion; the Renaissance and Baroque
composer could be a servant of her employer, and therefore had a place in the social hierarchy. But when, in the 19th century, the composer became an ‘artist’, women struggled: the female artist was a dangerous, freakish figure, trapped in a feminine construct that prohibited creative pursuit, especially in public. The hundreds of songs and chamber miniatures speak volumes about that caged world. Finally, in the early 20th century, there was a chance of support and recognition, as the ambitious music of Lili Boulanger, Leokadiya Kashperova and Vitĕzslava Kaprálová testifies. But even distinguished mid-century composers such as Elizabeth Maconchy and Gražyna Bacewicz battled to be heard. Venus Unwrapped takes in other musical worlds too: jazz pioneers; gifted innovators in the electronic field (only ten per cent of those studying music technology and three per cent of film composers are women) and trailblazing voices of the folk world, from Shirley Collins to Kathryn Tickell. We celebrate singer-composers such as Laura Mvula, Héloïse Werner and Kerry Andrew and artists from other ethnic traditions, including griot star Sona Jobarteh. How refreshing it is to live in times when composing has opened up to a multiplicity of voices. We can only touch on the breadth of the whole oeuvre in our small halls at Kings Place, but Venus has become an unstoppable force, which will transform future programmes. Look out, too, for our story-telling series on feminine myths, for poetry, spoken word and comedy events, and for more events appearing on the website. Venus was never intended to be exclusive: the aim is to contextualise and contrast the best music by women with that by men. We thank all our performers for responding to this ambitious undertaking with such verve, especially our artistic partners Aurora Orchestra, OAE, London Sinfonietta, Brodsky Quartet, The Sixteen, Alan Bearman Music and London Chamber Music Society. We also thank the Ambache Charitable Trust and the PRS for Music Foundation’s Beyond Borders fund for their support. Above all, we thank you, our audience, for your time and attention: there will never be a rebalancing of the canon until listeners, too, embrace the music of the shadows. Last but not least, my thanks to the programming team for creating this vibrant series, and especially to Helen Wallace, our Programme Director, who has been the inspiration for the series. Peter Millican OBE
Venus Unwrapped is kindly supported by
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The sacred wood. The space between devotion and determination where you must fight against taking root while drawing on forces buried underfoot. The goddess of the interim. The morning star and evening star are after all the same thing. Passage rather than beginning or ending. Take hold. Tease out all you have absorbed. Take your time in releasing it. Wait till it grows light. The goddess of suspension. A planet turning leisurely in the other direction. A planet without seasons. A planet draped in cloud. Concealed but not withheld.
Lavinia Greenlaw
Venus – a manifesto
Venus Depicted more than any other goddess of her realm. Intended to be viewed from every angle. Take charge of depiction. Intend every angle. She is an act of love. Yes, this is of the body. Language is of the body. Give way but do not let go. Take charge of what you did not know you know. Learn the difference between truth and certainty. Her name is without gender. She has no mother. Or her mother is a version of her father. He is not her father.
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They say she stepped onto land new-made. They say she was already a thousand years old and arrived across the sea from the east on arm or a shell. No matter the vehicle. They say she was born of sea foam. It does not start, after all, with a meeting but by placing what you’ve glimpsed in tension. Not beginning but finding. Movement catching hold of matter. Wave after wave turning over what is too small to be seen until what occurs becomes its own thing. It is not enough to valorize agitation. Protect the true nature of all you encounter. She arose from within. She arrived fully formed and from her first appearance she held sway. Lavinia Greenlaw
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Venus – a manifesto Lavinia Greenlaw
Use other names. Use meaning and the seed of meaning. Do not choose between love and desire. Go deeper. Through noun into verb into gesture.
Lavinia Greenlaw
a manifesto
Anna Beer
Walking the Tightrope
Anna Beer is author of Sounds and Sweet Airs: The forgotten women of classical music (Oneworld)
Walking the Tightrope Since the time of Hildegard of Bingen, every century has had its share of exceptional female composers. So why aren’t their names and their music better known? Anna Beer has some answers.
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450 years ago, in Venice, Maddalena Casulana became the first woman to publish her own music. She took the chance to question a ‘foolish error’: the idea that men believed they were the sole masters of the ‘high intellectual gifts’ necessary for composition. She suggested that those gifts might ‘be equally common’ among women. Today, most of us understand that there is no essential difference between male and female human beings, at least when it comes to an individual’s ability to compose music – and it is a matter of scientific record that you cannot tell the sex of a composer simply by listening to his or her music. And yet that is all as nothing when placed against the weight of certain beliefs about women and music, beliefs which – on one level – explain but do not excuse the scarcity of women in far too many areas of the music industry, even today. The silencing began early. A statement attributed to the thirdcentury Talmudic scholar Samuel of Nehardea claimed that the sound of a woman’s voice was a sexual enticement; this was interpreted by some Jewish communities as a prohibition on hearing women sing. And that’s just performance.
Walking the Tightrope
scandal, a self-evident absurdity, as demonstrated by musicologist Matthew Head. Now, women were deemed essentially incapable of producing music as good as their male contemporaries. Indeed, music itself was feminine or masculine. It was a sheer impossibility that even a virtuous woman could write ‘masculine’ music. No prizes for guessing which kind of music was privileged by the music world – and perhaps continues to be privileged by it. And at precisely this time, the classical canon was being formed, a canon that was and remains
Anna Beer
When it comes to women composing or conducting, these (invariably sexualised) fears of the woman in creative charge loom even larger. These beliefs meant that a composer – like Francesca Caccini working at the court of the Medici in Florence in the early 17th century – knew that every detail of her life would be scrutinised. However, if she was virtuous, chaste, obedient, then perhaps she might not have to be silent. So long as she was properly feminine by the standards of her time, she might get away with being a professional composer. Over the years, proper femininity has taken many different forms: Marianna von Martines’ propriety and celibacy in the Vienna of Haydn and Mozart; the relentless pregnancies of Clara Schumann in 19th-century Leipzig, Dresden and Dusseldorf; or Lili Boulanger’s careful presentation of herself as an innocent child-woman in Paris in the 1910s. All these helped to make it more acceptable to be woman and composer. There were other ways to sneak under the radar. For centuries, the inextricable link between performance and composition created a space for the female composer. Virtuoso female musicians were actually expected to write music to display their own virtuosity, whether as a servant of the Church (and thus to the ultimate glory of God) or a servant to a prince (and thus to the ultimate glory of the patron) or a precocious daughter (and thus to the ultimate glory of the family). And so we have a rich, if shockingly little-known, heritage of music stretching from nun composers such as Leonora d’Este through to Barbara Strozzi and Fanny Mendelssohn. For each woman, however, it was a battle against the odds, a battle that got even harder towards the end of the 18th century. Until then, certain exceptional women could be, and were, celebrated as proving the capability of the female sex. Composers were part of the servant class, after all. But then, the phrase ‘woman composer’ became a conceptual
‘It was a battle against the odds, a battle that got even harder towards the end of the eighteenth century’
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Anna Beer
Walking the Tightrope
resolutely male. So when women composers attempted to take their sex (and sex generally) out of the equation, or to conform in elaborate ways to the expectations of their world, it was never going to be enough. A composer would come to know – painfully, at times – that her work would always be understood in terms of her sex, or rather, what her society believed her sex was capable of achieving. That knowledge would silence many a composer. Take Rebecca Clarke, whose Viola Sonata (1919) won a prestigious prize: questions were asked – was it actually by Ernest Bloch or Maurice Ravel (under a pseudonym)? How could a woman have composed such a formally rigorous yet powerful work? Clarke was not the first, and would not be the last, to give up in the face of this kind of scepticism, because women just as much as men believed and believe the stories we tell ourselves about creative genius. As Clara Schumann wrote: ‘I once
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thought that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose – nor has one been able to do it, and why should I expect to?’ Clara needed Venus Unwrapped – we all do. Because there was, and is, a rich and complex body of music written by women just waiting to be explored and enjoyed, and, even more importantly, a rich and complex body of music written by women just waiting to be composed and performed. It was Virginia Woolf who wrote, famously and contentiously, that ‘a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’. For a composing woman, even more is needed, as expressed by musician and musicologist Suzanne Cusick: ‘Because music is fundamentally about movement, sociability and change, women musicians do not so much need rooms of our own, within which we can retreat from the world, as we need ways of being in the world that allow us to engage with the often
immobilising and silencing effects of gender norms’. The female composer needs to be working in a community that not only values her art, but enables it to be heard beyond the traditional spaces for women’s music, such as the nunnery or the home. These communities existed
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Anna Beer
in the past, but often fleetingly: the Medici court in Italy in the 1610s, the city of Venice in the 1650s, the court of the Sun King in France in the 1690s, a mansion in Berlin in the 1830s, the Mercury Theatre in London in the 1930s. These communities allowed Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Fanny Hensel and Elizabeth Maconchy – to name but five glorious composers featured in the series – to flourish, at least for a time. Today, women are creating such opportunities and communities for themselves: Julia Wolfe with Bang on a Can, Anna Meredith with her own band, Kate Whitley’s inspired work with Bold Tendencies and The Multi-Story Orchestra, bringing her own and others’ music to new audiences in unexpected places; Francesca Caccini and Barbara Strozzi would have recognised themselves in composing-singing entrepreneurial producers such as Laura Mvula, Ayanna Witter-Johnson, Josephine Stephenson, Héloïse Werner and Kerry Andrew, with her genre-busting groups Juice Vocal Ensemble and You Are Wolf. Mary Lou Williams would find kindred spirits in Nikki Yeoh, Zoe Rahman, Sarah Tandy and the trumpeter Laura Jurd, band leader of Dinosaur. As creative women move into conducting and directing roles across the world, their agency and influence grows. Venus Unwrapped provides an opportunity to throw a spotlight on the treasures of the past, but also on the work of female creators today, across the musical spectrum.
Walking the Tightrope
‘The female composer needs to work in a community that not only values her art, but takes it beyond the traditional spaces for women’s music, the nunnery or the home’
Mary Bevan (10 Jan)
Thu 10 Jan
classical
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Barbara Strozzi Star of Venice Hall One 7.30pm £49.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Barbara Strozzi Works including: Silenzio nocivo; Le tre grazie a Venere; Lamento; Canto di bella bocca Claudio Monteverdi Concertante madrigals, Book 8 Il ballo delle ingrate
Programme 2019
Mon 31 Dec 2018
contemporary
New Year’s Eve Party with Players of Aurora Orchestra Venus Rising: Nico Muhly, Teitur, Lips Choir & Nwando Ebizie Part of The Lock-In series at Kings Place 9pm –1.30am £39.50 Premium Tickets £72.50 (incl. food & drink) See website for further details
Venus Unwrapped
Club classic set by Lips Choir DJ set by Nwando Ebizie (Lady Vendredi) Teitur/Nico Muhly Confessions Terry Riley In C Aurora’s NYE party blows the hinges off the door of 2019 with an explosion of female creativity. The 40-strong allwomen Lips Choir join Aurora to welcome the NY with an irresistibly raucous set of dance classics in new arrangements by Jessie Maryon Davies. Continuing the dance into the small hours, multidisciplinary artist Nwando Ebizie, known for her Afrofuturist music project Lady Vendredi, spins a special set of tunes by women artists, ranging from Afrobeat icons The Lijadu Sisters to disco queen Donna Summers. Packed with live music, activities, food & drink. Also featuring Faroese singersongwriter Teitur and composer Nico Muhly in collaboration with the players.
Mary Bevan soprano Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Christian Curnyn conductor Barbara Strozzi was famed throughout 17th-century Venice for her glorious voice and artistry, ‘la virtuosissima cantatrice’ of the city state. Yet she was also privately creating a unique musical legacy as a composer. Christian Curnyn conducts the OAE, soprano Mary Bevan and the Rising Stars in this special event launching Venus Unwrapped in a programme that places her mellifluous madrigals and sensuous, dramatic solo songs in their Venetian context, alongside a selection of Monteverdi’s spectacular Book 8 madrigals.
Barbara Strozzi (1619–1677) The illegitimate daughter of influential poet Giulio Strozzi, and herself a single mother of four, Barbara Strozzi could easily have found the cards stacked against her in 17th-century Venice. Instead she triumphed. And given that she was a soprano described by Fontei as ‘the greatest virtuoso’, it’s little surprise that the voice resounds through the eight opus-numbered collections of largely secular music published, defiantly, under her own name. Pupil of Cavalli, friend of Monteverdi, Strozzi was a jewel in La Serenissima’s vocal crown.
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Fri 11 Jan
folk
The Local Honeys Hall Two 8pm £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Born and raised in Kentucky, The Local Honeys have dedicated themselves to the preservation of traditional music and the creation of the new. Linda Jean Stokley and Montana Hobbs’ debut album, Little Girls Actin’ Like Men, showcases their ability to tear into hard-driving fiddle tunes, sing the high lonesome sound and tell a toe-tappingly good story. In 2015 they became the first women to gain BA degrees in Traditional ‘Hillbilly’ Music. Sat 12 Jan
film | words
Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women Documentary and Discussion Hall Two 7.30pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Reel Herstory: The Real Story of Reel Women (Alley Acker, 2014, 145 mins) is a documentary hosted by Jodie Foster which uses rare footage and exclusive interviews with film-makers to correct the notion that women have been peripheral in film history. The screening will be bookended by a panel discussion. Sat 12 Jan
contemporary
Cate Le Bon Hall One 8pm £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Now based in Los Angeles, Cate Le Bon is one of Wales’s greatest exports. She is celebrated for her playful lyricism and inventive guitarpop melodies and is currently working on her fifth studio album. Recently Cate found a perfect new home for her compositions with American visionaries Mexican Summer (Ariel Pink, Jessica Pratt, Connan Mockasin). This will be a rare opportunity to hear stripped-back piano versions of her songs in the sublime acoustic of Hall One.
St Pancras Parish Church 7.30pm £18.50
Celestial music from the convents of medieval and Renaissance Europe, with works by Hildegard of Bingen, Gilles Binchois, Josquin des Prez, Cipriano de Rore, Leonora d’Este, Giovanni Palestrina and Raffaella Aleotti; music from the devotional texts of Libre Vermell, Las Huelgas Codex and Montpellier Codex Musica Secreta Deborah Roberts & Laurie Stras directors The heavenly sound of nuns’ voices has enchanted and comforted for hundreds of years. This programme takes the listener from the mystical songs composed by Hildegard of Bingen, via the medieval convents of France and Spain, to the great flowering of polyphonic music in the numerous convents of the Italian Renaissance.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) Mystic and philosopher, early writer on the natural sciences, woman of letters, composer and theologian, the ‘Sibyl of the Rhine’ (as Hildegard was dubbed), numbered popes and emperors among the influential admirers of her indefatigable talents. Abbess and founder of two convents, she fused visionary words and soaring, melismatically enriched melody in an ever-expanding collection of music and poems entitled The Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations. Her Ordo Virtutum is one of the earliest surviving musical morality plays.
contemporary
The Quietus presents… Nik Void & Ashley Paul Also part of Luminate Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Kings Place and guest curators The Quietus showcase a collaboration between Ashley Paul and Factory Floor’s Nik Void, with the two artists performing brand-new material together on stage for the first time. Nik Void is an experimental electronic artist and producer, best known as one half of DFA signings Factory Floor. Ashley Paul is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer based in London; her intuitive process integrates free-form song structures with a focused approach to sound. Fri 18 Jan
classical | contemporary
Bang on a Can curated by Julia Wolfe
Fri 18 Jan
words
The Crick Crack Club presents… Kali: Supreme Mother Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Julia Wolfe Reeling; Believing (UK premiere) Caroline Shaw Really Craft When You Anna Thorvaldsdottir Fields Kate Moore Ridgeway Meredith Monk Totentanz Michael Gordon Gene Takes a Drink (with film by Bill Morrison) Christian Marclay Fade to Slide (with film by the composer) Meredith Monk (arr. Michael Gordon) Spaceship
Hindu mythology illuminates a mind-blowing world of radical transformations and Kali is one of the wildest shape-shifters of them all. Storyteller Emily Hennessey and sitarist Sheema Mukherjee take you on on a white-knuckle tuc-tuc ride through sun-kissed palaces and fiend-infested forests with Kali the demon-slayer, life-saver and Supreme Mother. Sat 19 Jan
classical | contemporary
Bang on a Can Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Bang on a Can All-Stars In an event curated by their co-founder Julia Wolfe, New York’s electric Bang on a Can All-Stars return to London with a soulful explosive-ambient super mix of the group’s incomparable repertoire. The evening embraces the Venus theme with works by some of the female composers with whom the group has long worked, alongside others by its founder-composers.
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Julia Wolfe Anthracite Fields Bang on a Can All-Stars BBC Singers Tecwyn Evans conductor Bang on a Can All-Stars join the BBC Singers for the UK premiere of Julia Wolfe’s poignant and relentlessly physical Anthracite Fields, a musical examination of the coalmining industry in Pennsylvania.
Programme 2019
Musica Secreta at St Pancras Parish Church Not Mortals, But Angels: The Flowering of Convent Music
Thu 17 Jan
Venus Unwrapped
classical
Julia Wolfe (18, 19 Jan)
Wed 16 Jan
classical
contemporary
Laura Mvula & Black Voices
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Also part of London A Cappella Festival 2019 Hall One 8pm | Sold out, returns only £44.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
A thrilling new collaboration between internationally acclaimed singersongwriter Laura Mvula and Europe’s finest female a cappella quintet, Black Voices. Their programme celebrates iconic female artists including Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin, as well as Laura’s own compositions and arrangements.
Amy Beach (1867–1944) With the Gaelic Symphony of 1896, and the Piano Concerto she herself later performed in Leipzig, Hamburg and Berlin, Amy Beach announced herself as a composer of largescale works. But she was an exquisite miniaturist too, and song proved the catalyst for the evolution of her style – the royalties for one of her songs alone bought her a composing cottage on Cape Cod! A member of the ‘Boston Six’ (which also included Edward MacDowell), she was a Romantic who embraced Native American music and that of the Balkans as well.
classical | contemporary
Tamsin Waley-Cohen & Huw Watkins Venus and the Violin I
Aurora Orchestra play Anna Meredith Life Cycle
Also part of London Chamber Music Sundays
Also part of Mozart’s Piano
Hall One 6.30pm £29.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall One 7pm £69.50 – £24.50 | Savers £9.50
Lili Boulanger Deux Morceaux Claude Debussy Violin Sonata in G minor, L140 Rebecca Clarke Violin Sonata Amy Beach Three Pieces, Op. 40 Ludwig van Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 10 in G, Op. 14 No. 2
WA Mozart (arr. Hummel) Piano Concerto No. 18 in B flat, K456 (version for flute, violin, cello & piano) Anna Meredith Origami Songs Emily Hall Life Cycle (world premiere of version for large ensemble)
Tamsin Waley-Cohen violin Huw Watkins piano Wed 23 Jan
Sat 2 Feb
Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins present Rebecca Clarke’s little-known early Violin Sonata alongside music by two of the French composers she admired, Debussy and Lili Boulanger. Beethoven’s warmly lyrical sonata is prefaced by music by Amy Beach, a composer with an international reputation in her own lifetime. Wed 30 Jan
contemporary
Gyða Valtýsdóttir Epicycle Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Gyða Valtýsdóttir came to prominence with Icelandic experimental pop-group múm in the late 1990s. She left the band to study as a cellist and gained a twofold MA, as a free improviser and a classical player and, and has journeyed with many bands since. Her 2017 release, Epicycle, is a constellation of pieces by Schubert, Schumann, Messiaen and Hildegard von Bingen. Fri 1 Feb
jazz
Jazz Re:freshed present… Cassie Kinoshi: SEED Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
The stellar ten-piece band, led by alto saxophonist-composer Cassie Kinoshi. 10
Mara Carlyle vocals John Reid piano Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra Resident at Kings Place This programme explores the different guises of transformation in the music of Anna Meredith, Emily Hall and Mozart. Ranging from the explosive to the delicate, Meredith’s Origami Songs is a series of compelling miniatures. Mara Carlyle brings her mesmerising voice to Emily Hall’s Life Cycle, and Mozart’s charming Piano Concerto No. 18 complements these two pieces. Anna Meredith (2 Feb)
Laura Mvula (23 Jan)
Sun 27 Jan
contemporary | classical
Hatis Noit (9 Feb)
Sat 2 Feb
The Lock-In: Surround with Anna Meredith Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra Also part of Mozart’s Piano Hall Two 9.15pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Anna Meredith Moon; Axeman; Brisk Widow; Gigue Anna Meredith electronics Sam Wilson percussion Amy Harman bassoon Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra Chloé van Soeterstède conductor with Eleanor Meredith visuals
Sat 9 Feb
Programme 2019
In this late-night Lock-In, Aurora shines the spotlight on the vibrant, bold and original work of Anna Meredith, one of the most distinctive voices in British music today. Featuring electronics, amplification and visuals, the night celebrates Meredith’s irresistible, kaleidoscopic sound that shimmers through the worlds of contemporary classical, art pop, electronica and experimental rock. contemporary
Pan Daijing + Hatis Noit Also part of Luminate
Venus Unwrapped
Hall One 8pm £19.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Rooted in noise music, Pan Daijing’s raw approach as a composer and performer takes many forms – primarily performance art, sound, dance and installation, hinging heavily on improvisation and acts of storytelling. Her performance includes soul-exposing utterances and sonic outbursts as a means of direct communication. She is supported by extraordinary Japanese vocal artist Hatis Noit.
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Professor Laurie Stras is Professor of Music at the University of Southampton, and co-director of Musica Secreta and Celestial
Sirens, with whom she has created numerous groundbreaking recordings in the field of convent music.
Out of the Professor Laurie Stras
Out of the Shadows
From the Dark Ages to the Baroque period, European convents provided a rare – though continually threatened – space for women to develop as serious musicians and composers. Professor Laurie Stras sets the scene.
Shadows 12
‘Let each maid who loves the Lord, come to the dance singing of love.’ These words, from a popular devotional song, open an instruction book on how to live the spiritual life, written by the 15th century’s most musical nun, Caterina Vigri, or Saint Catherine of Bologna. Catherine understood well the importance of music to nuns, and the importance of their music to the outside world. Many women – up to 20 per cent of the female population of Europe, and a much higher percentage of its noblewomen – would live their entire adult lives in convents, and music was one aspect of that life that could make the isolation from their families bearable. On the outside, people came to convent churches to hear the ethereal harmonies but stayed to hear the liturgy, and in that way, nuns could justify their music as God’s work. It is not an exaggeration to say that the sound from the convent was the sound of the Renaissance city: unlike the music from the chapels of the great and the good, nuns’ singing was available to everyone, rich or poor. And yet, the history of convent music is a centuries-long story of inventive and tireless resistance against male authorities who would have silenced it.
Convents fulfilled many functions in medieval and Renaissance societies: they were the economic and spiritual heart of many communities, safe spaces for women at all stages of life and from all strata of society, and often places where women could thrive intellectually, practically and creatively away from the intense scrutiny of male relatives. Women trained in music were particularly welcomed, because fine music could elevate a house’s reputation, attracting wealthy families to the convent to celebrate weddings and burials, and to provide the more permanent investment of daughters as novices. Through their musical labour, nuns ensured the spiritual wellbeing of the entire city. Nuns spent more time singing than in any other single activity, even sleeping. Their lives were regulated by the Divine Office, which they sang or chanted eight times per day and night. Music was at its most dazzling during the principal feasts of the Christian calendar – Advent and Christmas Week, Holy Week and Easter – and at times of civic rejoicing, such as the celebration of royal weddings or military victories.
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Out of the Shadows
‘Nuns spent more time singing than in any other single activity, even sleeping.’
But music was also a way that nuns could be brought closer together, and closer to God. Convents used music for both private and collective devotion, teaching the sisters, especially those who could not read, Bible stories and theology through simple and repetitive song. For nuns with musical education, though, singing more advanced compositions was an even more immersive experience: the veil heightens the need to listen, and the mingling of multiple voices all in the same register requires acute concentration. In some convents, singing polyphony may have been, an intense, meditative practice, intended to internalise the meaning of the words. This intensity finds its ultimate expression in the motets attributed to Suor Leonora d’Este, Lucrezia Borgia’s daughter, who rejected life as a princess of Ferrara in favour of a life of contemplation, devoted to serious musical study at the highest level. Sacred musical dramas or plays with musical interludes were once a common feature of elaborate medieval public celebrations on important feasts, often performed by the novices and noble girls educated at the convent. The line between sacred and secular was not as sharply delineated as it might appear now, and nuns would enliven their spiritual texts with popular or courtly melodies that had filtered through the cloister walls. Nuns, paradoxically, sang freely as women about sensual love much earlier than their secular counterparts, with special affection for the divine ecstasy of the Song of Songs. Their vows of chastity did not prevent them from expressing passion for the Body of Christ, their collective
Professor Laurie Stras
The Church feared the seductive, siren powers of the female voice, and many worried that singing would lead nuns into the mortal sin of pride. During the Renaissance, bishops often forbade music altogether in convents under their rule, and in 17th-century Bologna, tensions between citizens supporting the choir nuns of Santa Cristina, home of composer Suor Lucrezia Vizzana, and the authorities trying to silence them developed into pitched battles at the walls of the convent. But even in more lenient times, the prohibition of music could be used as an ultimate sanction: even the convent of the great Hildegard of Bingen, one of the earliest and most prolific medieval composers, suffered this punishment when the abbess became too outspoken against her superiors.
Out of the Shadows Professor Laurie Stras
husband. Singing together could also serve a greater spiritual purpose, by heightening their emotional responsiveness to the Sacraments. The Reformation deepened the Church’s anxieties regarding women, especially nuns, and the propriety of any engagement with the outside world. But some cities still cherished and supported convent music, protected by their bishops, well into the 18th century: Ferrara, where the convent of San Vito (according to one writer) boasted the finest ensemble in Italy, led by Suor Raffaella Aleotti; Novara, where Suor Isabella Leonarda published both vocal and instrumental music; Milan, where convent music flourished most visibly in the 1600s, home to Suor Chiara Margarita Cozzolani and Suor Rosa Giacinta Badalla, among others. Italy was particularly blessed with gifted musical nuns, some of whom were able to see their music into print, but across Europe and into the New World convent music could be heard: Syon Abbey in Middlesex, the Abbaye royale de Longchamp in Paris, the Königinkloster in Vienna, the Monasterio de Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos and the Convento de la Encarnación in Mexico City all nurtured communities which led the way in fostering choirs and, later, orchestras that made music to enrich their communities’ worship. We know some of the male composers associated with these
Wed 16 Jan
Musica Secreta Fri 22 Feb
Rachel Podger plays Isabella Leonarda Sat 27 Apr
Stile Antico
‘It seems likely that much of the music written by nuns will remain anonymous’ ensembles – Tomás Luis de Victoria, François Couperin – and even a few of the women, but it seems likely that much of the music they made was written by nuns who have remained anonymous. Nuns from the British Isles to Scandinavia, Iberia to the eastern Venetian Republic, found solace in music over centuries, but their voices were silenced by reformers and a decline in convent populations in the modern era. However, since the 1990s, ensembles such as Musica Secreta, Cappella Artemisia and Anonymous 4 have explored the repertoire, and as women’s voices have become more accepted in places of worship, curiosity about female-voice polyphony and women composers of sacred music has 14
increased. Gradually more convent music is being discovered, and – just as importantly – music and manuscripts that were thought to have belonged to male institutions are being shown to have belonged to convents. Even though nuns’ activities may have been written out of music history in the past, we have begun to heed them again, revealing just how glorious and rich the musical traditions of Europe’s convents were.
Also part of Luminate Hall Two 6.30pm £9.50
The Scattering Layer is a layer in the ocean so densely populated with small marine animals it is often mistaken for the ocean bed. ORNIS (Kathy Hinde and Sabine Vogel) takes the audience on an immersive audio-visual journey inspired by the natural world using flutes, objects, live electronics, field recordings and video. Fri 15 Feb
classical
Wed 20 Feb
jazz
Legacy: Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby Alina Bzhezhinska & Friends
Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall Two 8pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Dmitri Shostakovich (arr. Barshai) Chamber Symphony, Op. 118a (after ‘String Quartet No. 10 in A flat’) Philip Glass Echorus Dobrinka Tabakova Such Different Paths Gabriela Montero Babel (London premiere) Olivier Messiaen Movement VIII from Quatuor pour la fin du temps
The legendary Alice Coltrane was born in Detroit, as was fellow jazz harpist Dorothy Ashby. They followed different paths in life and in music, but both made a lasting contribution to the development of contemporary jazz and continue to inspire musicians today. In this unique programme Alina Bzhezhinska and a crack team of UK jazz musicians recreate Coltrane’s spiritual recordings Journey in Satchidananda and Eternity alongside Ashby’s innovative album AfroHarping.
Gabriela Montero piano Scottish Ensemble Gabriela Montero stands out in the classical music world not only as a world-class pianist, improviser and now composer but as an artist with the courage to speak out against injustice and the first Honorary Consul for Amnesty International. At the heart of this powerful programme from the Scottish Ensemble, featuring Shostakovich and Tabakova’s Such Different Paths, is Montero’s new work for piano and string orchestra, Babel, co-commissioned by Kings Place.
Gabriela Montero (22 Feb)
Scottish Ensemble with Gabriela Montero Babel
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classical
Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque Maria, dolce Maria Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Programme to include Francesca Caccini Maria, dolce Maria Isabella Leonarda Sonata duodecima, Op. 16 Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre Violin Sonata No. 2 in D; Le Sommeil d’Ulisse + more works by Handel, Caccini and de La Guerre Rachel Podger violin Ciara Hendrick mezzo-soprano Alison McGillivray viola da gamba Marcin Świątkiewicz harpsichord Daniele Caminiti theorbo/guitar Sweetness collides with strength in this programme of vocal and instrumental music of the Italian Renaissance and French Baroque, featuring works by the gifted nun Isabella Leonarda and Francesca Caccini, house composer of the Medicis. Acclaimed violinist Rachel Podger and Brecon Baroque are joined by mezzo-soprano Ciara Hendrick for this alluring sequence.
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729) A protégée of the Sun King – to whom she dedicated her first book of Pièces de clavecin (1687) – Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre made her Court debut as harpsichordist at the age of five. By her mid-twenties she was already being mentioned in the same breath as Marais and Lully. Three volumes of cantatas supplement the 1694 operatic trail-blazing of Céphale et Procris – the first opera to be composed by a French woman.
Programme 2019
ORNIS (Kathy Hinde & Sabina Vogel) Scattering Layer
Fri 22 Feb
Venus Unwrapped
contemporary
Rachel Podger (22 Feb)
Sat 9 Feb
Fri 22 Feb
contemporary
Ayanna Witter-Johnson The Feeling Is Mutual Hall Two 8pm £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Singer-songwriter/cellist Ayanna Witter-Johnson returns to Kings Place for Venus Unwrapped with a bespoke one-off performance exploring the theme of love.
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Thu 28 Feb
classical
Joanna MacGregor Soul of a Woman Hall One 8pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Ludwig van Beethoven Variations in C minor, WoO 80 Eleanor Alberga It’s Time Nina Simone ‘Little Girl Blue’; ‘Good Bait’ Alberto Ginastera Danzas argentinas, Op. 2 Sofia Gubaidulina Chaconne Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor, Op. 57 Appassionata
jazz | contemporary
Thu 14 Mar
classical
Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur and Friends Stepping Back, Jumping In
Kungsbacka Trio Triptych
Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Robert Schumann Six Canonic Studies, Op. 56 Clara Schumann Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 Natalie Klouda Fantasy Triptych Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 2 in F, Op. 80
Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Curated by trumpet player and composer Laura Jurd, Stepping Back, Jumping In is a celebration of new sounds featuring world-class improvisers and contemporary musicmakers from Norway and the UK. Jurd’s band Dinosaur is joined by the Ligeti Quartet, Skrap (Anja Lauvdal & Heida Mobeck), Raphael Clarkson, Rob Luft and Liz Exell to make a dynamic 14-piece ensemble. Wed 13 Mar
jazz
LUME presents… Entropi + Sloth Racket Hall Two 8pm £12.50 | Savers £9.50
LUME presents an evening of femaleled, adventurous jazz and improvised music, featuring some of the most exciting creative musicians on the UK scene. Entropi is led by Dee Byrne, while Sloth Racket is a band of UK improvisers led by baritone saxophonist Cath Roberts. Joanna MacGregor (28 Feb)
Ayanna Witter-Johnson (22 Feb)
Fri 1 Mar
Joanna MacGregor piano Joanna MacGregor, one of today’s most invigorating musicians, brings Beethoven together with three outstanding female composers. Sofia Gubaidulina’s cataclysmic Chaconne challenges Baroque form with a spiritual intensity, Eleanor Alberga draws on African rhythms and Pushkin, while transcriptions of songs by the great activist and musician Nina Simone crackle with virtuosity, referencing Liszt, Bach and the blues.
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Malin Broman violin Jesper Svedberg cello Simon Crawford-Phillips piano The fêted Swedish-based Kungsbacka Trio return to Kings Place with three great works by Clara and Robert Schumann as well as Natalie Klouda’s deft exploration of the intense threeway relationship between Robert, Clara and Johannes Brahms: Fantasy Triptych, from 2014.
Clara Schumann (1819–1896) Imbued with a formidable piano technique by her ambitious father, Clara enjoyed a career as a concert pianist spanning some 60 years, during which ‘the queen of the piano’ was hailed as the equal of Liszt. Wife of Robert Schumann, friend of Mendelssohn and Brahms, she wrote works that breathed the heady new air of German Romanticism. And while a Piano Concerto (not to mention the turbulent G minor Piano Trio) celebrate her confidence in handling large canvasses, a clutch of songs and piano miniatures address Robert directly – their confiding intimacies tenderly reciprocated.
folk
Laura Jurd (1 Mar)
Fri 15 Mar
The Shee Big Band + Hannah James Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Guest curator of the Trad Reclaimed weekend, harpist Rachel Newton is a member of The Shee, which includes electro-harp, accordion, fiddles, flute, mandolin and three powerful voices in an adventurous brew of folk, Gaelic and American music. They are joined by champion clog dancer Hannah James, who provides her own onstage musical accompaniment. Sat 16 Mar
folk
Women in Folk Music Panel Discussion Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music Programme 2019
Hall Two 2pm £6.50
Rachel Newton in conversation with Emily Portman, Sarah Coxson and Jo Frost. Sat 16 Mar
folk
In Conversation and Song with Shirley Collins Venus Unwrapped
Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music Hall Two 4pm £9.50
Emily Portman speaks to Shirley Collins, a celebrated English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the British folk revival of the 1960s and 1970s. However, in the 1980s, Shirley lost her singing voice and withdrew from performing live. In 2014, she sang in public for the first time since 1982. Since then she has produced an acclaimed album and performed live at a host of major festivals.
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Scottish singer, composer and multiinstrumentalist Rachel Newton curates this year’s Folk Weekend for Venus Unwrapped, Trad Reclaimed. Here she speaks to Amanda Holloway about the place of women in the folk scene.
Newton’s Law
Rachel Newton
Newton’s Law
trad Reclaimed ‘It’s not about taking anything away from anyone, it’s just trying to even out the playing field.’ No one was surprised when Rachel Newton won Musician of the Year in the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2017: she’s quickly established a distinctive identity and is a powerfully direct presence in this musical arena, known for her haunting vocals and lightly worn virtuosity. She’s also a sought-after collaborator, as a member of The Furrow Collective, and in Boreas and the allwomen band The Shee, which she formed with friends at university. Recently, she’s been speaking out about the gender imbalance in the folk world, but she’s been aware of the situation for years. ‘The Shee did consciously form as an all-female group because we felt there weren’t enough around. I’m sure we all remember comments like: “You guys, you’ve got balls” – comments that we were quite chuffed about at first, but as the years went on we thought, “Well why are people surprised?” And that ticked away in the background in my head.’ In 2016 Newton wrote a Facebook post about the lack of women in folk, and took it public by setting up a panel discussion at Celtic Connections. Did she have qualms about being the one to bring up the thorny subject? ‘When I first started talking about it, I did think
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about whether it might affect my career – was I going to lose gigs because of it? But I’m older now and I had to ask myself, “Do I want to be the kind of musician who speaks out about things I feel strongly about.” And I do.’ In the age of #MeToo, women were becoming more visible, but that wasn’t being reflected in the line-up at folk festivals. ‘I wanted people to be aware of it, like I was,’ says Newton. ‘To go to a festival with all men on the platform and think, “There’s something weird about this!”’ She’s pleased to be curating her own mini-festival Trad Reclaimed at Kings Place in March. ‘I like the idea of reclaiming something; it feels like we’re doing something powerful but not too aggressive. And although it’s a great chance to showcase the talented women in folk today, it’s not a women-only event. The point I’ve always been trying to make is that it’s not about taking anything away from anyone … it’s just trying to even out the playing field.’ Newton appears with The Shee Big Band, preceded by musician and clog dancer Hannah James. ‘Hannah uses onstage technology to record herself singing, playing accordion and dancing. That idea of women having autonomy over what they’re doing
Fri 11 Jan
Thu 4 Apr
The Local Honeys
Marry Waterson & Emily Barker
Fri 15 – Sun 17 Mar
Trad Reclaimed Folk Weekend
Sat 6 Apr
The Shee Big Band Hannah James
Fri 10 May
She Moved Through the Fair: the Legend of Margaret Barry
Sat 11 May
Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening The Rheingans Sisters
Lady Maisery
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Kate Rusby Cara Dillon Peggy Seeger Fri 17 May
Fri 21 Jun
Eddi Reader
Rachel Newton
Newton’s Law
Rachel Newton
really appealed to me. We also have clog dancer and accordion player Amy Thatcher on the bill with Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening.’ Newton has invited leading women instrumentalists to hammer home the point that women in folk don’t just sing. ‘Even women that do play, such as Nancy Kerr or Eliza Carthy, who are fantastic instrumentalists, are too often up for Folk Singer of the Year, not for their instrumental talent.’ Paying tribute to a woman who has inspired a generation, Newton has programmed a music theatre piece about the great Margaret Barry. ‘She had such an interesting life. I’d only heard her on records, but I’d learnt lots of her songs, so she’s had an influence on me personally and a lot of singers I know. And hearing traditional songs on stage introduces a different spectrum to the weekend.’ How does she think a new generation of female folk musicians can be encouraged to continue the tradition? ‘It’s best to lead by example,’ says Newton. ‘The more women that are visible on stage, not just singers but instrumentalists as well, the more young girls and women are likely to think that they can do it too. There’s nothing more powerful.’
folk
She Moved Through The Fair The Legend of Margaret Barry Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
This poignant, funny musical drama about legendary folk singer Margaret Barry is written by music journalist Colin Irwin and Irish singer Mary McPartlan. Featuring many of her most famous songs – ‘Bold Fenian Men’, ‘Factory Girl’ and ‘Galway Shawl’ – She Moved Through The Fair uses dialogue based on direct interviews with many of the colourful characters, who shared Barry’s adventures. Sun 17 Mar
folk | words
Programme 2019
Now She’s Fairly Altered Her Meaning
A gendered response to British traditional songs, with Emily Portman. Talk with musical accompaniment. folk
Rachel Newton Solo Recital Venus Unwrapped
Hall One 7.30pm £22.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Leokadiya Kashperova Cello Sonata No. 1 (UK premiere) Sergei Rachmaninov Two Pieces, Op. 2 Alexander Glazunov Spanish Serenade Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Valse sentimentale, Op. 51 No. 6 Igor Stravinsky Suite italienne
Sun 17 Mar
folk
Kathryn Tickell and The Darkening + The Rheingans Sisters Hall One 7.30pm £26.50 – £18.50 | Savers £9.50
St Pancras Room 2pm £6.50
Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music St Pancras Room 4pm £6.50
Singer and harpist Rachel Newton specialises in interpreting traditional folk songs in both English and Scottish Gaelic as well as writing and performing her own instrumental pieces. Rachel performs solo here, but her regular trio features Lauren MacColl on fiddle and Mattie Foulds on percussion and the full band includes Michael Owers on trombone and Sarah Hayes on keys.
classical
Andrei Ionit˛ă plays Kashperova and Stravinsky
Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music
Also part of Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk Music
Sun 17 Mar
Wed 27 Mar
Kathryn Tickell (17 Mar)
Sat 16 Mar
An inspirational musician and the world’s foremost exponent of the Northumbrian pipes, Kathryn Tickell is a composer, performer, educator and successful recording artist, whose work is deeply rooted in the landscape and people of Northumbria. The Darkening is made up of musicians from Scotland, Ireland and England and their music invokes the dark, powerful, shamanic sounds of ancient Northumbria. Also on stage are the Rheingans Sisters from Sheffield, with contemporary songs based in folk tradition. Thu 21 Mar
comedy
Venus Unwrapped Comedy Gala Hall One 8pm See website for more details
To celebrate Venus Unwrapped Kings Place rolls out the red carpet for some of the UK’s funniest female talent. Check the website for guest announcements. 20
Andrei Ioniţă cello Naoko Sonoda piano Leokadiya Kashperova was an acclaimed pianist and composer whose career and reputation were swallowed up by the 1917 Revolution. In this special programme, Romanian cellist and BBC New Generation Artist Andrei Ioniță gives the UK premiere of her glorious First Cello Sonata, and restores her music to its context, balanced between Russian Romanticism and Stravinsky’s neoclassical world.
Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940) Had she not married a twice-exiled Bolshevik in 1916, the upheavals of the following year might have pressed even more heavily on Kashperova, who had been a leading light of the Petersburg intelligentsia, favourite pianist of Glazunov and Balakirev, and Igor Stravinsky’s piano teacher. Before the Revolution she was also known internationally as the composer of works such as the lyrically impassioned Symphony in B minor and a piano concerto with which she turned heads in Berlin; but after 1917 her works all but slipped off the radar – until their recent rediscovery.
folk
Marry Waterson & Emily Barker ‘A Window to Other Ways’ Album Launch Hall One 8pm £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Yeol Eum Son (5 Apr)
Andrei Ioniţă (27 Mar)
Thu 4 Apr
After meeting on a songwriting retreat, the acclaimed folk and roots artists Marry Waterson and Emily Barker reconvened to create a set of songs that are a fly-on-the-wall observation of the contradictions and disconnections of modern life. No strangers to Kings Place, the duo invite you to peer through A Window to Other Ways at this special album launch. Wed 27 Mar
words
Fri 5 Apr
classical | contemporary
The Crick Crack Club presents… Aurora Orchestra The Son of the Buffalo Woman with Yeol Eum Son Hall Two 7.30pm Dark with Excessive Bright £14.50 | Savers £9.50
comedy | classical
Vikki Stone Concerto for Comedian and Orchestra Hall One 7.30pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
The award-winning comedian and musician Vikki Stone presents the London premiere of her debut orchestral work, Concerto for Comedian and Orchestra, in which the comedian takes the role of ‘soloist’ alongside a chamber orchestra. Stone studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has performed her comic songs on TV; she appears regularly on BBC Radio 4’s The Now Show.
Edward Elgar Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20 WA Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K467 Missy Mazzoli Dark with Excessive Bright (UK premiere) Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 8 in F, Op. 93 Yeol Eum Son piano Ben Griffiths double bass Aurora Orchestra Nicholas Collon conductor One of the most distinctive voices in new music, New York-based composer Missy Mazzoli writes adventurous works with nods to classical, indie rock and pop. Kings Place resident Aurora Orchestra pairs her music with Beethoven’s compact and daring Eighth Symphony, and Mozart’s beloved Piano Concerto No. 21, performed by Korea’s Yeol Eum Son, an international rising star.
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Sat 6 Apr
folk
Kate Rusby
Programme 2019
Hall One 7pm £69.50 – £24.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall One 8.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
One of the finest interpreters of traditional folk songs and one of our most emotive original songwriters, Yorkshire-born star of the contemporary folk scene Kate Rusby is an honoured guest in Kings Place’s Venus Unwrapped series.
Venus Unwrapped
Sat 30 Mar
Also part of Mozart’s Piano
Kate Rusby (6 Apr)
Acclaimed storyteller Jan Blake and long-term collaborator, drummer John Predare, bring an epic performance to Kings Place. This inspiring tale – The Birth of Sundiata Keita, legendary founder of the great Malian Empire of West Africa – reaches across the centuries, from its origins in 13thcentury Africa to the conflicts in our own time where its telling has been all but forbidden.
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23 Laura Mvula and Black Voices
Rakhi Singh (11 Apr)
Fri 12 Apr
Sona Jobarteh Hall One 7pm; 9pm (repeat performance) £26.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
contemporary | classical
Thu 11 Apr
classical | contemporary
Rakhi Singh and Vessel + Singh Quartet Written in Fire
Hall Two 8pm £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Also part of Luminate
Linda Catlin Smith Ribbon; Ricercar; With Their Shadows; Through the Low Hills; Galanthus (Snowdrop); Unbroken; Far from Shore Mira Benjamin violin Anton Lukoszevieze cello Philip Thomas piano Rarely heard in the UK, revered avant-garde ensemble Apartment House present a programme of solo and chamber works by American composer Linda Catlin Smith, whose music is fuelled with beauty, sensitivity and melancholia. Underpinning these elements are compositional rigour and a resolute poetry, fusing time and memory with a painterly sensibility.
Hall One 8pm £19.50 – £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Leoš Janáček String Quartet No. 2 Intimate Letters Rakhi Singh and Vessel Written in Fire (world premiere) Vessel electronics Rakhi Singh violin Simmy Singh violin Ruth Gibson viola Ashok Klouda cello A collaboration inspired by Janáček’s string quartet Intimate Letters with a memorised performance of the piece followed by the premiere of a new work created by violinist Rakhi Singh and pioneering electronic musician Vessel (Sebastian Gainsborough). The combination of acoustic instruments and electronics will scatter sound to all corners of the darkened hall, enveloping us in a contemporary response to a groundbreaking experience.
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Sona Jobarteh (12 Apr)
After her sold-out concert in February 2018, singer and kora player Sona Jobarteh returns to Kings Place as part of Venus Unwrapped. The Guardian sums up her ground-breaking role in music history: ‘Sona Jobarteh is Africa’s first female griot kora virtuoso, and also a fine singer and composer, blending traditional music, blues and Afropop to impressive effect.’
Apartment House play Linda Catlin Smith: Far from Shore
Linda Catlin Smith (6 Apr)
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Sat 6 Apr
world
Also part of Bach Weekend 2019 Hall Two 5pm Tickets £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Programme to include JS Bach Pieces from The Well-Tempered Clavier and The Anna Magdalena Notebook; ‘Mache dich mein Herze rein’ from the St Matthew Passion, BWV 244; ‘Hat man nicht mit seinen Kindern’ from Coffee Cantata, BWV 211; ‘Ich habe genug’, from BWV 82 Jessica Duchen narrator Benjamin Bevan baritone Jonathan Manson baroque cello Steven Devine harpsichord The home life of the Bach family, as seen through the eyes of Anna Magdalena Bach, is reimagined by author Jessica Duchen in words and music – from the ecstasy of creation to the depths of personal tragedy.
Anna Amalia, Princess of Prussia (1723–1787) Champion of CPE Bach, composition pupil of Kirnberger, and voracious collector of musical scores, Anna Amalia probably took her first steps in music mentored by her brother, the future Frederick the Great of Prussia. Famed for her discerning patronage and lively salons, she was no mere royal dilettante however: Kirnberger – who became her Kapellmeister in 1758 – thought highly enough of her contrapuntal prowess to include an excerpt from her oratorio Der Tod Jesu in his treatise The Art of Strict Composition. Sadly, near the end of her life she destroyed all but a handful of her compositions.
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth (1709–1758)
Given Frederick William I of Prussia’s antipathy towards music it’s ironic that his eldest daughter Wilhelmina and her siblings should all have shared a penchant for composition. Wilhelmine herself was a lutenist and studied with the great Sylvius Leopold Weiss. Once married to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth she set about making their court a cultural magnet for the likes of Voltaire, and didn’t neglect her musical enthusiasms, composing, among other things, the opera Argenore, a present for her husband’s 29th birthday. Sun 14 Apr
classical
Feinstein Ensemble The Brandenburg Sisters Also part of Bach Weekend 2019 Hall One 11.30am £19.50 | Savers £9.50 (incl. tea/coffee/ sherry from 11am)
Thu 25 Apr
Wilhelmine von Bayreuth Harpsichord Concerto in G minor JS Bach Three-part Ricercare from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079 Frederick the Great Sinfonia in G Anna Amalia of Prussia Sonata in F Johann Kirnberger Harpsichord Concerto in C minor JS Bach Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 Miki Takahashi violin Robin Bigwood harpsichord Feinstein Ensemble Despite their bullying, anti-musical father, three of the children of King Frederick William I showed outstanding musical gifts: Wilhelmine, Anna Amalia and Frederick the Great. This programme includes unjustly neglected pieces by all three talented siblings alongside works by Bach disciple Johann Philipp Kirnberger (Anna Amalia’s tutor) and masterpieces by Bach himself.
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classical
Héloïse Werner & The Hermes Experiment The Other Side of the Sea
Programme 2019
Feinstein Ensemble Being Mrs Bach: Anna Magdalena’s Story
Hall Two 8pm £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Héloïse Werner The Other Side of the Sea Freya Waley-Cohen We Phoenician Sailors Stevie Wishart Eurostar – a journey between cities and sound Mira Calix DMe Meredith Monk Double Fiesta Soprano and composer Héloïse Werner performs her beguiling solo opera exploring language and identity, The Other Side Of The Sea, written in collaboration with poet Octavia Bright, visual artist Jessie Rodger and director Emily Burns. The concert also features her award-winning quartet The Hermes Experiment in a programme of works by Freya Waley-Cohen, Mira Calix, Stevie Wishart and Meredith Monk.
Venus Unwrapped
classical | words
The Hermes Experiment (25 Apr)
Sat 13 Apr
Kerry Andrew
Finding my voice
Award-winning composer Kerry Andrew performs with Juice Ensemble and alt-folk band You Are Wolf. Her first novel Swansong (Jonathan Cape) appeared in 2018
I didn’t sing on my own for a long time. Aged eight, I sang Kylie songs into a hairbrush in front of the mirror with my best friend. I sang along to my dad’s Fairport Convention, The Beatles and country music tapes in the car. I loved being an alto in my church choir, getting to sing something more interesting than the tune. On the odd occasion I had to do a little solo, my teenage voice shook violently, as did my body – I remember being grasped by the elbow by my choir buddy in a concert, stopping me from collapsing in terror. The University of York changed everything. I volunteered to sing in Berio’s Sinfonia – a tricksy second-alto line in an audacious, large-scale piece – and realised how brilliant it was not just to sing conventionally, but speak, shout
Finding my voice pop, before finding that traditional songs suited me well. This became my alt-folk guise, You Are Wolf. I’ve always loved words and stories as much as music. It’s why traditional songs appeal, too; I tend to go for the narrative ballads. Text can suggest musical material often instantly, and I’ve always joked that that’s why I like to write so much vocal music: how the hell else could I compose? When I compose, I record all vocal material and sometimes sing the instrumental parts, too. I spend several days combing over and re-ordering the 26
and laugh. I co-formed small ensembles, arranging medieval and pop music, and performed poetry with jazz musicians. I listened to Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares, hip hop, Ella Fitzgerald and Sheila Chandra’s genre-straddling drones, English folk and konnakol, a South Indian art form based on tabla rhythm-learning. Discovering Meredith Monk was an epiphany. Here was a composer who trained in dance and didn’t notate her music. She has made films, operas and theatre pieces, almost entirely centred on the voice. She rarely sets a text, preferring repetitive wordless gestures that suggest vocal traditions from around the world but which she insists come purely from within. With Monk, the voice produces every sound you can possibly need. I transcribed her Volcano Songs, and sang (growled, panted) them in my Masters year with Sarah Dacey, and somehow wasn’t in the slightest bit scared. In 2001, I wrote luna-cy, a piece for myself, Sarah and Anna Snow, directly inspired by Monk. We three rapidly formed into Juice Vocal Ensemble, commissioning countless new pieces and influenced by most genres, improvisation, electronica and theatre. Singing with the girls gave me a huge amount of confidence in using my voice, and eventually I fancied trying my own thing out, too. I bagged myself a loop station, and explored spoken word and left-field
Sat 19 Oct
Voices of Venus Juice Vocal Ensemble
Kerry Andrew
Finding my voice
Kerry Andrew
‘I’m unapologetic about my need for words in everything I make. It’s who I am.’
text, and singing whatever comes instinctively. It’s a skill choosing words that demand to be sung. I set ballads, poems, prose, articles, words by young participants, or my own words, which shift and change as a piece is written, songwriter-style. Words, composing and singing have interwoven and prodded each other along in my work. I’ve decided to be unapologetic about my need for words in everything I make. It’s who I am. I now consider myself a writer almost as much as a musician, with my debut novel Swansong published this year. And these days, I love to sing on my own. Sometimes there are nerves, but mostly I’m pretty shameless. And singing still means the other stuff too – harmonics, yelps, whistling and beatboxing (quite badly). Whatever I’m creating, it’s always in my voice.
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Rewriting Herstory in Music Study Afternoon St Pancras Room 2pm – 6pm £19.50
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Diana Ambache Ambache Charitable Trust Anna Beer Author Sounds and Sweet Airs Dr Kate Kennedy Oxford Centre for Life Writing Professor Laurie Stras Musica Secreta, University of Southampton Venus Unwrapped includes just 130 of the thousands of known historical female composers. This event aims to give a grand sweep of the background with a panel of lively expert speakers. Professor Laurie Stras takes the nun’s story onwards from Hildegard of Bingen to the achievements of Renaissance nuns such as Raffaella Aleotti and Leonora d’Este. Anna Beer explores the role of female aristocratic patronage in the 16th and 17th centuries, focusing on composers like Francesca Caccini and Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, while Diana Ambache reflects on a lifetime spent restoring women’s music to the concert platform. Dr Kate Kennedy, who is spearheading the creation of an international archive, leads the day.
Raffaella Aleotti (c.1570–c.1646) Mystery surrounds Ferrara-born Raffaella Aleotti. Was she the sister of madrigalist Vittoria? Or is Raffaella the name Vittoria assumed on taking the veil in the city’s San Vito convent? A skilled keyboard player, reportedly adept on the trombone and other wind instruments as well, she directed the convent’s unusually large ensemble of 23 musicians, making her mark early on with a sumptuous collection of sacred songs for five, seven, eight and ten voices – to the disapproval of those who preferred their devotions accompanied by plainer fare.
Sat 27 Apr
classical
Stile Antico That Most Graceful Melody Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Programme to include: Raffaella Aleotti Exaudi Deus orationem meam; Angelus ad pastores ait Leonora d’Este Veni sponsa Christi; Ego sum panis Maddalena Casulana O notte, o cielo, o mar; Vagh’amorosi augelli Sulpitia Cesis Ascendo ad patrem; Cantemus Domino Joanna Marsh New commission + music by Agricola, Bennet, Byrd, Tallis, Sheppard and Taverner In this fascinating programme, leading vocal ensemble Stile Antico shines a light on an often neglected repertoire, focusing on the music written for three powerful queens, Margaret of Austria, Mary I and Elizabeth I. They used their patronage to facilitate the production of music of exquisite beauty by the finest composers of the day – including women – extravagant showcases of their power contrasting with intimate, personal compositions.
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Sat 27 Apr
jazz
Jazz Re:freshed present… Sarah Tandy and Rosie Turton Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Sarah Tandy is an inspiring bandleader and keyboard player whose compositions are steeped in the rich traditions of jazz whilst enthusiastically rupturing the confines of the genre. Rosie Turton’s Quintet blends the sound of trombone, violin and electronics over a bed of interlocking grooves and soundscapes from the rhythm section and explores the sounds of jazz, hip-hop and Indian classical music. Rosie Turton (27 Apr)
Insight | classical
Roomful of Teeth (3 May)
Sat 27 Apr
Francesca Caccini (1587–1641) That Francesca Caccini was destined to be the first woman to compose an opera is hardly surprising. Born in Florence to a celebrated opera-composing father, Giulio, she sang in some of his stage works before joining him in the service of the Medicis – where she counted Galileo among her friends. Of her operas only the gloriously comic La liberazione di Ruggiero survives, alongside an audacious calling card ‘Op. 1’ – Il primo libro delle musiche – published in 1618 comprising sacred and secular vocal works in almost equal measure.
classical
Roomful of Teeth (3 May)
Sun 28 Apr
English Symphony Orchestra featuring Noriko Ogawa Also part of London Chamber Music Sundays Hall One 6.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Bohuslav Martinů Partita for strings (1931) WA Mozart Piano Concerto No. 13 in C, K415 Vítězslava Kaprálová Partita for piano and strings, Op. 20 Antonín Dvořák Serenade for strings in E, Op. 22 Noriko Ogawa piano English Symphony Orchestra Kenneth Woods conductor
Despite Vitēzlava Kaprálová’s lamentably short life nonetheless produced a substantial body of skilfully crafted works reflecting (like the works of her mentor Martinů), a native Czech sensibility leavened with an international outlook. The latter was consolidated by studies in Paris where conducting skills previously nurtured by Václav Talich were honed by Charles Münch. Productively too – already entrusted with the Czech Philharmonic, in 1938 she conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra, introducing her Military Sinfonietta to the ISCM Festival in London.
words
Poet in the City and Faber & Faber co-present Sylvia Plath: Life between the Lines
Thu 2 May
jazz
Nikki Yeoh & Zoe Rahman
Hall One 7pm £14.50 – £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Blurring the lines between life and art, Sylvia Plath took her personal experiences and wove them into the very fabric of her poetry. But what does it mean to be an artist in the public eye? Join us as we ask what it meant for Plath to turn her life into art, and how the recent release of her two volumes of letters has affected our relationship with her as a poet.
Nikki Yeoh and Zoe Rahman are ground-breaking contemporary composers, both of whom have released outstanding solo piano albums. So what better way to celebrate women in music as part of Venus Unwrapped than to hear their talents shared and combined across two Steinway concert grand pianos? Fri 3 May
contemporary
Roomful of Teeth Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Roomful of Teeth is a GRAMMYwinning vocal project dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study of vocal traditions the world over, the eight-voice ensemble continually expand their vocabulary of techniques to forge a new repertoire without borders. In this special programme for Venus Unwrapped, they perform a selection music by composer and Teeth member Caroline Shaw, including her Pulitzer-Prize-winning work Partita, alongside other works from their unique repertoire. 29
Programme 2019
Hall One 8pm £22.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Venus Unwrapped
Vitězlava Kaprálová (1915–1940)
Mon 29 Apr
Sylvia Plath (29 Apr)
Noriko Ogawa and the English Symphony Orchestra showcase music by three celebrated Czech composers, Dvořák, Martinů and Vítězslava Kaprálová, an exceptional musician who died of tuberculosis at 25, before her composing and conducting talent was fully recognised. Her distinctive style, blending impressionism with Czech modernism, can be heard in the Partita for piano and strings, written shortly before she died.
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Amy Sibley-Allen
‘You play pretty good… for a woman.’
Nikki Yeoh & Zoe Rahman
‘With men drafted in World War Two, the door was open for women to play instruments such as brass and drums.’
Amy Sibley-Allen, Jazz Consultant to Kings Place, reflects on the untold story of women in jazz
Women have played an integral part in more than a century of jazz, often with little recognition. Who were the trailblazers who paved the way for the extraordinary flowering of women in jazz today? Who are the artists passionately writing the future? In Venus Unwrapped we uncover and celebrate some of these women, with the hope that our audience will delve further into the unsung history of women in jazz. According to tradition, the acceptable role for female jazz artists has been as vocalist – think Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. It’s been a long road for them to be taken seriously as instrumentalists, composers, arrangers and bandleaders. There was a growing number of female pianists on the scene from the 1920s onwards, and Mary Lou Williams gained notoriety as one of the most prolific pianist-composers of that period, heavily influencing the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. (The National Youth Jazz Orchestra will pay tribute to Williams in Laura Jurd’s new arrangement of her Zodiac Suite.) With the outbreak of World War Two, and men drafted off to fight, the door was open for women to play instruments previously viewed as ‘masculine’, such as brass and drums. All-women big bands, like the one in Some Like It Hot, proliferated. Melba Liston was one of the first women trombonists to play in big bands
during that time, while arrangers and conductors gained valuable experience. But with the end of the war, women were encouraged to return to their usual domestic roles. By the 60s and 70s many women had come to the forefront of the free-jazz movement, including composer and pianist Carla Bley, avant-garde jazz singer, poet and composer Jeanne Lee, and Alice Coltrane, who developed her own spiritual music following the death of husband John. Inspiring women such as jazz drummer and producer Terri Lyne Carrington were torch-bearers for the next generation. Today, artists such as Jamie Branch and Matana Roberts continue to push the boundaries. This rich legacy is continually being built upon and Venus showcases just a fraction of it. Join us as trumpet player and bandleader Laura Jurd curates a special project. Pay homage to the voice and writing of Norma Winstone with the London Vocal Project and Nikki Isles’ Printmakers. Explore the radical, poetic art of Jeanne Lee. Sample the future with Jazz Re:freshed’s showcase of young talent. Hear Nikki Yeoh and Zoe Rahman double the joy in a two-piano extravaganza or discover the legacy of Detroit’s jazz harpists Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane with Alina Bzhezhinska. Look out, too, for news of Venus Unwrapped events in a very special EFG London Jazz Festival in autumn 2019.
1 Feb
1 Mar
27 Apr
14 Jun
1 Nov
Jazz Re:freshed: Cassie Kinoshi: SEED
Laura Jurd & friends
Jazz Re:freshed: Sarah Tandy/Rosie Turton
Jeanne Lee Project
NYJO with Yazz Ahmed
20 Feb
13 Mar
2 May
Legacy: Alice Coltrane
LUME
Nikki Yeoh & Zoe Rahman
LVP/Norma Winstone & Nikki Illes
16 Jun
31
November
London Jazz Festival
Amy Sibley-Allen
pretty good… for a woman.’
‘You play pretty good… for a woman.’
‘You play
classical | contemporary
Ligeti Quartet Consciousness Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Programme 2019
Steve Reich Pendulum Music Ruth Crawford Seeger String Quartet Cliff Kerr Gödel, Escher, Bach (2019 LQ Commission) for string quartet and EEGs Witold Lutosławski String Quartet What does the brain sound like? This programme moves from Ruth Crawford Seeger’s trail-blazing use of textures in her highly original string quartet to Lutosławski’s masterminding of the aleatoric process. In between comes a new work from neuroscientist and composer Cliff Kerr, who explores what happens when performers become composers by translating their brain activity in real time into musical scores. By leveraging recent advances in non-invasive EEG hardware and time series analysis methods, information is extracted from the brain during the performance.
Sat 11 May
Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979)
Rebecca Clarke embarked on composition lessons at the Royal College of Music with Stanford, who suggested she take up the viola. It was a suggestion with farreaching consequences. As violist she played with several all-women ensembles, sharpening an intuition that in chamber music (and song) lay the ideal medium through which to express herself as a composer. The Coolidge Prize-winning Viola Sonata (famously assumed to be by Ernest Bloch) compounded the Carnegie Hall success of Morpheus the year before, and America would ultimately become her home.
Cara Dillon (10 May)
9 May
Venus Unwrapped
Tabea Zimmermann plays Rebecca Clarke Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Felix Mendelssohn Viola Sonata in C minor Fanny Mendelssohn Lieder Robert Schumann Märchenbilder, Op. 113 Clara Schumann Romances Rebecca Clarke Viola Sonata Tabea Zimmermann viola Dénes Várjon piano One of the world’s greatest violists, Tabea Zimmermann, honours a fellow violist: ‘the glorious Rebecca Clarke’, in the words of Arthur Rubinstein. Clarke’s works are contrasted with the young Felix Mendelssohn’s turbulent Sonata in C minor, Robert Schumann’s bewitching Märchenbilder, Clara Schumann’s poignant Romances and the haunting poetry of Fanny Mendelssohn’s songs. Sat 11 May
insight event
Ruth Crawford Seeger ‘Dear Superwoman’
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953) To those who associate the name Seeger with American folk royalty it might come as a surprise that Ruth was, in the 1930s, a card-carrying modernist. Guggenheim Fellowship encounters with Bartók and Berg added transatlantic perspective to her native enthusiasm for Cowell and Ruggles, and the resulting string quartet caught the ears of Elliott Carter and Varèse. By the late 30s her life as a wife and mother had ushered in a change of direction into folk, though the late Suite for wind quintet of 1952 recalls past complexity.
classical
St Pancras Room 6pm £9.50
Christina McMaster piano
Fri 10 May
folk
Cara Dillon Wanderer Hall One 8pm £24.50 | Savers £9.50
This extraordinary Irish singer has been captivating audiences for over 20 years with her warm and natural stage presence. This evening, alongside a selection of favourites from her previous releases, Cara will be performing material from her new album Wanderer. It’s a collection of moving songs recorded in an intimate setting with her husband and musical partner Sam Lakeman. 32
The young Ruth Crawford (before she married Charles Seeger) was a highly original artist whose visionary modernist works eventually drew admiration from a new generation of American composers. In this illustrated event, pianist Christina McMaster performs some of Crawford’s fascinating piano music and explores her music and her short but intensely creative life.
Hall Two 8pm £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Peggy Seeger stands at the nexus of two musical dynasties. Her mother was the avant-garde composer and folksong arranger of rare talent Ruth Crawford Seeger, and her brother Pete and her husband Ewan McColl, were legends of the folk revival in their respective countries. Peggy has lived an extraordinarily rich life as a musician, songwriter and activist, with 23 solo albums to her name. In this special event, she is joined by her sons and pianist Christina McMaster to sing the songs of her early life, and to reflect on the musical influence of her mother, who died so young. Fri 17 May
folk
Lady Maisery Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
In an English folk scene currently bursting with bold and innovative music, Lady Maisery shine brightly. With their unique approach to harmony singing and intelligent and thoughtful arrangements of both traditional repertoire and original compositions, Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans harness and celebrate their united voices.
Hall One 7.30pm £29.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Benjamin Britten Simple Symphony, Op. 4 Witold Lutosławski Musique funèbre Grażyna Bacewicz Concerto for string orchestra; Divertimento for strings Henryk Górecki Three pieces in Old Style Edvard Grieg Holberg Suite, Op. 40 Southbank Sinfonia Simon Over conductor Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz wrote seven violin concertos, eight quartets and four symphonies. ‘I run, I don’t walk,’ she said. ‘I speak fast, even my pulse beats faster than normal.’ 50 years after her death, hear her signature string works performed alongside other 20th-century works by this dynamic young string orchestra, known for their championing of music by women composers.
Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969) Prolific composer, novelist, woman of letters, pupil of Carl Flesch and sometime principal violinist of the Polish Radio Orchestra, Łódź-born Bacewicz was a force of nature. Study in Paris with Nadia Boulanger encouraged an underlying clarity and rigour in her music, which is alive, too, with its Polish roots. And as the winds of change set the iron curtain rustling in the late 50s, she was open to ideas gusting in from the West. Over 200 works survive, including no fewer than 7 violin concertos and assorted sonatas.
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Sun 9 Jun
classical
Kate Whitley & The Multi-Story Orchestra Hall One 6pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Programme 2019
Peggy Seeger Songs My Mother Taught Me
Southbank Sinfonia A Faster Pulse
Kate Whitley Settings of poetry by Sabrina Mahfouz (world premiere) Maurice Ravel Trois Poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé Sarah-Jane Lewis soprano Fra Rustumji violin Abel Selaocoe cello The Multi-Story Orchestra Christopher Stark conductor Sabrina Mahfouz poet Ravel’s beautiful song settings of Mallarmé’s poetry, sung by soprano Sarah-Jane Lewis, are paired with a new set of love songs written specifically for the event by composer Kate Whitley and poet Sabrina Mahfouz. Curated by Whitley, coartistic director of The Multi-Story Orchestra, the performances include readings from Mahfouz and other poets alongside improvised responses from Multi-Story musicians.
Venus Unwrapped
folk | words
classical
Kate Whitley (9 Jun)
Peggy Seeger (11 May)
Sat 11 May
Thu 23 May
Elaine Mitchener (14 Jun)
Fri 14 Jun
jazz
Elaine Mitchener & Friends The Jeanne Lee Project Hall Two 8pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Elaine Mitchener vocals Jason Yarde saxophone Alex Hawkins piano Anton Lukoszevieze cello Neil Charles bass Mark Sanders drums Acclaimed vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener, joined by a host of impressive collaborators, presents a new programme inspired by Jeanne Lee, the extraordinary American jazz singer, poet, composer and activist. Sat 15 June
learning | contemporary
The Oram Awards
Programme 2019
Presented by PRS Foundation and The New BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the Oram Awards recognise emerging artists in the fields of music, sound and related technologies in honour of the BBC RW’s Daphne Oram, and other pioneering women in music and sound. A day of workshops for women and girls willing to work with technology and music will culminate in the awards ceremony and performances. See website for details in 2019.
Venus Unwrapped
Jeanne Lee (1939–2000) Chick Corea to Evan Parker, Carla Bley to John Cage, the omnivorously collaborative Jeanne Lee resisted pigeon-holing at every turn. A singer of smoky seductiveness and vibrant imagination, she surfed the avantgarde free jazz scene on both sides of the Atlantic, dispensing matchless improvisation and a dazzling array of extended vocal techniques. As the 1980s unfolded, however, she was drawn more and more to her own composition, leaving an eclectic legacy that includes an oratorio, the five-part suite Emergence, and the jazz opera La conférence des oiseaux.
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Hall Two 2pm £19.50
Come and sing with the London Vocal Project in a workshop led by musical director and internationally recognised choir leader Pete Churchill, preceding the LVP’s concert this evening. Sun 16 Jun
jazz
London Vocal Project with Norma Winstone & Nikki Iles The Many Voices of Eve Hall One 8pm £22.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
This collaborative project unites two iconic and vibrant ensembles, The Printmakers – Nikki Iles’ all-star sextet featuring the great Norma Winstone MBE – and the London Vocal Project, the unique groovebased jazz choir directed by the inspirational Pete Churchill. Fri 21 Jun
contemporary | folk
Eddi Reader Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 | Savers £9.50
Norma Winstone (16 Jun)
Eddi Reader brings joyous life to all forms of song. It was the short-lived, but warmly-remembered Fairground Attraction (and the single, Perfect) that really brought her into the limelight and to the attention of a much wider audience.
learning
RPS Women Conductors Workshops with Alice Farnham 10am – 5.30pm | On sale in 2019 £125 per workshop (participants; bursaries available) | £14.50 (observer ticket)
Kings Place joins forces with the Royal Philharmonic Society to present two one-day workshops giving women the chance to take up conducting. Led by celebrated conductor Alice Farnham – recently featured in the 2018 Woman’s Hour Power List, the workshops are aimed at female music professionals aged 18+, with little experience in conducting, who would like to achieve greater proficiency, either as a principal focus or as part of a varied musical career. The RPS Women Conductors initiative is internationally acclaimed for its commitment to ensuring women are better represented on the podium. A limited number of places are available for public to observe the afternoon session (2.30 – 5.30pm) on each day. Fri 20 Sep
classical
Elias Quartet Reed Stanzas Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 1 in F, Op. 18 No. 1 Sally Beamish String Quartet No. 3 Reed Stanzas Beethoven String Quartet No. 9 in C, Op. 59 No. 3 Razumovsky Elias Quartet Sally Beamish was inspired to write Reed Stanzas by Elias Quartet’s Donald Grant, who doubles as a Scottish fiddle player. This new quartet evokes the windswept landscapes of Suffolk and Harris, and is threaded with the calls of a lapwing. It stands between two of Beethoven’s most ebullient essays in the form: the vivacious Op. 18 No. 1 in F, and the third Razumovsky quartet, with its daring opening and vertiginously brilliant finale. 35
Sat 21 & Sun 22 Sep
contemporary
Zoë Keating Hall One 7.30pm £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Cellist and composer Zoë Keating is a one-woman orchestra. She uses a cello and a foot-controlled laptop to record layer upon layer of sound, creating intricate, haunting and compelling music. Zoë is known for both her use of technology and her DIY approach, releasing her music online without the help of a record label. Her latest recording, a foursong EP called Snowmelt, was released in the summer of 2018 and she is working on another. Thu 26 Sep
contemporary
Suzanne Ciani Hall One 8pm £20 | Savers £9.50
The legendary Suzanne Ciani, first female recipient of the Moog Innovation Award, is a composer, recording artist, and pioneer in the field of electronic music and sound design. Creator of 15 iconic albums, including the celebrated Sunergy with Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith in 2016, she comes to Venus Unwrapped with a new project.
Programme 2019
The Many Voices of Eve London Vocal Project Workshop
13 & 29 July
Venus Unwrapped
learning | jazz
Zoë Keating (21–22 Sep)
Sun 16 Jun
Ashley Paul + Nik Void
Venus Eclectic Thur 17 Jan
Ashley Paul + Nik Void Wed 30 Jan
Gyða Valtýsdóttir
Venus Eclectic
Sat 2 Feb
Anna Meredith: Surround Sat 9 Feb
Pan Daijing + Hatis Noit Kathy Hinde + Sabine Vogel Sat 6 April
Apartment House Linda Catlin Smith Thur 11 April
Rakhi Singh + Vessel Written in Fire Fri 14 June
Elaine Mitchener Jeanne Lee Project Sat 15 June
The Oram Awards Thur 26 Sept
Suzanne Ciani Sat 19 Oct
Juice Vocal Ensemble Voices of Venus 36
London Adventist Chorale (10 Oct)
Thu 10 Oct
jazz
London Adventist Chorale Still I Rise Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Evelyn Simpson-Curenton Lord, How Come Me Here? Eurydice Osterman Walk Together, Children; Alleluia Rosephanyne Powell Still I Rise Margaret Bonds Three Dream Portraits Undine Smith Moore Daniel, Servant of the Lord; Three Songs; We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace; Florence Price Sympathy
classical | contemporary
Theatre of Voices Baltic Voices Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Galina Grigorjeva ‘Lamento’ (from Insomnia) Veljo Tormis The Bishop and the Pagan Pēteris Vasks Three Poems Helena Tulve The Narrow Road to the Deep North (words by Matsuo Basho) Galina Grigorjeva ‘To the Virgin Theotokos’ (from Vespers) Arvo Pärt (arr. Paul Hillier) Fratres Kaija Saariaho Nuits, adieux Theatre of Voices Michala Petri recorder Paul Hillier director While Arvo Pärt is the world’s bestknown Estonian, less familiar are the names of female composers such as Galina Grigorjeva and Helena Tulve, working in the nation’s rich choral tradition. In this programme Paul Hillier and his acclaimed Theatre of Voices present some of the finest new vocal chamber music to come out of the Baltic States, including a premiere by Helene Tulve, featuring renowned recorder player Michala Petri.
Sun 6 Oct
classical
Mathilde Milwidsky & Sam Haywood Venus and the Violin II Also part of London Chamber Music Sundays Hall Two 6.30pm £18.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Agnes Zimmermann Violin Sonata No. 3 in G minor, Op. 23 Clara Schumann Three Romances, Op. 22 Johannes Brahms Violin Sonata No. 1 in G, Op. 78 Mathilde Milwidsky violin Sam Haywood piano
The output of African-American female composers has been little explored. Their music has a distinct voice: drawing heavily on the experiences of their history, this large repertory of compositions and arrangements is intense in its emotion and colour. Combining a cappella and accompanied choral music, and solo song, this unique programme from Ken Burton and the London Adventist Chorale will cover a diverse range of works, from classical compositions to spirituals and gospel. Including Powell’s powerful Still I Rise.
Florence Price (1887-1953)
In 1915, in the midst of the suffrage movement, Agnes Zimmermann’s First Violin Sonata featured in a concert of women composers in the South Place Sunday Concerts, the precursor to the LCMS series. By then, the nearly 70-year-old composer was famous in Victorian England as a fine pianist and composer – Joseph Joachim premiered her work and thought highly of her, and she enjoyed close friendships with many composers, including Clara Schumann, with whom she regularly performed. This concert by Mathilde Milwidsky and Sam Haywood, traces and explores some of these rich associations in her work.
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When, in 1939, Marian Anderson sang Florence Price’s arrangement of ‘My soul’s been anchored in de Lord’ on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, it was broadcast across the nation and Price became a household name – six years after her Wanamaker Prize winning E minor Symphony had been premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, itself a breakthrough moment for Afro-American women composers everywhere. A further three symphonies followed, swelling a substantial legacy that extends to over 300 works nourished by European, American and Afro-American traditions.
Venus Unwrapped
Fri 27 Sep
Programme 2019
London Adventist Chorale Ken Burton conductor
classical
Evelyn Glennie (18 Oct)
Sun 13 Oct
Piatti Quartet & Emily Pailthorpe play Elizabeth Maconchy Also part of London Chamber Music Sundays Hall One 6.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
WA Mozart Oboe Quartet in F, K370 Claude Debussy String Quartet in G minor, Op. 10 Elizabeth Maconchy Oboe Quintet Felix Mendelssohn String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80
Elizabeth Maconchy’s 13 string quartets represent an unparalleled 20th-century contribution to chamber music for strings. Following the performance of the Fourth Quartet in the LCMS series in 2017, this concert illustrates Maconchy’s sensitivity for wind writing, too, as oboist Emily Pailthorpe joins the Piatti Quartet in a rare performance of the Oboe Quintet from 1932. The taut and dramatic style of the quintet is contrasted with music by Mozart and Debussy, and the concert ends with Mendelssohn’s passionate last quartet.
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907–1994) Described by Maconchy as ‘my best and most deeply felt works’, 13 string quartets composed over half a century lie at the heart of her output. A pupil of Vaughan Williams, she also studied in Prague, drawn to Eastern Europe by the distinctive modernism of Janáček and Bartók. Soon after her return to London, her suite The Land wowed at its Proms premiere in 1930, (Holst was an enthusiastic fan). Subsequent orchestral works include a clutch of concertinos showcasing diverse instruments. ‘Music’, she insisted, ‘should be passionately intellectual, and intellectually passionate.’
Wed 16 Oct
contemporary | words
Poet in the City presents... The Black Flamingo Cabaret Hall Two 7.30pm £12.50 | Savers £9.50
Dust down your feathers for a night at The Black Flamingo Cabaret, a sumptuous display of wordplay and gender-defying drag featuring black and queer performers. Hosted by poet and drag queen Dean Atta as The Black Flamingo, the evening will feature a collection of spectacular artists subverting gender through spoken word and poetry. The line-up will include performance artist, poet and LGBTQ+ activist Travis Alabanza and Sea the Poet, an artist whose work aims to empower marginalised people. Prepare for a night of spellbinding cabaret. Lera Auerbach (18 Oct)
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Nathaniel Anderson-Frank violin Michael Trainor violin Tetsuumi Nagata viola Jessie Ann Richardson cello Emily Pailthorpe oboe
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Fri 18 Oct
classical | contemporary
O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra with Evelyn Glennie Stabat Mater Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Lera Auerbach Dialogues on Stabat Mater Evelyn Glennie New work Arnold Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 (vrs. for string orchestra) Evelyn Glennie percussion O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra Hugo Ticciati director/violin Hugo Ticciati and his Sweden-based chamber orchestra present two works reflecting on motherhood, alongside solo compositions written and performed by renowned percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Russian-born composer Lera Auerbach’s Dialogues on Stabat Mater converses with Pergolesi’s Baroque masterpiece, reimagining it as instrumental reflections on the universal image of the grieving mother. Schoenberg’s wondrous early Verklärte Nacht (Transfigured Night) wordlessly resolves the crisis of a pregnant woman into a paean to the transformative power of love.
‘this is less a statement about a new ‘canon’ and more an opportunity to ignore the idea altogether’ In collaboration with Kings Place, we commissioned Lavinia Greenlaw to write a new poem on the idea of Venus – her poem, Venus: a manifesto (see pp 2–3) – is a striking response to the myth, exploring women’s artistic practice and the idea that women have been held back from fulfilling their endeavours not only by society but also by themselves. The poet looks at how the mythic Venus is born of ‘sea foam’, and plays on the idea that this matter created by ‘agitation’ exists at the margins. When thinking about gender, these margins have been a space of immense strife and creativity for artists, forced there by an unequal society. For me, there is something really powerful about a strong identity which is also ungraspable: the creation of new agency through fluidity. Boundaries shift or are ignored altogether in order to create something completely different; the Venus narrative is reclaimed.
Our first event of the season is a collaboration with Faber celebrating the publication of the second volume of Sylvia Plath’s letters. Plath is a poet and a woman whose life has been seized upon and distorted by academia and the public alike. This evening will be an opportunity to hear from the poet in her own words. Even though she was a celebrated voice at a time where men owned the canon, interpretations of her work were still disempowering, subjecting her to gendered definitions and judgements. Her life continues to shape-shift with the tides of public opinion, yet still she speaks to us and still she evades us – we’re hoping to stop the stream mid-flow, and listen… We are excited to present Dean Atta’s Black Flamingo Cabaret as part of Venus, a show exploring black and queer identity. Through feathers, flamingos and general fabulousness, Dean and his guests will challenge gender stereotypes and the expectations placed by others onto bodies in a gender-defying celebration of self-expression. When Dean first discussed this idea with us, he was keen for the show to appear in an unexpected venue for this kind of work, and we agreed. The opportunity to carve out new spaces is what programming in Venus Unwrapped has to be all about – our arts spaces must have flexible walls, and constantly be subject to redefinition by the artists and audience; access and agency are so often gendered issues. Our final event, Women in Frame, centres on artist Claire Eastgate to celebrate her portraits of 28 amazing contemporary women poets. Claire’s project highlights the abundance of diverse female poets writing today, defying previous eras in which women poets were excluded. For me, this is less a statement about a new ‘canon’ and more an opportunity to ignore the idea altogether – rather than being told who to listen to, what does it mean to hear the voices who want to be heard?
12 Jan
27 Mar
27 Apr
16 Oct
30 Nov
Reel Herstory: film & discussion
Crick Crack Club The Son of The Buffalo Woman
Rewriting Herstory in Music Study Day
The Black Flamingo Cabaret
29 Apr
6 Nov
Crick Crack Club The Frog Princess Punked
Sylvia Plath Letters
Women in Frame
18 Jan
Crick Crack Club: Kali
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These are the voices that want to be heard
For me, Venus Unwrapped opens up an opportunity to explore the way in which the disempowered can exert ownership over language, and to challenge the way in which gender is experienced. We at Poet in the City want to interrogate conventional interpretations of the Venus myth, its positioning of bodies, gender and sexuality; we want to showcase work which owns that narrative and shifts the balance of power.
Isabel Colchester
These are the voices that want to be heard
Isobel Colchester is Chief Executive of Poet in the City, Artistic Associate at Kings Place, which promotes live poetry events throughout the UK
Sat 19 Oct
contemporary
Juice Vocal Ensemble Voices of Venus Hall Two 8pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Anna Snow soprano Sarah Dacey soprano Kerry Andrew alto Experimental vocal trio Juice Vocal Ensemble present a programme combining voice with electronics, found sounds and percussion, inspired by leftfield pop, theatre and new classical music. Featuring three new commissions from pioneering composer-vocalist-artists: Gazelle Twin, Hanna Tuulikki and Olivia Louvel.
Henriëtte Bosmans (1895–1952) Amsterdam-born, Bosmans enjoyed a close relationship with the city’s Concertgebouw Orchestra in which her father was Principal Cello. Before and after World War II she gave over twenty concerts with them as solo pianist, and under Adrian Boult it was they who broke her decade’s silence as a composer, premiering her Doodenmarsch (Dead March) in 1946. Perhaps remembering her father, she wrote much for cello and piano, but a duet partnership with French soprano Noémie Pérugia inspired a fertile flowering of song during her last years.
‘One of the greatest artists in the past and present history of music’ was Berlioz’s verdict on the French mezzo who studied piano with Liszt, duetted with Chopin, premiered Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, and composed three salon operettas to libretti by the utterly besotted Ivan Turgenev. Two more operas to her own texts followed, and a substantial body of song crowns an oeuvre radiating a compositional fastidiousness instilled by her teacher, Anton Reicha. Unequivocally impressed, Liszt declared her the first woman composer of genius. Thu 24 Oct
classical
Natalie Clein, Julius Drake & Ruby Hughes Les Étoiles Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Robert Schumann Gesänge der Frühe for solo piano, Op. 133 Henriëtte Bosmans Cello Sonata Hector Berlioz La captive Pauline Viardot Les étoiles Claude Debussy Trois Chansons de Bilitis Debussy Cello Sonata in D minor Judith Weir New work Johannes Brahms Two songs for voice, cello and piano, Op. 91 Natalie Clein cello Julius Drake piano Ruby Hughes soprano Natalie Clein presents the darkly opulent Cello Sonata (1919) of gifted Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans, in a captivating programme of cello and song with Julius Drake and Ruby Hughes. All three come together for Brahms’s gorgeous late songs, Berlioz’s La captive, a new commission from Judith Weir and Viardot’s poignant paean to the stars.
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Fri 1 Nov
jazz
National Youth Jazz Orchestra Zodiac Suite Hall One 7.30pm £22.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Yazz Ahmed trumpet National Youth Jazz Orchestra A programme that celebrates the female contribution to jazz through history from the UK’s finest young jazz musicians. The programme draws inspiration from instrumentalists such as 1930s trombonist Melba Liston; composers such as Mary Lou Williams and Maria Schneider; band leaders, lyricists and more, including Lil Hardin Armstrong. Mercury nominee Laura Jurd provides the centrepiece with her contemporary reimagining of Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite (1945). Yazz Ahmed (1 Nov)
Ruby Hughes (24 Oct)
Pauline Viardot (1821–1910)
Mary Lou Williams (1910–1981) From the seven-year-old ‘Little Piano Girl’ as she was known in Pittsburg to her coronation as ‘the first lady of the jazz keyboard’, Mary Lou Williams excelled as pianist, composer, bandleader and arranger. She even taught a course in jazz history at Duke University, Durham NC. But it was her versatility and inquisitiveness that marked her out, allowing her to segue effortlessly from swing to bebop, Dixieland to ragtime – her three Mass settings adding a liturgical twist. ‘I experiment to keep up’, she observed. ‘I even keep a little ahead, like a mirror that shows what will happen next.’
classical
Chiaroscuro Quartet Sunday at the Mendelssohns’ Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Midori (8 Nov)
Sun 3 Nov
Joseph Haydn String Quartet in E flat, Op. 33 No. 2 Fanny Mendelssohn String Quartet in E flat Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 13 in B flat, Op. 130 (with alternative finale) Alina Ibragimova violin Pablo Hernán Benedí violin Emilie Hörnlund viola Claire Thirion cello
To be born into the supremely cultivated Mendelssohn family was both a blessing and a misfortune. Through her mother Fanny could claim a direct line to JS Bach, and the Sunday ‘musicales’ brought the cream of intellectual and musical Berlin to her home. But because she was a woman, her compositions were destined to inhabit the shadows cast by brother Felix’s ascendant star, and he discouraged her from publishing. Unfairly, as her sizeable compositional legacy attests. Gounod, who met her in Italy, recognised at once ‘a musician beyond compare’.
Fri 8 Nov
classical | contemporary
Poet in the City presents... Women in Frame
Midori Dancer on a Tightrope
Hall One 7.30pm Tickets £14.50 | Savers £9.50
Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
At a time when extraordinary women poets are lighting up the face of contemporary poetry, Poet in the City invites you to the launch of an ambitious project laying the foundations for a new female legacy. Celebrating Painting the Poets, artist Claire Eastgate’s unique project creating portraits of 28 trailblazing female poets, we are offering you the chance to come and get to know them through an exciting evening of workshops and live poetry performances. Join us for a finale event featuring former National Poet of Wales Gillian Clarke, Claire Eastgate and a whole host of special guests.
Sofia Gubaidulina Dancer on a Tightrope Olga Neuwirth Quasare/Pulsare Franghiz Ali-Zadeh Habil-Sayagi Vivian Fung Birdsong Tamar Diesendruck New work (UK premiere)
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Programme 2019
words
Midori violin Ieva Jokubaviciute piano Renowned violinist, educator and cultural leader Midori has been inspiring audiences with her graceful artistry for more than 30 years. A passionate advocate of the new, Midori brings to Venus Unwrapped her unique sequence of works by living composers, including the Azerbaijani Ali-Zadeh’s evocative Habil-Sayagi and the exquisite rhapsody that is Vivian Fung’s Birdsong. At the heart of the programme lies Sofia Gubaidulina’s poetic tour de force, Dancer on a Tightrope, in which the violinist performs a spectacular high-wire act above the otherworldly sounds and incantations of the prepared piano.
Venus Unwrapped
Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847)
Wed 6 Nov
Chiaroscuro Quartet (3 Nov)
In her 1834 quartet, the young Fanny Mendelssohn announced her composing talent to posterity: here was her response to Beethoven and to her pole star, JS Bach. Its turbulence, originality and dark beauty distinguish it starkly from her brother’s quartets of the time, and yet, in her lifetime, it would never receive a public performance. The celebrated Chiaroscuro Quartet frames it with Haydn’s sublime Op. 33 No. 2 and Beethoven’s extraordinarily rich, sixmovement Quartet, Op. 130, ending with the amiable alternative finale.
Forging the future Polly Bielecka
In 2011, I curated an exhibition at Pangolin London called ‘Women Make Sculpture’ which was intended to remind everyone of the very fact stated in the title. It also attempted to challenge and reverse the common image of sculpture: a man wielding heavy-duty machinery or an increasingly romantic and outdated vision of a smocked Rodinesque figure modelling away in quiet solitude. It was a varied exhibition of both abstract and figurative work that highlighted the wealth of creativity from female sculptors in Britain. It received a lot of press attention, but collectors were wary. Fortunately, since 2011 we have seen some progress: women sculptors are now seen in the public eye. Sarah Lucas and Phyllida Barlow represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Last year Gillian Wearing was the first female artist to be commissioned to create a sculpture for Parliament Square, a portrait of Suffragist leader Millicent Fawcett. More and more public institutions are recognising the imbalance in their collections and putting more effort into programming female artists, with Cornelia Parker at the Royal Academy, Barbara Hepworth at Tate Britain and Louise Bourgeois at Tate Modern being recent London highlights. However, at auction there remains a divide when it comes to sculpture. The highest-ever sculpture sale at auction is Giacometti’s L’Homme au doigt, which sold for $141.3m in 2015 – Louise Bourgeois’s Spider sold for $28.2m the same year. With more women building their own collections and becoming patrons of the arts, one would hope this will eventually change. Indeed much of the history of female sculptors has still to be written, as has that of women working in many areas of the traditional art canon, despite the fact that
they have been making for millennia. Our programming at Pangolin London, like the music programming at Kings Place, isn’t taking a feminist stand but simply putting male and female sculptors on a level playing field and celebrating the creativity of humankind. What unites the three sculptors we are presenting this year is not their gender but their drive, dedication and ability to problem-solve and persevere. Our first solo exhibition celebrates the indefatigable Charlotte Mayer’s 90th year. Born in Prague and emigrating to the UK in 1939, Mayer was one of only a few women to study at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art in the late 1940s at a time when women weren’t always welcomed into the sculpture studio. Her unquenchable energy and resilience put her in good stead and her oeuvre is defined by elegance and poise, qualities often inspired by nature and which she has applied to both intimate works as well as a number of large-scale public commissions. This exhibition will feature a new series of delicate ‘nest’ sculptures cast in bronze, alongside recent work whose original models are often crafted from delicate natural materials, such as apple peel dipped in wax or carved slithers of wood, before being transformed into bronze. Merete Rasmussen was born in Copenhagen, brought up in Sweden and has lived in the UK since 2005. She has been working the same stoneware for over 20 years, so understands her material and its limitations intimately, enabling her to create her boldly coloured, gravity-defying sculptural ceramics. Widely collected across the globe and by institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Arts and Design, New York, Rasmussen’s hand-built ceramics and cast bronzes delight the eye with their flowing
Forging the future
Polly Bielecka, Director of Pangolin London, pays tribute to three formidable female sculptors featured as part of Venus Unwrapped this year.
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forms and movement. She says: ‘I work with the idea of a composition in three dimensions, seeking balance and harmony. The finished form should have energy, enthusiasm and a sense of purpose.’ Ann Christopher RA was the youngest female sculptor to be elected an Associate Royal Academician in 1980 and was elected a full RA in 1989. Working primarily in cast bronze, stainless steel, silver and fabricated Corten, Christopher is not shy of metalworking tools and, unusually, works each sculpture directly in the metal once it has been cast to give it an organic hand-made element, in contrast with the precision of the machine-milled lines and grooves that give her work such dynamism. Last year Christopher created an impressive five-metre-tall commission Following the Journey for
the Royal Academy’s Keeper’s House Garden which comprises an elegant elliptical form perched on a beam and held under tension by two cables fixed to nearby buildings. Her solo show at Pangolin will include new sculpture and works on paper. Sculpture has often been associated with the Roman and Greek gods Vulcan and Hephaestus but it is time we adjusted those outdated perceptions: there are plenty of goddesses playing with fire in their welding studios, forges and kilns. If we must have an allegorical figure to illustrate that persona, my guess is that she is part Minerva, part Vesta and – of course – part Venus.
Jan – May 2019
19 Jun – 17 Aug
Venus Unwrapped
Merete Rasmussen
Piano Nobile, Level -1 Admission FREE
Pangolin London Admission FREE
5 Mar – 18 Apr
30 Oct – 21 Dec
Charlotte Mayer at 90 Ann Christopher RA Pangolin London Admission FREE
Pangolin London Admission FREE
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NB: Exhibition Dates may change so please so please check Piano Nobile or Pangolin website before your visit
Polly Bielecka
Forging the future
Charlotte Mayer with Turning Monumental at Bicester Office Park, Oxford
‘there are plenty of goddesses playing with fire in their welding studios, forges and kilns’
Tansy Davies (9 Nov)
Mon 25 Nov
classical
Fidelio Trio Here Everything Shines Hall Two 7.30pm £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Judith Weir Piano Trio Two (2004) Rebecca Clarke Piano Trio (1921) Charlotte Bray Here Everything Shines (2015) Maurice Ravel Piano Trio (1914) Darragh Morgan violin Adi Tal cello Mary Dullea piano
contemporary
London Sinfonietta Jolts and Pulses The Music of Tansy Davies Programme 2019
Hall One 7.30pm £24.50 – £18.50 | Savers £9.50
Tansy Davies grind show (electric); Undertow Naomi Pinnock Everything does change Tansy Davies Loophole; salt box Clara Iannotta Al di là del bianco Tansy Davies New work (world premiere); neon
Venus Unwrapped
Elaine Mitchener vocalist London Sinfonietta Tansy Davies has established herself as a highly individual voice in new music today. Her works are built from the materials of the modern past – of classical, contemporary and rock – fused with influences from art, architecture and ritual. Her style is offbeat and restless, making for a fragmented passage of musical time for the listener. This concert includes music by Naomi Pinnock and Clara Iannotta – composers to whom Davies is drawn. The evening also features the world premiere of a new work by Tansy Davies for ensemble and the celebrated improvising singer Elaine Mitchener, co-commissioned by the London Sinfonietta and Kings Place.
Wed 20 Nov
classical | contemporary
Attacca Quartet with Caroline Shaw Hall One 8pm £34.50-£19.50 | Savers £9.50
Caroline Shaw Entr’acte; Valencia; Punctum; Five songs Felix Mendelssohn String Quintet No. 2 Op. 87 in B flat Amy Schroeder violin Keiko Tokunaga violin Nathan Schram viola Andrew Yee cello with Caroline Shaw voice, viola Pullitzer Prize-winning composer Caroline Shaw reveals all facets of her dynamic musicianship in this collaboration with the young, New Yorkbased Attacca Quartet. Hers is an art which converses with the musical past without fear of fresh experiment. After three of her ingenious and beguiling quartets, she will sing new songs she has composed for herself and the Attacca, returning in the second half in the role of violist for Mendelssohn’s glorious Quintet.
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Caroline Shaw (20 Nov)
Sat 9 Nov
Darragh Morgan introduces his exquisite trio programme, contrasting Rebecca Clarke with her admired contemporary, Maurice Ravel: ‘I met Judith Weir some 20 years ago in the west of Ireland on a summer school. I remember being enchanted by her conversation that first evening and have continued to be enchanted by her and her Piano Trio Two ever since – it never loses its otherworldly beauty. We have worked with Charlotte Bray since she was a student in Birmingham and so it was a pleasure when she arranged Here Everything Shines for us. Our first encounter with Clarke’s Trio came in her adopted home of America where she is much celebrated: she created such strong, strident and emotional music, which contrasts brilliantly with the exquisite colours of Ravel’s masterpiece’
Hall One 7.30pm £34.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Helen Grime String Quartet Sergei Rachmaninov Romance (from the unfinished String Quartet No. 1) Judith Bingham New work Franz Schubert String Quartet No. 14, D810 Death and the Maiden
The Crick Crack Club presents… The Frog Princess Punked Hall Two 8pm £14.50 | Savers £9.50
The Swamp Girls Sally Pomme Clayton story Georgia Kalogeropoulou composition, guitar, saxophone, voice Dawn Rose arrangement, drums Fotios Begklis images, live v-jaying
Ben Hancox violin Hannah Dawson violin Robin Ashwell viola Cara Berridge cello The world-renowned Sacconi Quartet champion two of today’s leading British composers, performing the world premiere of a new string quartet by Judith Bingham, alongside Helen Grime’s String Quartet from 2014. They round off their programme with Rachmaninov’s sensuous Romance and Schubert’s dramatic and everpopular Death and the Maiden.
Elizabeth Poston (1905–1987) A prolific composer of music for TV and radio, when it came to providing a score for E M Forster’s Howard’s End, Elizabeth Poston was literally on home ground: from 1914 until her death she lived in the very house that had inspired the novelist. Emboldened by Vaughan Williams and Peter Warlock (whose scrupulous craftsmanship informed her own style), she made extensive researches into folk music, and her vocal music – of which Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is a peerless example – betrays a haunting folklike simplicity shot through with artfully poised harmony.
Fri 29 Nov
words | contemporary
classical
The Sixteen Saint Cecilia Hall One 7.30pm £49.50 – £19.50 | Savers £9.50
Benjamin Britten A Hymn to the Virgin; Hymn to Saint Cecilia, Op. 27 Ruth Byrchmore Prayer of St Teresa of Avila; A Birthday Cecilia McDowall Now may we singen Margaret Rizza O speculum columbe Alissa Firsova Stabat Mater Herbert Howells Take him, earth, for cherishing Kim Porter Christmas Eve Roxanna Panufnik Modlitwa (Prayer) Elizabeth Poston Jesus Christ the Apple Tree James Macmillan The Gallant Weaver Peter Maxwell Davies Lullaby for Lucy The Sixteen Harry Christophers conductor Christophers writes of this evocative programme in honour of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music: ‘I’m delighted that we’ve the opportunity to feature in the same programme many composers whose works we’ve premiered over the past few years, Ruth Byrchmore, Alissa Firsova, Roxanna Panufnik, Margaret Rizza and our very own Kim Porter. Two settings of poems to St Cecilia form the centre-piece of each half, with works to Our Lady book-ending the evening’s wealth of contemporary choral music. 45
Crazed Russian fairytale meets punk rock. Baba Yaga is unleashed. Prince Ivan is forced to marry a frog. And the patriarchy is challenged. Pioneering storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton and an all-girl band weld together songs, scratch animation and an epic fairytale about the perils of annexing the wild, and the wisdom of letting women loose. Suitable for ages 16+. Sat 7 Dec
classical
Carols from St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Hall One 7.30pm £22.50 – £14.50 | Savers £9.50
St Catharine’s College Choir St Catharine’s College Girls’ Choir Edward Wickham director Sophie Kinsella reader There has been a choir associated with St Catharine’s College for over a hundred years; since 2008 the tradition has been augmented by a Girls’ Choir, the first college-based choir of its type in the UK. In this special sequence, the Girls’ Choir and College Choir create nine lessons and carols with a feminine slant. Contemporary carols and medieval chant rub shoulders in this imaginative, secular reworking of a traditional service. Celebrated author Sophie Kinsella will read between music by Sally Beamish, Christopher Fox, Nicola LeFanu, Stevie Wishart, Tansy Davies and a specially commissioned carol by Hannah Kendall.
Programme 2019
Sacconi Quartet
Sat 30 Nov
Venus Unwrapped
classical
Harry Christophers (29 Nov)
Thu 28 Nov
Angela Hewitt (14 Dec)
Fri 13 Dec
contemporary
Explore Ensemble In Dreams and Shadows The Music of Kaija Saariaho Kaija Saariaho Je sens un deuxième coeur; Vent nocturne; Figura (UK premiere) Joanna Bailie New work Rebecca Saunders Shadow, ‘Oh, yes, and I’ (UK premiere) Explore Ensemble Explore Ensemble celebrate the music of acclaimed Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho with a sequence including the UK premiere of Figura – a dazzling chamber music version of her renowned and theatrical clarinet concerto, which is contrasted with the dark, shifting soundworlds of Vent nocturne, plus her glistening, dreamy piano trio Je sens un deuxième coeur (I feel a second heart). Accompanying Saariaho is Rebecca Saunders’ fierce yet beguiling piano etude Shadow, and a new work by leading composer and sound artist Joanna Bailie for ensemble and electronics. Kaija Saariaho (13 Dec)
Programme 2019
classical
Aurora Orchestra with Angela Hewitt Pioneers Hall One 7pm £69.50 – £24.50 | Savers £9.50
Charlotte Bray New work (premiere) WA Mozart Piano Concerto No. 22 in E flat, K482 Louise Farrenc Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 36
A highly respected musical figure in 19th-century France, Louise Farrenc received wide critical acclaim for her music, counting both Schumann and Berlioz as devoted fans. Her early fight for equal opportunities personifies the spirit of Aurora’s centenary celebration of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act – the landmark legislation that paved the way for women to enter a range of professions which had previously been closed to them. The orchestra pairs Farrenc’s overlooked Third Symphony – muscular, ambitious, and expressive – with Mozart’s exuberant Concerto No. 22 performed by celebrated pianist Angela Hewitt. There’s also a new commission from Charlotte Bray marking this centenary. classical
The Lock-In: La Boulangerie Principal Players of Aurora Orchestra Hall Two 9.15pm £9.50
Perhaps the most influential woman of 20th-century music, Nadia Boulanger taught an impressive list of musical titans, including Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, Philip Glass, Astor Piazzolla, Thea Musgrave, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones, and her gifted sister Lili Boulanger. In this Lock-In, Aurora Players curate a night inspired by Boulanger’s legendary Parisian salons. 46
classical
Hall One 7.30pm £39.50 – £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Also part of Mozart’s Piano
Sat 14 Dec
Fri 20 Dec
Brodsky Quartet & Gesualdo Six Prayer of the Heart
Angela Hewitt piano Aurora Orchestra Duncan Ward conductor
Hall Two 8pm £16.50 | Savers £9.50
Venus Unwrapped
Sat 14 Dec
John Tavener Prayer of the Heart; The Lord’s Prayer Ēriks Ešenvalds (after Cristóbal de Morales) Parce mihi, Domine Roxanna Panufnik Votive; O Hearken; This Paradise; Modlitwa; O tu, Andrzej (after Gesualdo) Owain Park Phoenix Rising Henning Kraggerud Preghiera A winter solstice programme of spiritual intensity centred on the music of Roxanna Panufnik, interleaved with Renaissance reflections from Gesualdo and Morales. New arrangements of Panufnik’s Modlitwa (Prayer), O Hearken and O tu, Andrzej culminate in her work for string quartet and male voices, This Paradise. Hildegard von Bingen’s chant is the inspiration for Owain Park’s new work, Phoenix Rising, for the same forces. Moving from Tavener’s extraordinary meditation on the beating heart, originally written for the Brodsky Quartet and Björk, the programme moves into ideas of love and ends with the sustained beauty of The Lord’s Prayer.
Louise Farrenc (1804–1875) Had she followed the family ‘trade’ Louise Farrenc would have pursued the visual arts. Once she had studied piano with Moscheles and Hummel, however, and then composition with Anton Reicha, music beckoned, and at the age of 38 she was appointed Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire and fought, successfully, for equal pay. Copious compositions for piano attracted the admiration of Robert Schumann among others, and paved the way to chamber music as well as three symphonies. Her scholarly interest in the baroque also proved prescient.
Tickets for all performances from £9.50 online. A £3.00 booking fee will be applied to all ticket bookings. An additional fee of £1.50 is applied if you wish to receive your tickets by post. Fees do not apply to bookings or ticket collections made in person at the Box Office.
Hall One Assigned seating – choose your own seat when booking. £9.50 Savers can only be purchased online and are limited in availability. You are guaranteed a seat. Its location will be allocated by the Box Office. Tickets may be collected at any time during the hour before the performance.
Group bookings Buy six or more tickets per event, and save 20%. Group discounts are available through the Box Office only and are not bookable online. May not be applicable for some events and will be subject to availability. Returns policy Tickets cannot be refunded or exchanged, except where an event is cancelled or abandoned when less than half of the performance has taken place.
Arriving late We will endeavour to seat latecomers at a suitable break in the performance, although this may not always be possible and in some instances latecomers may not be admitted at all. Tickets are non-refundable. Hall Two All seating is general admission. Some events may be standing only.
Online Secure 24-hour online booking kingsplace.co.uk By phone Kings Place Box Office +44 (0)20 7520 1490 In person Box Office Opening Hours: 12–5pm when there is no evening event; 12pm–8pm (or 30 mins after start of evening performance) otherwise; closed Bank Holidays. Opening Hours are subject to change. Kings Place 90 York Way London, N1 9AG
wheelchair-accessible toilets. There is an induction loop at the Box Office to assist hearing-aid users. An infrared system is available in both Hall One and Hall Two. All areas are accessible to those with Guide and Hearing Dogs. To help us give you the best possible experience, please inform the Box Office team of your access requirements either by emailing access@ kingsplace.co.uk or by calling 020 7520 1490. The full Access Guide can be found on the website.
St Pancras Room All seating is general admission. Some events may be standing only. Access We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. Kings Place is fully accessible for wheelchair-users, with lifts from ground floor to concert level, and multiple
Taking pictures The use of cameras, video or sound recording equipment is strictly prohibited during performances, concerts and exhibitions. Kings Place may take pictures during your visit that are later used for promotional purposes. Food & Drink Policy Please note that food is not permitted inside our venues. Please ensure that all drinks are decanted into the plastic cups provided prior to entering our venues. Red wine is not permitted inside Hall One.
Security Bag Policy To make your visit as safe, secure and enjoyable as possible, we have 47
enhanced our security. This includes the introduction of bag checks upon entry to our venues. Any bags which are larger than 30x50cm will need to be checked into our Cloakroom on Concert Level -2.
Journey Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe. Public transport The Transport for London Journey Planner provides live travel updates and options on how to reach Kings Place quickly and accurately. You can also call London Travel Information on 0343 222 1234. Tube The nearest tube station is King’s Cross St Pancras, on the Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly, Northern and Victoria lines. The station has step-free access from platform to street level. The quickest way to Kings Place is via the new King’s Boulevard. You can also walk up York Way. Bus The 390 bus route runs along York Way. Other services running nearby are routes 10, 17, 30, 45, 46, 59, 63, 73, 91, 205, 214, 259 & 476. Car Kings Place is outside the Congestion Charge Zone.
Programme 2019
The Venues
Venus Unwrapped
Booking
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Biographies Paul Riley Contributors Anna Beer, Kerry Andrew, Polly Bielecka, Isobel Colchester, Amanda Holloway, Amy SibleyAllen, Laurie Stras Proofreader Susannah Howe
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Art Direction and Design Binomi design Photography Nick White Editor in chief Helen Wallace Sub-editor Amanda Holloway Project Manager Emrah Tokalaç
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Credits
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Programme 2019
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Bike Santander Cycle docking stations are located on Goods Way and on the corner of Crinan Street and York Way. For updates and cycling routes please visit tfl.gov.uk/cycling.
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Printer Indigo Press Programming Peter Millican Helen Wallace Rosie Chapman Amy Sibley-Allen Jacob Silkin Rebecca Millican
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The nearest car park is at St Pancras Station on Pancras Road, open 24 hours, 7 days including Bank Holidays. An alternative space is Handyside Car Park in the Tapestry building on Canal Reach, open 8am–10pm, 7 days including Bank Holidays.
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performance menu, light post-performance supper, as well as a selection of smaller nibbles and bar food, there is something to suit everybody. However if it’s just a drink you’re after, Rotunda also has a great range of beers and wine for a pre- or postperformance tipple. +44 (0)207 014 2840.
Food & drink
If you just want a quick bite, the Green & Fortune Café is ideal, serving a selection of daily hot specials, soups and hot carvery rolls as well as salads, sandwiches and cakes, which are all made fresh every day. +44 (0)207 014 2850.
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant is the perfect place to dine and enjoy a drink when attending a performance. With its waterside setting, and a range of dining options including a full à la carte menu, great value pre-
The Concert Bar is situated adjacent to the concert halls. Place your interval order at the bar prior to the start of the performance and your drinks will be waiting for you. 48
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Special thanks to those artists who were part of Nick White’s photo shoot: Kerry Andrew, Black Voices, Lavinia Greenlaw, Hatis Noit, Elaine Mitchener, Laura Mvula, Ashley Paul, Zoe Rahman, Nik Void, Kate Whitley, Nikki Yeoh Hair & Make-up artists: Michelle Marsh, Jo McKenna, Jessie Owen Hand models: Bianca Baldacci and Chrissy Jay Image credits Cover Laura Mvula © Nick White/ Kings Place | inside front cover Kerry Andrew © Nick White/Kings Place | p 1 Peter Millican © Nick White/Kings Place | p 3 Lavinia Greenlaw © Nick White/Kings Place | p 4 Anna Beer, supplied photo | p 5 Barbara Strozzi’s shadow © binomi | pp 6-7 Clara Schumann’s and Rebecca Clarke’s shadows © binomi | pp 8-9 Mary Bevan © Victoria Cadisch; Julia Wolfe © Peter Serling | pp 10-11 Laura Mvula © Nick White/Kings Place; Anna Meredith © Anna Victoria; Hatis Noit © Nick White/ Kings Place | pp 12-13 Professor Laurie Stras, supplied photo; Hand writing © Nick White/Kings Place
| p 14 Hand writing © Nick White/ Kings Place | p15 Rachel Podger © Jonas Sacks; Gabriela Montero © Shelly Mosman | pp 14-15 Ayanna Witter-Johnson, supplied photo; Joanna MacGregor © Pal Hansen; Laura Jurd © Nick White/ Kings Place | p19 Rachel Newton © Neil Hanna for 2018 Harp Festival | pp 20-21 Kathryn Tickell © Tony McAnaney; Andrei Ioniţă © Nikolaj Lund; Yeol Eum Son © Marco Borggreve; Kate Rusby, supplied photo | pp 22-23 Laura Mvula and Black Voices | pp 24-25 Rakhi Singh, supplied photo; Linda Catlin Smith, supplied photo; Sona Jobarteh © Nick White/Kings Place; The Hermes Experiment © Neal | p 27 Kerry Andrew © Nick White/ Kings Place | pp 28-29 Stile Antico © Marco Borggreve; Rosie Turton, supplied photo; Roomful of Teeth © Bonica Ayala; Sylvia Plath © Rollie McKenna | pp 30-31 Nikki Yeoh & Zoe Rahman © Nick White/Kings Place; Amy Sibley-Allen, supplied photo | pp 32-33 Cara Dillon © A Thousand Hearts; Peggy Seeger © Vicki Sharp; Kate Whitley © Nick White/Kings Place | pp 34-36 Elaine Mitchener © Nick White/ Kings Place; Zoë Keating © Sally Montana; Norma Winstone © Michael Putland | p36-37 Ashley Paul & Nik Void © Nick White/Kings Place; London Adventist Chorale, supplied photo | pp 38-39 Evelyn Glennie © Caroline Purday; Lera Auerbach © F. Reinhold; Isobel Colchester, supplied photo | pp 40-41 Yazz Ahmed, supplied photo; Midori © Timothy GreenfieldSanders; Chiaroscuro Quartet © Sussie Ahlberg | pp 42-44 Polly Bielecka, supplied photo; Charlotte Mayer, supplied photo | pp 44-45 Tansy Davies © Rikard Osterlund; Caroline Shaw © Kait Moreno; Harry Christophers © Marco Borggreve | p 46 Angela Hewitt, supplied photo; Kaija Saariaho © Andrew Campbell | p 47 Hall One © Nick White/Kings Place; Hall Two © Nick White/Kings Place | inside back cover Hatis Noit © Nick White/Kings Place © Kings Place 2018. All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of Kings Place is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at the time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions or errors. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of Kings Place.
49 Venus Unwrapped
Programme 2019
Hatis Noit
composers featured Yazz Ahmed 1 Nov Eleanor Alberga 28 Feb Raffaella Aleotti 16 Jan; 27 Apr Franghiz Ali-Zadeh 8 Nov Kerry Andrew 19 Oct Anna Amalia 14 Apr Dorothy Ashby 20 Feb Lera Auerbach 18 Oct Grażyna Bacewicz 23 May Joanna Bailie 13 Dec Emily Barker 4 Apr Margaret Barry 16 Mar Wilhelmine von Bayreuth 14 Apr
Amy Beach 27 Jan Sally Beamish 20 Sep; 7 Dec Judith Bingham 28 Nov Margaret Bonds 10 Oct Henriëtte Bosmans 24 Oct Lili Boulanger 27 Jan Charlotte Bray 25 Nov; 14 Dec Ruth Byrchmore 29 Nov Dee Byrne 13 Mar Alina Bzhezhinska 20 Feb Francesca Caccini 22 Feb Mira Calix 25 Apr Maddalena Casulana 27 Apr Sulpitia Cesis 27 Apr Suzanne Ciani 26 Sep Rebecca Clarke 27 Jan; 11 May; 25 Nov
Shirley Collins 16 Mar Alice Coltrane 20 Feb Ruth Crawford Seeger 9 May; 11 May
Pan Daijing 9 Feb Tansy Davies 9 Nov; 7 Dec Tamar Diesendruck 8 Nov Cara Dillon 10 May Nwando Ebizie
31 Dec; 19 Oct
Leonora d’Este 16 Jan; 27 Apr Louise Farrenc 14 Dec Alissa Firsova 29 Nov Vivian Fung 8 Nov Gazelle Twin 19 Oct Evelyn Glennie 18 Oct Galina Grigorjeva 27 Sep Helen Grime 28 Nov Sofia Gubaidulina
28 Feb; 8 Nov
Emily Hall 2 Feb Lil Hardin Armstrong 1 Nov Hatis Noit 9 Feb Hildegard of Bingen 16 Jan Kathy Hinde 9 Feb Clara Iannotta 9 Nov Nikki Iles 16 Jun Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre 22 Feb Sona Jobarteh 12 Apr Laura Jurd 1 Mar; 1 Nov Vítězslava Kaprálová 28 Apr Leokadiya Kashperova 27 Mar Zoë Keating 21 & 22 Sep Hannah Kendall 7 Dec Natalie Klouda 14 Mar Lady Maisery 17 May Anja Lauvdal 1 Mar Cate Le Bon 12 Jan Jeanne Lee 14 Jun Nicola LeFanu 7 Dec Isabella Leonarda 22 Feb Melba Liston 1 Nov Olivia Louvel 19 Oct Elizabeth Maconchy 13 Oct Joanna Marsh 27 Apr Missy Mazzoli 5 Apr Cecilia McDowall 29 Nov Fanny Mendelssohn 11 May; 3 Nov
Anna Meredith 2 Feb Elaine Mitchener 14 Jun; 9 Nov
Heiða Mobeck 1 Mar Meredith Monk 18 Jan; 25 Apr Gabriela Montero 15 Feb Kate Moore 18 Jan Undine Smith Moore 10 Oct Thea Musgrave 14 Dec Laura Mvula 23 Jan Olga Neuwirth 8 Nov Rachel Newton 15 & 17 Mar Eurydice Osterman 10 Oct Roxanna Panufnik 29 Nov;
20 Dec
Ashley Paul 17 Jan Naomi Pinnock 9 Nov Kim Porter 29 Nov Emily Portman 16 & 17 Mar Elizabeth Poston 29 Nov
Rosephanye Powell 10 Oct Florence Price 10 Oct Zoe Rahman 2 May Sarah Rimkus 20 Dec Margaret Rizza 29 Nov Cath Roberts 13 Mar Kate Rusby 6 Apr Kaija Saariaho 27 Sep; 13 Dec Rebecca Saunders 13 Dec Maria Schneider 1 Nov Clara Schumann 14 Mar; 11 May; 6 Oct
Peggy Seeger 11 May Caroline Shaw 18 Jan; 3 May; 20 Nov
Nina Simone 28 Feb Evelyn Simpson-Curenton 10 Oct
Rakhi Singh 11 Apr Bessie Smith TBC Linda Catlin Smith 6 Apr Josephine Stephenson TBC Vikki Stone 30 Mar Barbara Strozzi 10 Jan Dobrinka Tabakova 15 Feb Sarah Tandy 27 Apr The Local Honeys 11 Jan The Rheingan Sisters 17 Mar Anna Thorvaldsdottir 18 Jan Kathryn Tickell 17 Mar Helena Tulve 27 Sep Rosie Turton 27 Apr Hanna Tuulikki 19 Oct Gyða Valtýsdóttir 30 Jan Pauline Viardot 24 Oct Sabine Vogel 9 Feb Nik Void 17 Jan Freya Waley-Cohen 25 Apr Marry Waterson 4 Apr Judith Weir 24 Oct; 25 Nov Héloïse Werner 25 Apr Kate Whitley 9 Jun Mary-Lou Williams 1 Nov Norma Winstone 16 Jun Stevie Wishart 25 Apr; 7 Dec Ayanna Witter-Johnson 22 Feb
Julia Wolfe 18 & 19 Jan Nikki Yeoh 2 May Agnes Zimmermann 6 Oct
and many more TBA
‘Every now and then, in the middle of struggling with some problem, everything would fall into place with a suddenness almost like switching on an electric light … at these moments, though I had no illusions whatever about the value of my work, I was flooded with a wonderful feeling of potential power – a miracle made anything seem possible.’ Rebecca Clarke (1886–1979)
2019
online savers £9.50* | kingsplace.co.uk/venus
Mon 31 Dec
Sat 9 Feb
Sun 17 Mar
Thu 25 Apr
Fri 14 Jun
Sat 19 Oct
NYE with Aurora Venus Rising
Pan Daijing + Hatis Noit
Emily Portman
Elaine Mitchener & Friends
Juice Vocal Ensemble
Thu 10 Jan
ORNIS
Héloïse Werner & The Hermes Experiment
Sat 15 Jun
Fri 1 Nov
Sat 27 Apr
The Oram Awards
National Youth Jazz Orchestra
OAE play Barbara Strozzi Fri 11 Jan
The Local Honeys Sat 12 Jan
Reel Herstory: Fim Event Cate Le Bon Wed 16 Jan
Programme 2019
Wed 20 Feb
Thu 21 Mar
Fri 15 Feb
Legacy: Alice Coltrane Fri 22 Feb
Rachel Podger & Brecon Baroque Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Thu 17 Jan
Thu 28 Feb
Fri 18 Jan
Bang on a Can All-Stars The Crick Crack Club Sat 19 Jan
Julia Wolfe’s Anthracite Fields Venus Unwrapped
Gabriela Montero Scottish Ensemble
Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening + The Rheingans Sisters
Musica Secreta at St Pancras Church The Quietus: Nik Void & Ashley Paul
Joanna MacGregor Fri 1 Mar
Laura Jurd’s Dinosaur & Friends Wed 13 Mar
LUME: Entropi + Sloth Racket Thu 14 Mar
Kungsbacka Trio
Wed 23 Jan
15 – 17 Mar
Laura Mvula & Black Voices
Trad Reclaimed: Women in Folk weekend
Sun 27 Jan
Tamsin Waley-Cohen Wed 30 Jan
Gyða Valtýsdóttir Fri 1 Feb
Cassie Kinoshi Sat 2 Feb
Rachel Newton
Fri 15 Mar
The Shee Big Band + Hannah James Sat 16 Mar
Women in Folk – Panel Discussion
Aurora play Anna Meredith
Shirley Collins In Conversation
The Lock-In: Surround
Margaret Barry: musical drama
VU Comedy Gala Wed 27 Mar
Andrei Ionit˛ă The Crick Crack Club Sat 30 Mar
Vikki Stone Thu 4 Apr
Marry Waterson & Emily Barker Fri 5 Apr
Aurora Orchestra Yeol Eum Son Sat 6 Apr
Kate Rusby Apartment House: Linda Catlin Smith Thu 11 Apr
Rakhi Singh & Vessel Fri 12 Apr
Sona Jobarteh Sat 13 Apr – Sun 14 Apr
Bach Weekend Sat 13 Apr
Benjamin Bevan, Jonathan Manson & Steven Devine Sun 14 Apr
Feinstein Ensemble
Rewriting Herstory Study Afternoon
London Vocal Project Workshop
Sun 3 Nov
LVP with Norma Winstone & Nikki Iles
Wed 6 Nov
English SO & Noriko Ogawa
Fri 21 Jun
Fri 8 Nov
Eddi Reader
Midori
Mon 29 Apr
Fri 20 Sep
Sat 9 Nov
Stile Antico Sarah Tandy + Rosie Turton Sun 28 Apr
Poet in the City: Sylvia Plath Thu 2 May
Nikki Yeoh Zoe Rahman
Sat 21 Sep & Sun 22 Sep
Wed 20 Nov
Zoë Keating
Attacca Quartet & Caroline Shaw
Thu 26 Sep
Mon 25 Nov
Roomful of Teeth
Fri 27 Sep
Thu 9 May
Theatre of Voices
Ligeti Quartet
Thu 24 Oct
Cara Dillon Sat 11 May
Tabea Zimmermann Ruth Crawford Seeger Insight Event Peggy Seeger
Natalie Clein, Julius Drake & Ruby Hughes Sun 6 Oct
Mathilde Milwidsky Thu 10 Oct
London Adventist Chorale Sun 13 Oct
Lady Maisery
Piatti Quartet & Emily Pailthorpe
Thu 23 May
Wed 16 Oct
Fri 17 May
Southbank Sinfonia Sun 9 Jun
Kate Whitley & Multi-Story Orchestra
Poet in the City: Women in Frame
London Sinfonietta
Suzanne Ciani
Fri 10 May
Chiaroscuro Quartet
Elias Quartet
Fri 3 May
*A £3 fee will be applied to all ticket bookings, except those made in person at the Box Office.
52
Sun 16 Jun
Poet in the City: The Black Flamingo Cabaret Fri 18 Oct
O/Modernt CO & Evelyn Glennie
Fidelio Trio Thu 28 Nov
Sacconi Quartet Fri 29 Nov
The Sixteen Sat 30 Nov
The Crick Crack Club Sat 7 Dec
St Catharine’s College, Cambridge Fri 13 Dec
Explore Ensemble Sat 14 Dec
Aurora & Angela Hewitt The Lock-In: La Boulangerie Fri 20 Dec
Brodsky Quartet & Gesualdo Six