Southbank Centre New Music Biennial Saturday

These are some of the selected free events taking place at Southbank Centre. Click on the event title for further information.

Southbank Centre Map — Southbank Centre Locations. Click to enlarge

New Music Biennial from 5th to 7th July

New Music Biennial is a showcase of composers and music creators who are pushing the boundaries of music in the UK.

The festival, presented in association with the PRS for Music Foundation, is a unique snapshot of contemporary music in the UK across all genres: classical, world music, jazz, folk, electronic and even music for ice cream vans.

New Music Biennial 2019 comprises 20 new works, featuring new commissions from Gazelle Twin and Max de Wardener, Roderick Williams, Claire M Singer, Khyam Allami, Sona Jobarteh, Arun Ghosh, Sarah Tandy, Forest Swords, Klein, Dan Jones and Sam Eastmond alongside works composed within the last 15 years, including Shiva Feshareki’s acclaimed Dialogue for turntables and orchestra, commissioned by BBC Concert Orchestra in 2018.

Across the weekend works are performed in a range of venues, inviting audiences to discover new music in an interactive way, both inside and outside of traditional concert hall settings.

New Music Biennial is a PRS for Music Foundation initiative presented in partnership with Absolutely Cultured, Southbank Centre, BBC Radio 3 and NMC Recordings.

Requiem for the 21st Century: Weekend Installation

Friday 5 -7 July 2019 | Several times |Exhibition Space, Level 1 | Free

Contemplate the challenges of the 21st century in this oud-based sound installation

365

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 12 pm |Purcell Room| Free, but ticketed

Words, music, the disarming drama of stripped-back storytelling

Bringing together folk fiddle player and composer Aidan O’Rourke, jazz composer and pianist Kit Downes with Scottish author James Robertson, 365 is an evocative and original collaboration.

It began with the words. Robertson wrote a short story each day for a year, each story containing exactly 365 words.

At first it was just a personal project, a daily routine to test his own self-discipline and rigour, but it grew into a collection of sharp, lyrical and finely observed vignettes.

Intrigued by the ritual and inspired by the potent atmosphere of the writing, Aidan O’Rourke – one of Scotland’s leading traditional musicians, fiddler of the folk supergroup Lau – decided to follow suit.

He composed a tune every day for a year, each tune a response to one of Robertson’s stories. Now they perform a bespoke 15-minute piece weaving together words and music.

365 is about old myths, folk legends, everyday lives, hard truths, tender tales, the alchemic power of words and music.read less

Robertson’s short stories are tiny masterpieces told with heroic concision, and he reads them with gentle gravitas.

O’Rourke’s music – deeply rooted in the Scottish tradition and spun with off-kilter lyricism – taps into the atmosphere of the stories and lets the message linger.

Pianist/harmonium player Kit Downes, a heavyweight of the European jazz scene, adds bold and kaleidoscopic harmonies.

The show is directed by Shilpa T-Hyland.

Dialogue

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 1.30 pm |Queen Elizabeth Hall | Free, but ticketed

Turntable artist Shiva Feshareki samples an orchestra live in a work described as a ‘sonic sculpture between electronic and acoustic sound.’

Turntable artist Shiva Feshareki samples an orchestra live in a work described as a ‘sonic sculpture between electronic and acoustic sound.’

Dialogue was premiered by the BBC Concert Orchestra in 2018.

Feshareki’s improvisations seem to bend time and space, in duet with the resonant soundscape of the orchestra.

The composer’s work experiments with electronic and club music, concert and orchestra music, fine art and free improvisation.

This composition demonstrates all the diverse elements of her craft, intricately woven into one.

AMBHAS

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 2.30 pm |Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer | Free

Inspired by water and ritual, Arun Ghosh presents a new composition for wind orchestra and percussion

The Centre Is Everywhere

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 4.30pm |Purcell Room| Free, but ticketed

The UK premiere of a piece for string ensemble, described by music director Rakhi Singh as ‘something beautiful and strange, a music of close whispers and myriad reflections’.

The Centre is Everywhere brings together Finnis’ exquisite sonic language with the work of one of Britain’s most exciting young ensembles, Manchester Collective.

Edmund Finnis has composed intimate music for soloists and duets, immersive electronic pieces, music for film, ensemble music and works for large orchestra.

His music has been hailed as ‘magical’ (The Times) and ‘iridescent, compelling’ (The Guardian)

He has written music for performers including Benjamin Beilman, Mark Simpson and Minetti Quartet, and ensembles such as Britten Sinfonia, BCMG and London Sinfonietta, who have performed, toured and recorded six of his works.

Manchester Collective produces innovative and outward-facing musical experiences for new audiences across Britain.

Southbank Centre Out and Proud: Add to the Archive

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 5 pm |Royal Festival Hall, Archive Studio, Level 2 | Free

Add your story to our record of Prides past and present and make your own badge with artist Soofiya in celebration of #Pride50.

Join Southbank Centre Archive to celebrate #Pride50 with a look at the archives from the 1980s Pride Carnival in our neighbouring Jubilee Gardens, and reflect on the progression and diversity of the Pride events on the South Bank.

Badges feature heavily in 1980s Pride archives, expressing messages of identity, activism and celebration.

Take inspiration from the archive in company with artist Soofiya to make your own badge as a symbol of your 2019 Pride experience.

Were you here in the 1980s? If so, what was your experience like? And what’s your highlight from this summer’s programme? Add your thoughts and memories to our archive.read less

Soofiya is a visual artist, designer and design educator with a focus on illustration, visual identity and book design, whose works comment on gender, race, politics and the body.

Their works have been showcased at institutions globally, including Tate (UK), Parsons School of Design (USA) and muca-Roma (Mexico), and they have written for publications including Creative Review, The Guardian and The Independent.

Soofiya lectures at Ravensbourne in London and speaks, teaches and facilitates workshops at institutions across the UK, including Cambridge, York and the Feminist
Library.

QTIPOC Pride Party: Pxssy Palace x BBZ

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 5 pm |Royal Festival Hall, Riverside Terrace, Level 2 | Free

Usher in the summer at a bumper Pride party on our Riverside Terrace.

Presented by Pxssy Palace in collaboration with BBZ and with Travis Alabanza as compère, the party features performance and electrifying music to keep you dancing from sunset into the early hours.

Pxssy Palace is a collective of DJs, educators and performers that centres queer and trans people of colour.

BBZ (Bold Brazen Zamis or Babes) is a club night and curatorial collective prioritising the experiences of queer women, trans and non-binary people of colour.

5pm – 6pm: Pxssy Palace
6pm – 7pm: BBZ
7pm – 8pm: Jordss
8pm – 9pm: Lil C
9pm – 10pm: Pxssy Palace
10pm – 11pm: BBZ ,
12 midnight – 1am: Darksteppe

Requiem for the 21st Century: Installation and Q&A

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 5.30 pm |Royal Festival Hall, Exhibition Space, Level 1 | Free

Requiem for the 21st Century is an immersive sound installation by Iraqi oud player, multi-instrumentalist and composer Khyam Allami.

Part of New Music Biennial, this event allows visitors the chance to experience the installation and find out more about it from creator Khyam Allami.

Inspired by the history of the oud and its role in myth and storytelling, the work combines sound fragments, melodies, and microtonal notes to create sound landscapes based on maqams (modes of Arabic music). It is a powerful reminder of our troubled century that also serves to commemorate the deaths of civilians in the frequently war-stricken Middle East.

The Dream Without a Name

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 7 pm |Queen Elizabeth Hall | Free

Envelop yourself in jazz inspired by the ideas of poet Langston Hughes, presented by pianist and composer Sarah Tandy.

Tandy hails from West London, and her music has been shaped by the city’s thriving and diverse live music scene.

As one of the key figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes was writing at a time when his city was experiencing a pivotal moment in its cultural history. His writing has helped to shape the identity of jazz in the popular consciousness.

For this piece, some of his ideas about music, love and city life are explored within the musical context of the UK scene, where many aspects of that traditional jazz mythology are being creatively re-interpreted, and the pioneering spirit continues to thrive in diverse city environments.

Where to Build in Stone

Saturday 6 July 2019 |8 pm |Queen Elizabeth Hall | Free, but ticketed

Uncover the mysterious and oddly beautiful side of Hull in an audiovisual piece by avant-garde electronic duo Numb Mob.

Performed with a variety of electronic and acoustic instruments, Where to Build in Stone builds on a commission by J-Night for Hull Jazz Festival 2017, inspired by the shapes and sounds of the city of Hull and performed with a variety of electronic and acoustic instruments.

Numb Mob produce music that explores the fickle relationship between digital and acoustic worlds.

Yn dy Lais – In Your Voice

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 9 pm |Purcell Room| Free, but ticketed

Welsh band 9Bach present an atmospheric, genre-defying piece sung in Welsh with an English spoken-word interpretation voiced by Maxine Peake.

Commissioned by the PRS Foundation for the New Music Biennial, the piece explores miscommunication and misinformation in a multi-lingual, multimedia age.

The band collaborates with drummer Andy Gangadeen (Massive Attack, Jeff Beck and others) who adds an electronic slant to its distinctive, evocative sound.

The composition is sung by Lisa Jên and accompanied by an English spoken-word piece that interprets and responds to the feel of the Welsh lyrics.

Sarah Tandy

Saturday 6 July 2019 | 10 pm |Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer| Free

Catch a set from Sarah Tandy, one of the most in-demand pianists from the new UK jazz generation.

Also a composer, Tandy is a standout voice within the new UK jazz generation. Her background encompasses vintage jazz LPs, classical music and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poetry, and her music has been shaped by London’s thriving and diverse live music scene, where jazz is the shared language in an ever-shifting musical landscape.

Tandy has swiftly risen to become one of the most in-demand players of her generation, with stints on keys for Jazz Jamaica, Nu Civilisation Orchestra, Maisha, Where Pathways Meet, Camilla George, Nubya Garcia, Nérija, Daniel Casimir, Binker Golding, Clark Tracey and more. She is also a member of Ronnie Scott’s House Band, the W3 Collective.

This is a 45-minute set from Tandy, following her New Music Biennial commission performance in Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer earlier.

Disclaimer: WISE16 publish public notices from London Borough of Southwark with the aim to encourage participation. Please visit Southwark Council’s website for further in