December 2019: Things To Do This Month
This month we have an amphitheatre made from discarded pianos, an evening in the legendary Parisian salon of Nadia Boulanger, a dystopian film with live soundtrack, and music for iPad quartet. We love to hear about all the diverse, eclectic and offbeat classical music events happening all over the UK, so if you’re organising something exciting for 2020, submit it using our Google Form. Every month we select our top picks and send them out in our newsletter. If you like what we're doing and want to support us, you can buy us a cup of coffee (or mulled cider, more likely this month!) through our Ko-fi page. Thank you and see you next month!
5 - 18 December, £18.90 (£16.90 students)
Brixton, Hackney, West Norwood, Crouch End & Brighton
In a world first, Picturehouse Cinemas will be screening dystopian film The Lobster (feat. Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman) with live soundtrack by string quartet and piano. The score is almost exclusively classical, with pieces by Shostakovich, Stravinsky and Strauss. It has been arranged for live performance by the Solem Quartet, bringing this cult film (from the director of The Favourite) to life in a totally new way.
12 November - 8 December, free
Leith Theatre, Edinburgh
The world’s first amphitheatre made entirely from 50 discarded pianos (💔) is resident at the historic Leith Theatre. There is a free concert at 4pm every day - a new work from a whole range of artists and performers - and anyone is welcome to come and play every weekday afternoon except Monday free of charge.
Tuesday 3 December, 8pm, £16 (£5 <25s & students)
RNCM Concert Hall, Manchester
‘This is a happening, not a concert.’ Percussionist Joby Burgess presents a non-stop soundtrack of 20th-century classics, arrangements and new work from the East and West Coasts of the US (John Cage and Linda Buckley from New York, and Eric Whitacre and Terry Riley from California). And the music doesn’t stop: in between tonight’s two sets, grab a drink, and step back into the Hall for Linda Buckley’s short DJ set, alongside Steve Reich’s tape piece Come Out.
7-15 December, £8-£45
Ambika P3, Baker Street
It’s the 8th London Contemporary Music Festival, here to fill your December with an eclectic programme exploring the witchy turn in music, art and poetry in a cavernous subterranean space in central London. You are promised bloodthirsty crows, Soviet erotica, deep meditation and hypnotised pianists...
Saturday 14 December, 9.15pm £9.50
Kings Place, King’s Cross
Aurora Players curate an eclectic evening in the legendary Parisian salon of Nadia Boulanger, a hub for creative minds in 20th-century Paris. Perhaps the most influential woman of 20th-century music, Nadia Boulanger is an icon in the story of classical music, having taught an impressive list of musical titans such as Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Astor Piazzolla, Burt Bacharach and Quincy Jones.
6 & 7 December, £25-£45
Royal Horticultural Halls, Victoria
From King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to Robbie Williams and Ellie Goulding, the Lindley Hall has seen it all. And now Beethoven, courtesy of The Little Orchestra. Grab a themed cocktail, hear a colossal symphony and stick around for the post-concert soirée. This is a good pick for if you’re interested in hearing more about the piece, as the conductor Nicholas Little shares the stories behind the music during the concert.
Tuesday 17 December, 7pm - 10pm, £35
Shoreditch Treehouse, Old Street
Enter a hidden bohemian loft space in Shoreditch, lit by hundreds of fairy lights. Grab a craft beer or some bubbles while piano improviser Sam Peña mashes up your favourite tunes with Bach, Mozart and Liszt. Then it’s time to gather round the Steinway 9-foot concert grand piano to hear five musicians sharing their favourite pieces from the world of classical music, opera and musical theatre.
Tuesday 10 December, 7.30pm - 11pm, £14
The Moth Club, Hackney Central
AVA (violinist Anna Phoebe and pianist Aisling Brouwer) host their headline show in The Moth Club, an ex servicemen’s members’ club in Hackney with a gold and glittery vaulted ceiling. Effortlessly transcending the constraints of modern classical music, they are rooted in cinematic narratives, evoking emotional journeys of the heart and mind. You can also see them on Monday 2 December at the Sage Gateshead, where they are supporting multi-instrumentalist Erland Cooper.
Friday 6 December, 7.45pm, £15
Purcell Room, Southbank
Be the first to hear new music created by Hatis Noit and London Contemporary Orchestra. The Japanese vocal performer’s 2019 EP Illogical Dance creates unique song-worlds with transcendent vocal interpretations that at once deconstruct and recombine Western classical, Japanese folk and nature’s own ambient atmosphere. Inspired by gagaku – Japanese classical music – and operatic styles, Bulgarian and Gregorian chanting, to avant-garde and pop vocalists, the record was co-produced by Haruhisa Tanaka and Björk collaborators Matmos.
10 & 11 December, 7.30pm & 2.30pm, £5-£30
Stratford Playhouse & Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
All-female vocal quintet Papagena weaves a mesmerising tapestry of ancient carols, celtic songs and winter ballads with seasonal works from Vivaldi and Corelli through to Piazolla and Joni Mitchell. In Stratford, local audiences who may not wish to attend the more formal evening concert, are welcome to listen to part of the rehearsal and meet the performers over a cup of tea. For a taster, here’s Papagena singing a setting of Caitlin Moran’s poem ‘If’.
Thursday 12 December, 7.30pm, £10 (£5 students)
The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh
For the first time, disabled musicians from Drake Music Scotland's Digital Orchestra will join with the Hebrides Ensemble to form a collaboration between acoustic and digital musicians. You’ll hear the fresh voices of disabled composers with a programme of new work for solo instruments, quartet and iPad quartet. The concert includes BSL interpretation and there will be a chill-out space. You’re welcome to bring a blanket, cushion or anything else that will make you feel comfortable.
Tuesday 3 December, 7pm, £15 (£5 <25s)
Milton Court Concert Hall, Barbican
A concert of new music by Canadian quartet Quatuor Bozzini, an original voice in new, experimental and classical music, who have commissioned almost 200 pieces and premiered over 300 works. Tonight you will hear world premieres by Guildhall composers Lara Agar, Sam Gooderham and Joshua Hathaway played side by side with works by Michael Finnissy, Naomi Pinnock and Canadian masters Ana Sokolovic and Christopher Butterfield.
Sunday 1 December, 7.30pm, £11-£13 (<25s £6)
Omnibus Theatre, Clapham
Pushing the boundaries of the traditional song recital format, French soprano/composer Héloïse Werner and pianist Natalie Burch perform Benjamin Britten’s 1939 song cycle Les Illuminations, alongside new works by Héloïse and Jonathan Woolgar, written in direct response to the Britten. The venue is Omnibus, a multi-arts theatre space bordering Clapham Common.
Thursday 5 December, 7.30pm, £15-£20
Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank
“Some of her paintings make you want to fall over and some make you feel like you’re fainting, your eyes ping-ponging all over the place.” (The Guardian)
Submerge your senses in a performance by London Sinfonietta that amalgamates the visions of two of the most extraordinary artists of our time: British artist Bridget Riley and Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas. Haas’s style, which juxtaposes different instrumental tunings, reflects Riley’s optical illusion art, which contrasts black-and-white blocks in regular patterns.
Hannah Fiddy is a creative entrepreneur, developing new audiences for classical music. She has created and promoted numerous concerts outside of traditional spaces, including warehouses, pubs, clubs, museums, hospitals, prisons and even in Primark. Hannah also hosts monthly drinks for the classical music industry and runs a choir in Stoke Newington. Her alter ego is the Founder of London Flashmob, producing quirky events from wedding proposals to cultural pranks for up to 1,000 people.
Follow Hannah on Twitter @Hannah_Fiddy.
Photo credits: Aurora Orchestra by Jim Henson, Joby Burgess by Nick White, Diversions by David Giffin