Kings Place Festival 2010 by Lowri Williams

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A big welcome...

Praise for Kings Place Festival 2009

‘

At Kings Place, the opening festival of the 2009–10 season was jubilant... who can fault a venue where instead of being told not to touch the instruments, you are invited to touch them gently? Between Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven, Indian classical music, a hog roast and the toy pianos, it was difficult to know where to turn.

Ahmed Dickinson Cardenas © Chris Tribble

The Independent on Sunday

’

‘The Kings Place Festival provides a long-awaited opportunity to introduce the music we have so enjoyed over the years and the young musicians who have been so exciting to work with.’ Levon Chilingirian ‘… one of the jewels in the cultural life of the capital … the acoustics of Hall One at Kings Place is one of the best I have ever encountered anywhere in the world.’ Martino Tirimo ‘State-of-the-art Kings Place has as many echo-chambers as a medieval cathedral, and that’s just the foyer, so it was a pleasure to queue for one’s tickets while the five members of Il Suono delivered some spirited Gabrieli.’ The Independent ‘Kings Place … acoustically, it is very fine, and atmospherically inviting…’ Sunday Times Culture ‘Kings Place … a place where the curious can drop in at lunchtime, tea time, after work or dinner time, just to see what’s going on. It’s for those who are equally happy with a guitar recital, a contemporary music event, a Beethoven quartet or a platform debate about poetry in the city. That’s very 21st Century.’ Financial Times

9-12 September Kings Place Festival’10

ts e k Tic sale on ow n y Onl 0 £4.5ine onl y n a M ee fr ts n eve

Celebrating our third year, we are delighted to introduce a dazzling 100 performances, spread over four days. The festival is a snapshot of where Kings Place is currently at, with our open-minded approach to programming talented performers of the highest quality. Offering a showcase of the best in classical, contemporary and experimental, jazz and blues, folk, spoken word and comedy, with tickets at just £4.50 online – as well as many free events – our festival is accessible to all. There are far too many highlights to mention here but we have the Chilingirian Quartet teaming up with El Sistema’s most exciting ambassadors, the Millennium Quartet, for a series of Latin American classics. Hot on the heels of the highly successful Darbar festival we have a stunning voyage through Indian classical music. London Sinfonietta cements their reputation once again with three boundary-pushing concerts of highly ambitious programming including Chamber Music by Thomas Adès. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment showcase music from the great Baroque composers including Purcell and Bach. Impressing audiences with their historical expertise and forward-looking flair, these performances are not to be missed. There’s a myriad of spoken word with Tilt and Magpie’s Nest, whilst comedy giants Tom Basden, Jenny Éclair and Rob Deering heat up the stage with some side-splitting, razor-sharp delivery. Last year’s hugely popular Meet the Journalist makes a welcome return as the big guns from the Guardian let us in behind the scenes with lively debate surrounding the most current issues in today’s media. Dune Records jazz it up with Tomorrow’s Warriors, whilst F-IRE present Wot is Jazz and Clowns Revisited, introducing those of all ages to the wonderful world of jazz. Red Orange explores the folk traditions with adventures from the international scene and, fresh from the overwhelming success of the first-ever London A Capella festival here at Kings Place, we are proud to see the artists back for a series of free events. Get contemporary as Arctic Circle take us on a cutting-edge journey through two cities that represent the truest innovators in modern music, Manchester and Bristol, whilst Twisted Lounge return with three unique performances that break the rules by defying all of the genres. You must take some time out to relax and enjoy a coffee in the Green & Fortune Café, grab a bite at the hog roast, whilst visiting the Farmers’ Market hosted by the Rotunda Bar & Restaurant. The galleries also programme public art around the building, including water sculptures by Pangolin London artist William Pye during the festival. Can’t wait to see you there! 1

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE No.

GENRE

AFTERNOON EVENING

EVENT

Latin American Classics I – Chilingirian Quartet & Millennium Quartet Song of the Black Swan – Villa-Lobos, Gardel, Ponce and Romero Classical Jazzinho – Muños and Hahn Classical 4 Four Tango – Ponce, Piazzolla and Hahn Classical Classical Music from India – Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust Hindustani Santoor Recital World Carnatic Concert World Contemporary Indian Classical Music World Meet the Journalist – Behind the Scenes at the Guardian Roger Tooth – Head of Photography Spoken Word Emily Bell – Director of Digital Content Spoken Word Alan Rusbridger – Editor Spoken Word Spitz presents… Indo Bass Trio Jazz Indo Bass Trio Jazz In the English Tradition – curated by Alan Bearman Eliza Carthy Folk Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick Folk Chris Wood Folk London Sinfonietta Chamber Music by Igor Stravinsky Classical Chamber Music by Tom Adès Contemporary Classical Postcards from Europe Contemporary Classical Tilt @ Kings Place Festival 2010 Spoken meets Live: a Spoken Word meets Live Art intervention Spoken Word Spoken Word meets Comedy Spoken Word London Liming: where Spoken Word meets Carnival Spoken Word Mikhail Rudy – Russian Masterpieces Seasons and Pictures – Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky Classical The Russian Cello – Prokofiev and Stravinsky Classical Petrushka – Stravinsky and Prokofiev Classical The Dune Music Company presents… Tomorrow’s Warriors Tomorrow’s Warriors Biggish Band Jazz Tomorrow’s Warriors Quartet Jazz Myrna Hague + Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop Jazz The Magpie’s Nest: Once Upon a Time – curated by Sam Lee Debs Newbold Spoken Word Jess Smith Spoken Word Taffy Thomas Spoken Word Spitz presents… One Mint Julep Jazz One Mint Julep Jazz Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment – Essence of Enlightment Buxtehude, Böhm, Bach Classical J S Bach & the keyboard Classical Three Violins – Music from Purcell’s London Classical Comedy at Kings Place – in association with Avalon Tom Basden Comedy Jenny Eclair Comedy Rob Deering Comedy Folk Made in the UK – curated by Red Orange Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll Folk / Contemporary Monster Ceilidh Band Folk / Contemporary Andrew Cronshaw and Tigran Aleksanyan Folk / Contemporary

EVENING

3 7 21 35 55 74 78

FRIDAY 10

Festival ’10: Full 4-day Schedule Thursday Programme Friday Programme Saturday Programme Sunday Programme Exhibitions in the galleries Festival Food and Drink

SPACE

AFTERNOON

THURSDAY 9

Contents

TIME

1 2.30pm Hall One 2 3.45pm Hall One 3 5pm Hall One 4 2.45pm Hall Two 5 4pm Hall Two 6 5.15pm Hall Two 7 3pm St Pancras Room 8 4.15pm St Pancras Room 9 5.30pm St Pancras Room 10 6.15pm Atrium FREE 11 7.30pm Atrium FREE 12 7pm Hall One 13 8.15pm Hall One 14 9.30pm Hall One 15 7.15pm Hall Two 16 8.30pm Hall Two 17 9.45pm Hall Two 18 7.30pm St Pancras Room 19 8.45pm St Pancras Room 20 10pm St Pancras Room 21 2.30pm Hall One 22 3.45pm Hall One 23 5pm Hall One 24 2.45pm Hall Two 25 4pm Hall Two 26 5.15pm Hall Two 27 3pm St Pancras Room 28 4.15pm St Pancras Room 29 5.30pm St Pancras Room 30 6.15pm Atrium FREE 31 7.30pm Atrium FREE 32 7pm Hall One 33 8.15pm Hall One 34 9.30pm Hall One 35 7.15pm Hall Two 36 8.30pm Hall Two 37 9.45pm Hall Two 38 7.30pm St Pancras Room 39 8.45pm St Pancras Room 40 10pm St Pancras Room

Thursday 9 & Friday 10 September

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE No.

SPACE

EVENT

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

GENRE

No.

TIME

SPACE

EVENT

GENRE

EVENING

Gould Piano Trio Bohemian Rhapsody – Suk & Dvorˇák Classical Variations in a major key – Beethoven & Brahms Classical Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment - Kids Workshop Family Concert: Our Favourite Things Family Kenneth Hamilton - The World of the Romantic Pianist A Fantasy on Rossini’s Moses – Thalberg Spoken Word / Classical A Fantasy on Bellini’s Norma – Liszt Spoken Word / Classical A Cappella at Kings Place Voice Contemporary Chantage Contemporary Evolution Contemporary Junk Band – curated by Philip Venables & Serge Vuille Rubbish Music Contemporary Sacconi Quartet with Simon Crawford-Phillips A Quintet for Clara – Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat Classical Hard-won masterpieces – Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor Classical Dumka and Dancing – Dvorˇák Piano Quintet in A Classical International Guitar Foundation Stefan Galt Contemporary Amanda Cook Classical Nicolas Meier Trio Jazz Royal Academy of Music A Sea of Tonality: Debussy, Satie and Takemitsu Classical Pastiche, politics and all that jazz: Stravinsky, Weill and Eisler Classical Elegiac Harp: Ravel, Bax, Debussy Classical Spitz presents… Indo Bass Trio Jazz Indo Bass Trio Jazz Outer Circle: Manchester – Curated by Arctic Circle Nancy Elizabeth Contemporary Homelife Contemporary Denis Jones Contemporary Dante Quartet Fiery Franck Classical The harlequin colours of Debussy Classical Late Fauré Classical Spitz Blues JD Smith Blues John Crampton Blues Parkbench Blues

AFTERNOON

71 11am Hall One 72 12.15pm Hall One 73 11.15am Hall Two 74 12.30pm Hall Two 75 11.30pm St Pancras Room 76 12.45pm St Pancras Room 77 1pm Foyer FREE 78 2pm Foyer FREE 79 3pm Foyer FREE 80 1.45pm Foyer FREE 81 2.30pm Hall One 82 3.45pm Hall One 83 5pm Hall One 84 2.45pm Hall Two 85 4pm Hall Two 86 5.15pm Hall Two 87 3pm St Pancras Room 88 4.15pm St Pancras Room 89 5.30pm St Pancras Room 90 6.15pm Atrium FREE 91 7.30pm Atrium FREE 92 7pm Hall One 93 8.15pm Hall One 94 9.30pm Hall One 95 7.15pm Hall Two 96 8.30pm Hall Two 97 9.45pm Hall Two 98 7.30pm St Pancras Room 99 8.45pm St Pancras Room 100 10pm St Pancras Room

Sunday 12 September MORNING

EVENING

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SUNDAY 12

AFTERNOON

Light and Dark – Johannes Moser & Sophie Cashell Light – Beethoven, Janácˇek and Messiaen Classical Dark – Bach, Takemitsu and Beethoven Classical Endymion For Anton Stadler – Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A Classical For Richard Mühlfeld – Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Classical F-IRE presents… Kids F-IRE Wot is Jazz? Family Clown Revisited Family A Cappella at Kings Place In The Smoke Contemporary Diversity Choir Contemporary Evolution Contemporary Junk Band – curated by Philip Venables & Serge Vuille Rubbish Music Contemporary Latin American Classics II – Chilingirian Quartet & Millennium Quartet David Carpio’s Octet – Ginastera and Carpio Classical Bachianas Brasileiras – Villa Lobos and Carreño Classical Last Round – Villa-Lobos, Plaza and Golijov Classical Outer Circle: Bristol – Curated by Arctic Circle Rozi Plain Contemporary Eyebrow Contemporary François & The Atlas Mountains Contemporary Poet in the City: Contemporary Lines Maps Spoken Word Bodies Spoken Word Communications Spoken Word Spitz presents… Rosanna Schura Trio Jazz Rosanna Schura Trio Jazz Folkworks: Tradition and Innovation – curated by Kathryn Tickell John Kirkpatrick Folk Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell / The Askew Sisters Folk Nancy Kerr and James Fagan Folk F-IRE presents… Tom Arthurs Trio with the Elysian Quartet Jazz Kit Downes Trio Jazz Basquiat Strings Jazz Twisted Lounge presents… Loré Lixenberg Contemporary Breathe – curated by John Butcher Contemporary Physicality – curated by D Toop, J Bissmire and L Michener Contemporary

MORNING

SATURDAY 11 4

TIME

41 11am Hall One 42 12.15pm Hall One 43 11.15am Hall Two 44 12.30pm Hall Two 45 11.30am St Pancras Room 46 12.45pm St Pancras Room 47 1pm Foyer FREE 48 2pm Foyer FREE 49 3pm Foyer FREE 50 1.45pm Foyer FREE 51 2.30pm Hall One 52 3.45pm Hall One 53 5pm Hall One 54 2.45pm Hall Two 55 4pm Hall Two 56 5.15pm Hall Two 57 3pm St Pancras Room 58 4.15pm St Pancras Room 59 5.30pm St Pancras Room 60 6.15pm Atrium FREE 61 7.30pm Atrium FREE 62 7pm Hall One 63 8.15pm Hall One 64 9.30pm Hall One 65 7.15pm Hall Two 66 8.30pm Hall Two 67 9.45pm Hall Two 68 7.30pm St Pancras Room 69 8.45pm St Pancras Room 70 10pm St Pancras Room

Saturday 11 September

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Thursday highlights 2.30pm The Festival opens with the Chilingirian Quartet joining forces with the Venezuelan Millennium Quartet for a dazzling programme of South American chamber music by Villa-Lobos and Romero. 2.45pm, 4pm, 5.15pm Darbar takes you on a musical journey through India, from the shimmering sounds of the ancient santoor in the foothills of the Himalayas, to Indian strains of instruments more familiar in a Western orchestra. Beautiful, strange and compelling. 5.30pm Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian, takes to the podium as part of the popular Meet the Journalist series. Book early, this fascinating talk will sell out quickly! 8.15pm Legendary folk duo Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick are back! Huge names on the folk world for four decades, their performance is as lively and inspirational as ever. 8.30pm London Sinfonietta: Thomas Adès Chamber Music spatial surprises and beguiling music from The Tempest by one of Britain’s leading composers.

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

Latin American Classics I

Chilingirian Quartet / Millennium Quartet

Chilingirian Quartet Levon Chilingirian violin Ronald Birks violin Susie Mészarós viola Philip De Groote cello

Millennium Quartet Ollantay Velásquez violin Miguel Nieves violin Jesús Pérez viola Valmore Nieves cello

Song of the Black Swan Hall One 2.30pm Heitor Villa-Lobos String Quartet No. 2 (1915) Carlos Gardel Por Una Cabeza Manuel Ponce Estrellita Heitor Villa-Lobos O Canto do Cysne Negro Aldemero Romero Fuga con Pajarillo Chilingirian String Quartet Millennium Quartet Levon Chilingirian violin Stephen Coombs piano Composed in 1915, Villa-Lobos’s Second String Quartet is an early example of a genre that attracted him throughout his life (he composed 17 of them in all) and reveals the early Romanticism and the influence of French music on the Brazilian master. O Canto do Cysne Negro (Song of the Black Swan), though it may sound echt-Brazilian, was arranged in 1917 from an orchestral work based on Greek mythology, the symphonic poem Naufrágio de Kleônicos (1916). Manuel Ponce, often called ‘the father of Mexican music’, combined Impressionist and neoclassical influences picked up in Europe with an interest in Mexican folk-music and an innate lyric talent, shown to perfection in the popular Estrellita, often used as an encore. Singer-songwriter-filmstar Carlos Gardel, who died in a plane crash in 1935 at the height of his fame, is one of the legends of the development of tango in Argentina (though he claimed he was Uruguayan, and was born in France!), and creator of the tangocanción. The Venezuelan pianist-composer Aldemero Romero was a prolific composer in many styles, including Caribbean popular music and jazz. He created the Venezuelan style known as Onda Nueva (New Wave), influenced by the Brazilian Bossa Nova. The highly rhythmic (and almost Bachian!) Fuga con Pajarillo comes from a suite for strings composed in 1975. The pajarillo is a Venezuelan dance, something like a waltz but with the accent on the second of the three beats.

Jazzinho Hall One 3.45pm

Reynaldo Hahn Violin Sonata Reynaldo Hahn Nocturne Improvisations on Latin American Music José Luis Muñoz Jazzinho Chilingirian String Quartet Millennium Quartet Charles Sewart violin Stephen Coombs piano Born in Caracas of a Venezuelan mother and German father, Reynaldo Hahn spent his career so completely in France (where he moved with his parents at the age of 3) that he’s generally thought of as a French composer. As well as composing songs, operettas and film music, he managed to be the lover of Marcel Proust and the friend and biographer of Sarah Bernhardt. His Violin Sonata of 1926 is, typically for him, sunny and lyrical, full of discreet charm and nostalgia for more gracious times, even when it is being sprightly. It could almost be very superior salon music, but with an infusion of the urbanity and grace of Fauré. José Luis Muñoz (1928-1982) is credited with being the first Venezuelan composer to adopt the 12-tone method, but many of his works attest to his fascination with jazz styles, such as Jazzinho (the title denotes ‘small, sweet’ jazz) for piano and string quartet.

4 Four Tango Hall One 5pm

Manuel Ponce Sonatina for violin and piano Astor Piazzolla 4 Four Tango Reynaldo Hahn Piano Quintet

On the Chilingirian Quartet’s first visit to Latin America they met Villa-Lobos’s widow in Brazil, who gave them the music for his 16th Quartet. The distinguished Britishbased quartet have since made many visits to South America, where they have encountered its unique multiplicity of cultures and enjoyed meeting a variety of composers and performers. In January 2010 they were charged with developing a Chamber Music Academy in Venezuela, for the young players involved in El Sistema, the world-renowned orchestral-training organisation. For Kings Place Festival they have chosen to share the platform with one of El Sistema’s most exciting ambassadors, the Millennium Quartet, whose players the Chilingirian have coached. Says Levon Chilingirian: ‘The Kings Place Festival provides a long-awaited opportunity to introduce the music we have so enjoyed over the years and the young musicians who have been so exciting to work with.’

CLASSICAL

Chilingirian String Quartet Levon Chilingirian violin Stephen Coombs piano Manuel Ponce’s Sonatina for violin and piano is a beautiful example of his gentle and temperate neo-classicism, and also reflects the influence of Paul Dukas, with whom he studied in Paris. Astor Piazzolla is celebrated as the great master of Argentinian tango, but 4 for Tango, composed in 1982, is also his first string quartet, and a virtuoso application of the full range of 20th-century string textures (sul ponticello, ‘Bartók-pizzicato’, harmonics, glissandi, rapping on the wood with the knuckles etc, as well as traditional playing techniques) to a very sophisticated stylisation of the popular dance rhythm. Short, pithy, and dark-hued, it makes the perfect foil to Reynaldo Hahn’s imposing yet delightful Piano Quintet in F sharp minor of 1922. This work breathes the spirit of Gabriel Fauré, who was one of Hahn’s teachers at the Paris Conservatoire. Lucid and civilised, this is music that harks back to the more spacious and comfortable days before World War I, yet does so with wit and sobriety, especially in the opulently tender slow movement (reminiscent of the operettas of Messager) and the vigorous and joyous finale. Notes by Malcolm Macdonald

left to right: Chilingirian String Quartet, Millennium Quartet

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

WORLD

Classical Music from India Darbar Arts Culture Heritage Trust

Darbar takes you on an Indian musical journey, introducing instruments relatively new to Indian classical music. We begin in the foothills of the Himalayas with the shimmering sounds of the santoor, the hundred-stringed instrument from the valleys of Kashmir. This ancient instrument is the Indian version of the hammered dulcimer. The second concert takes us to the deep south, and unusually features the violin as a solo instrument, supported by percussion. We end our journey back in the north, with an instrument we would usually associate with Western jazz – the saxophone.

this page, from top: Harjinder Pal Singh, Manjeet Singh Rasiya opposite, clockwise from top right: Jesse Bannister, Bhupinder Chaggar, R N Prakash, Neyveli Venkatesh, Jyotsna Srikanth © Arnhel de Serra

Hindustani Santoor Recital Hall Two 2.45pm

Carnatic Concert Hall Two 4pm

Harjinder Pal Singh santoor Manjeet Singh Rasiya tabla

Jyotsna Srikanth violin Neyveli Venkatesh mridangam R N Prakash ghatam

Harjinder Pal Singh Harjinder Pal Singh’s interest in music began in his childhood, and his father sent him to learn tabla from Bhai Labh Singh Ji of the Punjab Gharana at the age of 14. He also mastered the Pakhawaj style of tabla, and later became a senior disciple of maestro Pandit Shiv Kumar. Harjinder travels widely in India giving concerts, lectures and demonstration programmes in schools and colleges. He also tours abroad. Manjeet Singh Rasiya Manjeet is one of the UK’s greatest Indian percussionists, and a fine Latin and AfroCuban drummer. As well performing with renowned Indian musicians and on theatre and film he has played with Western musicians, including Jarvis Cocker, Marianne Faithfull and Beth Orton.

Jyotsna Srikanth Trained in the South Indian Carnatic and Western classical genres, Jyotsna composes her own music and collaborates with jazz, Western classical and world music artists. ‘She provided a remarkable, improvised instrumental, switching between rapid-fire violin ragas and slower delicate pieces and some impressive interplay between the percussionists.’ (Guardian, April 2010). Neyveli Venkatesh Neyveli gave his first mridangam performance at the age of ten. He is skilled in playing the difficult ‘gumuki’ style and is adept in kanjira konnakol, the art of performing percussion syllables vocally. Neyveli has accompanied frontline musicians in many major Indian music festivals and has toured extensively.

Contemporary Indian Classical Music Hall Two 5.15pm Jesse Bannister saxophone Bhupinder Chaggar tabla Jesse Bannister Jesse Bannister plays North Indian classical music on the saxophone. His exciting music demonstrates how the saxophone can be ‘as sweet and mellifluous as a flute at times and at others, as powerful and direct as a Shehnai’ (Amrita Review in Los Angeles, of Jesse Bannister), adding a new dimension to India’s contemporary classical repertoire. Bhupinder Chaggar Bhupinder is a leading disciple of tabla maestro Pandit Sharda Sahai Ji. He teaches tabla to jazz students as well as tabla classes, and works with musicians from many cultures, including flamenco guitarist Eduardo Niebla, Portuguese percussion maestro Rui Júnior, and soul singer Jocelyn Brown.

R N Prakash R N Prakash is a disciple of Vidvan K N Krishnamurthy of Bangalore. His fusion work with Western pop and jazz groups, especially Massive Attack, illustrates the musical bridges he builds to other cultures. He has made many television appearances demonstrating the versatility of mridangam and ghatam. 10

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

FREE IN THE ATRIUM JAZZ EVERY DAY FREE IN THE ATRIUM JAZZ

SPOKEN WORD

Indo Bass Trio Thursday 9 September & Sunday 12 September Atrium 6.15pm & 7.30pm

Meet the Journalist

Behind the Scenes at the Guardian

Manjeet Singh Rasiya tabla Ben Hazleton double bass Clem Alford sitar

Indo Bass Trio explores the relationship of rhythm and melody as an energetic flow between musicians, instruments and listeners. The double bass, well versed in jazz and groove, enters the Indian soundscape to explore sonic possibilities. Microtones within tones create zones for the rhythm inside the rhythm of a heartbeat.

This series of events features key personnel from the Guardian, whose offices are here at Kings Place. Featuring Head of Photography Roger Tooth, Director of Digital Content Emily Bell and Editor Alan Rusbridger, these talks will give you a glimpse of life behind the headlines. Essential for anyone interested in the challenges and opportunities facing today’s media.

One Mint Julep Friday 10 September Atrium 6.15pm & 7.30pm Emine Pirhasan vocals Jim Hart drums Fred Thomas double bass Sam Crowe keyboards Led by vocalist Emine Pirhasan, One Mint Julep is a new quartet. It is made up of four of London’s most talented musicians who have come together to rediscover the classic sound of jazz and blues from the early Thirties. Emine simultaneously evokes the sound of the Thirties’ smoky jazz clubs with contemporary influences.

Roger Tooth Head of Photography St Pancras Room 3pm

Emily Bell Director of Digital Content St Pancras Room 4.15pm

Alan Rusbridger Editor St Pancras Room 5.30pm

What is a picture desk? How does it choose from the staggering 20,000 pictures submitted every day? How does it deal with readers’ reactions to the editors’ more controversial decisions? Roger Tooth gives a fascinating insight into the images behind the news. His talk will be illustrated throughout with some great news and feature photography.

Emily Bell set up MediaGuardian.co.uk in 2000, and is now responsible for the awardwinning guardian.co.uk, the Guardian and Observer’s network of websites. Emily also writes regular columns on media policy issues. Today she shares her views on some aspects of news on the web in today’s world.

Alan Rusbridger has been editor of the Guardian since 1995. His editorship has been notable for pioneering the development of the paper’s digital edition, and for launching the paper in the popular European ‘Berliner’ format in 2005. He is also noted for fighting, and winning a number of high-profile legal cases involving free speech issues and corruption in government.

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Spitz presents…

in Kings Place Atrium each day – FREE! The Atrium series will include the much-loved Spitz Jazz which has had a residency at Kings Place every Friday night since 2008. These sessions have showcased many of London’s finest jazz players, including some of the old Spitz favourites. We will also be crossing musical borders with the Indo Bass Trio who present you with rhythms as new as they are old.

Rosanna Schura Trio Saturday 11 September Atrium 6.15pm & 7.30pm Vocalist and songwriter Rosanna Schura draws influences from artists such as John Martyn to create her unique sound and subtle approach to vocal jazz. Her beautiful vocals weave together with piano and bass accompaniment. Her voice rises above sprawling jazz sounds, and, with impeccable phrasing, brings out the humour and hurt of jazz and blues classics.

This fantastic evening of concerts brings together no less than four of English folk music’s most influential and popular performers: Eliza Carthy, Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick and Chris Wood. Not to be missed. These concerts will sell out very fast, so book now!

Curated by Alan Bearman Music

13 Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick Hall One 8.15pm A reunion of the legendary groundbreaking duo. For more than 40 years Martin Carthy has been one of folk music’s greatest innovators, and Dave Swarbrick’s contribution to folk-rock music through Fairport Convention is legendary.

In the English Tradition

FOLK © Chris Tribble

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

‘The super-duo are back ...’ The Guardian ‘Swarbrick is an absolute revelation… as instinctively sympathetic and wickedly inspirational as he ever was. It’s like they were a couple of twenty somethings again. To hear Swarb bowing with such soul and tenderness and dynamism too is an unconditional joy.’ fRoots

Eliza Carthy Hall One 7pm Nominated for Singer of the Year, Best Album and Best Original Song in BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009, Eliza Carthy is an extraordinary singer and fiddle player. Dazzlingly gifted, she is one of the most impressive and engaging artists of her generation. ’One of the figureheads of the English folk revival … compelling’ Evening Standard ‘A gloriously natural singer’ Q magazine

Chris Wood Hall One 9.30pm

Singer of the Year and Best Album, BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2009, Chris Wood is an uncompromising songwriter whose music reveals his love for the unofficial history of the English-speaking people. With gentle intelligence he weaves the tradition with his own contemporary parables. His writing has been said to share the same timeless quality as Richard Thompson at his best.

‘Chris Wood has developed into an exceptional songwriter... venturing into areas that few artists would dare tackle.’ Guardian clockwise from top: Martin Carthy, Dave Swarbrick, Chris Wood, Eliza Carthy

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

CLASSICAL / CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL

‘As the world panics and looks for safe havens for its money, it’s good to see the London Sinfonietta aren’t losing their nerve.’ Daily Telegraph

Thomas Adès © Maurice Foxall

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London Sinfonietta, one of the world’s elite contemporary music ensembles, will surprise and stimulate in a showcase of modern chamber music from across Europe. Following from this summer’s spirited Experiment! week at Kings Place, the Sinfonietta bring three programmes which encapsulate its reputation for virtuosity, ambitious programming and pushing boundaries: the first gives us Stravinsky’s exuberant Duo Concertante and the gleeful comedy of his Suite Italienne from Pulcinella. Next up is the chamber music of Thomas Adès, one of the brightest stars in 21stcentury music, with a programme that highlights his theatricality and inventive use of space in writing for small groups. Postcards from Europe is given over to the work of living composers from across Europe, the result of London Sinfonietta’s partnership with the European Union’s Re:New Project, in which 22 ensembles exchange pieces of music to broaden the reach of composers outside their own nation. Also featured are London Sinfonietta Shorts, miniature ‘birthday cards’ commissioned to celebrate its 40th birthday in 2008.

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London Sinfonietta Postcards from Europe Hall Two 9.45pm Régis Campo Pop-Art Osmo Tapio Räihälä Damballa Sinfonietta Shorts by Gerald Barry, Luke Bedford and Jonathan Harvey London Sinfonietta

Chamber Music by Igor Stravinsky Hall Two 7.15pm

Chamber Music by Thomas Adès Hall Two 8.30pm

Duo Concertante Three pieces for solo clarinet Suite Italienne

Programme to include: Catch Court Studies from The Tempest

London Sinfonietta In 1930 Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) was introduced to the violinist Samuel Dushkin, who became a great friend and recital partner. Inspired by Dushkin’s playing, Stravinsky wrote several works for the violinist including his Violin Concerto No. 1, the Suite Italienne (based on pieces from Pulcinella) and the large-scale Duo Concertante (1931). Formed of five distinct movements, the music of this Duo ranges from the tranquil pastorale to episodes with a more angular, aggressive character. The final movement, Dithyrambe, features some of the most lyrically expressive music the composer ever wrote. Three Pieces for clarinet (1918) was dedicated to the tea millionaire, and amateur clarinettist, Weiner Reinhart, who financially supported several of Stravinsky’s struggling concert series. The colourful pieces are among the first works in which Stravinsky experimented with incorporating aspects of jazz, describing them as ‘written-out portraits of improvisations’. Suite Italienne (1932) is a set of six movements for cello and piano, based on music from Stravinsky’s earlier Neo-Classical ballet Pulcinella. His starting point was a set of 18th-century pieces by (in some cases wrongly attributed to) Pergolesi. The work opens with two movements – one high-spirited, one a sombre aria – taken from the start of the ballet, while the remaining idiosyncratic movements, all twists on recognisable Baroque forms, come from the end of the work.

London Sinfonietta Born in 1971, British composer Thomas Adès is ‘one of the most imposing figures in contemporary music’ (The New Yorker). His compositions range from large-scale operas to intimate chamber works, but each is distinctive for their intricate sound tapestries and elaborately patterned textural layers. Catch (1991) is Adès’s first chamber piece: a short, humorous work for violin, cello, clarinet and piano, with an improvisatory nature, the lively nature of the game ‘catch’ depicted by numerous syncopated rhythms and apparently arbitrary entrances. The work structures itself around various combinations of the four instruments, with a stationary piano trio taunting and teasing the clarinettist, who refuses to join the game – but who eventually joins in with a burst of jubilantly expressive music. Court Studies from The Tempest (2005) is scored for the same four instruments as Catch. Written as one continuous movement, the work is formed from six solo numbers taken from Adès’s highly acclaimed opera The Tempest and freely transcribed for the four instruments. The pieces depict the leading figures from The Tempest arriving on Prospero’s island, with the music conjuring up a rarefied, mysterious world. The work ends with a spine-chilling final section, which ultimately fades out with a mesmerising solo violin phrase.

London Sinfonietta is a partner in the Re:New Project, in which 22 ensembles across Europe are exchanging pieces of music to broaden the reach of composers from different countries. In this event, London Sinfonietta will perform two very attractive and exciting pieces in the presence of the composers. Marseille-born Régis Campo studied with Gérard Grisey and Henri Dutilleux. Pop-Art for flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano was composed in 2002. In Räihälä’s music influences from rock and jazz are skilfully woven into his own style. Damballa, written for the Uusinta Chamber Ensemble, is scored for flute, clarinet and violin, with the oboist joining them near the end. For over 40 years, London Sinfonietta has played a crucial role in the creation and performance of contemporary music. Sinfonietta Shorts is a series of commissions by leading composers in celebration of the ensemble’s 40th anniversary. Each piece is scored for a small group of performers, or soloist. After the works’ first performance, Sinfonietta Shorts are available to download for free from the London Sinfonietta website, giving musicians across the world an opportunity to play the pieces. This concert showcases new Sinfonietta Shorts by the British composers Luke Bedford (b. 1978), Jonathan Harvey (b. 1939) and Irish composer Gerald Barry (b. 1952). Visit www.londonsinfonietta.org.uk for all the latest news from the ensemble, and to find out how you can own a Sinfonietta Short. Notes by Carenza Hugh-Jones

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

THURSDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

SPOKEN WORD

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Tilt @ Kings Place Festival 2010

Spoken meets Live: a spoken word meets live art intervention St Pancras Room 7.30pm

pros and cons of life coaching and self-help. Francesca is an award-winning comedian who has toured internationally with sell-out runs at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh Festival and the prestigious Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. She recently made her Adelaide Fringe debut and has received rave reviews literally all over the world. She is a regular face on TV and well-known for her starring role in Ricky Gervais’s Extras. She is currently working on her BBC sitcom pilot and developing a feature documentary.

Robin Deacon Artist, writer and filmmaker Robin Deacon offers live performance, performed lecture, journalistic and documentary approach mixed with humour and satire. A former artist in residence at Sophiensaele in Berlin and Robert Wilson’s Watermill Center, New York, his current projects include a documentary film on the life of late US American performance artist Stuart Sherman. Robin is an Associate Artist of Artsadmin and a Senior Lecturer in Drama and Performance Studies at London South Bank University.

How To Be A Leader written and performed by Tim Clare

Spoken Word meets Comedy St Pancras Room 8.45pm

How To Be A Leader – Leaders – love them, loathe them, want to be like them? Two performances of electrifying stand-up, satirical lecture and scurrilous speech written and performed by Francesca Martinez and Tim Clare. If I Were The World’s First Wobbly Leader… written and performed by Francesca Martinez

from top: Tim Clare, Francesca Martinez, Robin Deacon

Cited as ‘the fastest-rising female comic in the country’ (Observer) Francesca Martinez explores leadership in our daily lives, and the

Here in the future, we are all leaders. We exercise our power in hundreds of small decisions every day: I will ‘Like’ this link to an Aztec Camera video. I will add 09 to vote for Bryan. But we are leaders without a manifesto. That is about to change. Revolutionary political thinker and comedian Tim Clare unveils a guide showing us what the tyrants of the past can teach us about conning, coercing and cajoling people into doing our bidding. Say no to democracy! Embrace the Dao of Fractal Despotism! Tim is a writer, stand-up poet and musician described as ‘shrewd and funny’ (The Scotsman). His memoir, We Can’t All Be Astronauts, won Best Biography/Memoir at the East Anglian Book Awards. He has performed his work on BBC2, Radio 1, 2, 4 and 6, and presented the Channel 4 series How To Get A Book Deal.

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

20 London Liming: where spoken word meets carnival St Pancras Room 10pm Luke Wright, Laura Dockrill, Zena Edwards, Charlie Dark, Mellow Baku Mellow Baku weaves rich musical prose relating stories of transformation, consciousness and relationships. From musical beginnings in a commune where she learned songwriting and guitar, she is inspired by the messages of conscious Reggae, the ethos of Jazz, and experiences of personal faith. She has worked with many artists including Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze and Michie One, at venues including the Barbican, Jazz Café, North Sea Jazz Festival and the Knitting Factory in New York. Charlie Dark is a dynamic writer, producer, DJ and performer specialising in poetry and the communication of stories. With a reputation for fusing the boundaries of wordplay, music and imagery he has instigated and hosted numerous music and word happenings including Blacktronica at the ICA, Rice and Peas and activities for the Red Bull Academy. He is founder of the urban Nike-supported running club Run Dem Crew and continues to perform and DJ actively. clockwise from top right: Melanie Abrahams, Zena Edwards, Laura Dockrill, Mellow Baku, Luke Wright

Tilt presents three infectious evenings of entertainment, stimulation and wordplay, with events that show how spoken word can complement, rub against and enhance other art forms – on this occasion live art, comedy and carnival. The first evening features brand new commissions of writing and performance by live artist, writer and filmmaker Robin Deacon. Next comes stand-up and satire by Francesca Martinez and Tim Clare. The finale is a welcome return of last year’s popular ‘London Liming’ – a carnival of poetry, music and audience participation. It features perfectly-formed short bites of poetry, commentary and song by wordsmiths Mellow Baku, Luke Wright, Charlie Dark, Laura Dockrill and Zena Edwards.

Curated by Melanie Abrahams, arts entrepreneur and producer

Laura Dockrill is a poet and illustrator from South London cited as ‘one of the Top 20 hot faces to watch for 2009’ (Elle). She has performed all over the UK on radio and TV including Radio 1 and Newsnight, and at festivals including Glastonbury, Latitude and Reading and has supported Kate Nash, Martha Wainwright and Phil Jupitus. Author of Mistakes in the Background and Ugly Shy Girl, she is writing a book of poems and short stories. She is curator of the groundbreaking Word Orchestra and this year is writing and directing a show, launching her greetings card range, Snatches, and performing a debut children’s show, Glue Mouth.

Luke Wright has been described as ‘the best young performance poet around’, (Observer) and ‘visceral, poignant and riotously funny’ (The Scotsman). He is host and curator of Latitude’s Poetry Arena and a resident poet on Radio 4’s Saturday Live. His Valentine’s Day special on Channel 4 attracted over a million viewers. His debut collection is called High Performance. Zena Edwards is a poet and performer who uses song, movement and global influences as a jump-off for her words. She fuses poetry and music, incorporating traditional Africaninstruments (kalimba and kora) and digital technology to create her own sound tracks for poems and stories and has performed worldwide. She has written, performed and toured acclaimed one-woman shows including Security and Broken Words, and produced work for BBC radio and short films for Sky Digital. She has produced two CDs, entitled Healing Pool and Mine 4 Life. Melanie Abrahams Recipient of a ‘Women to Watch 2010’ award for her work in literature and the arts, Melanie Abrahams has been the vision behind a number of groundbreaking spoken word projects. She has developed initiatives to support writers and producers, and has founded two companies over ten years, renaissance one and Tilt (Spoken Word Pioneer, C4). She curates, writes and presents actively and is developing a new spoken word festival. www.ontilt.org. 19

Friday highlights 2.30pm Russian pianist Mikhail Rudy brings two exciting programmes of orchestral music transcribed for highly virtuosic pianist, including Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Return for music from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Rudy’s own hair-raising piano version of Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka at 5pm. 5.15pm Myrna Hague, universally known as Jamaica’s First Lady of Jazz, showcases her stunning and highly distinctive vocals alongside Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop – an all-star line-up from award-winning independent label, Dune Records. 5.30pm Come and be spellbound by storyteller Taffy Thomas, the first-ever Storyteller Laureate, as he beguiles his audience with stories, tales (and elaborate lies!) woven from folklore, myths, epic tales, travellers’ lore and more. 7.15pm Tom Basden’s innovative comedy offers a multi-talented treat of quirky goodness. Think Flight of the Conchords meets David Shrigley and you are halfway there.

8.15pm Two fine soloists, Jonathan Manson and Steven Devine (Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment) present a delectable programme of music for viola da gamba and harpsichord by J S Bach.

8.45pm Get entertained, energised and electrified with the Monster Ceilidh Band and their outrageously funky grooves that mix elegant traditional playing with raucous rave-like rhythms. 21

Russian Masterpieces

The charismatic pianist Mikhail Rudy is well known for his creative programmes, whether it be his dramatisation of The Pianist or collaboration with the jazz pianist Misha Alperin in Double Dream. He’s also a worldclass virtuoso, capable of encompassing huge orchestral works on the piano, as we will witness in his arrangement of Petrushka and performance of Mussorgsky’s monumental Pictures at an Exhibition. In these concerts, Rudy delves into his Russian past. As he says, ‘Being Russian myself but living a great part of my life in the West, Russian music is for me a constant emotional link, a way of keeping Russia alive inside me.’ He is joined in his second concert by his compatriot the cellist Alexander Ivashkin, a musical tour de force in his own right, being a soloist, conductor and Professor of Music at the University of London. ‘Rudy is a pianist with an enormous musical appetite… an intrepid explorer’. Gramophone

Mikhail Rudy

CLASSICAL © Marthe Lemelle

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

Petrushka Hall One 5pm

Prokofiev 8 Visions fugitives, Op. 22 Prelude in COp. 12 No. 7 3 pieces from Romeo and Juliet: Scene, Juliet as a young girl, Montagues and Capulets Stravinsky Petrushka (transcription Stravinsky/Rudy) Mikhail Rudy piano

Seasons and Pictures Hall One 2.30pm

The Russian Cello Hall One 3.45pm

Tchaikovsky The Seasons (extracts) Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

Prokofiev Cello Sonata Stravinsky Suite Italienne

Mikhail Rudy piano

Alexander Ivashkin cello Mikhail Rudy piano

Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons ought to have been called ‘The Months’, for the complete cycle contains 12 pieces each named for a month of the year and each written to accompany lines from a poem on that month by a different poet. Published as the musical supplements to a St Petersburg monthly journal from January to December 1876, they were intended to be within the capabilities of amateur pianists, but have sufficient subtleties to interest real virtuosi, too. Their formal simplicity, coupled with the programmatic imagery, was a spur to Tchaikovsky’s invention: many of them remind us of his genius as a ballet composer, and it’s easy enough to imagine a ballet constructed around their sequence of varied moods and characters. Unlike The Seasons, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is a visionary work and the sound of a modern Steinway is almost not enough for the range and richness of the colours required, hence the many orchestrations. A grand memorial to his friend, the painter Viktor Hartmann, it takes the form of Mussorgsky himself (a portly figure represented by a ‘Promenade’ in ponderous 11/4 time) viewing ten pictures in a memorial exhibition of Hartmann’s work which was held in 1874. The sharp delineations of character and colour, vividly rendering scenes and personalities, created a new manner of writing for the piano which was hardly understood for over 50 years, while the monumental finale – ‘The Great Gate of Kiev’ – is one of the most majestic culminations in piano literature.

left to right: Mikhail Rudy, Alexander Ivashkin

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Stravinsky’s Suite Italienne (1932) is an arrangement of an arrangement of an arrangement. In it – with the help of the great cellist Piatigorsky – he transcribed a violin-piano suite he’d made in 1925 of movements from his ballet Pulcinella (1919-20), itself founded upon a collection of 18th-century pieces by (or rather, often, wrongly attributed to) Pergolesi. Stravinsky does everything he can to upset the four-square Baroque phrasing by means of displaced accents, prominent syncopations, changes of timesignature, and so on. His rather Cubist re-ordering and re-imagining of the Baroque melodies and harmonies are taken a stage further when transferred to cello and piano, creating a kind of conscienceless neoclassicism, like a burlesque of Pergolesi’s own sonatas. Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata is a late work, written in the dark days after February 1948, when the composer (along with Shostakovich) had been denounced by Stalin’s henchman Zhdanov for writing ‘formalist, bourgeois decadent, anti-people music’. Though ill and depressed, Prokofiev felt that to be ‘working, always working’ would be his personal salvation in this situation, and he was quick to spot the talent of the young Mstislav Rostropovich and to write a work especially for him. Though it does not have the barbaric dissonance of his middleperiod works, its combination of aching lyricism and spiky virtuosity is authentic Prokofiev. There is a defiant youthfulness to this music, rather than the spirit of elegy, encapsulated in his preface quote from Gorky: ‘Man, how proud the word sounds!’

Prokofiev made his international reputation as a pianist-composer, an alchemist of brilliant keyboard miniatures, sometimes caustic, sometimes tender or sentimental. 20 of these make up the Visions fugitives (1915-17), pieces meant to suggest the highly concentrated essence of a kaleidoscope of moods, each just a minute or so long: musical epigrams that stand in for unheard epics. The ballet Romeo and Juliet, by contrast, enshrines the far more expansive and genuinely romantic style of the later Prokofiev, and contains some of his bestloved melodies. We hear three numbers from the set of ten that Prokofiev himself arranged for piano. Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka originated in the sound of the piano, for he originally conceived it as a Konzertstück for piano and orchestra. In his memoirs, he recalled it all began with his having ‘a distinct picture of a puppet, suddenly endowed with life, exasperating the patience of the orchestra with diabolical cascades of arpeggios’. He himself arranged three dances from the ballet for solo piano at the behest of Arthur Rubinstein, so the logic of Mikhail Rudy’s own transcription is unimpeachable. In its combination of folksong and urban melodies with daring harmonic and rhythmic experiment, this is Stravinsky at his most subversively brilliant, as well as his great tribute to St Petersburg. As Rudy writes, ‘I completed this suite to make the entire Petrushka less driven by the idea of pianistic tour de force than by the desire to tell the story of the love, jealousy and ultimate death of a piece of wood, the puppet Petrushka, by the means of another piece of wood, the piano.’ Notes by Malcolm Macdonald

Tomorrow’s Warriors ‘If you want to know where the real heart, soul and energy of the resurgent UK jazz scene is, look no further than Gary Crosby’s Dune posse.’ bbc.co.uk The Dune Music Company Ltd incorporates the world-class, award-winning independent jazz label Dune Records, dedicated to supporting the unique artists on its roster. Tomorrow’s Warriors is a leading organisation for the provision of high-quality jazz education and professional artist development. Since its formation in 1991, the organisation has maintained a track record of success in developing award-winning young jazz artists of excellence, providing firm foundations on which they can build and sustain successful careers in the music industry.

Tomorrow’s Warriors Biggish Band Hall Two 2.45pm

Myrna Hague + Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop Hall Two 5.15pm

Dune Music presents members of the Tomorrow’s Warriors Biggish Band, an exciting London-based band set up for those young musicians aged between 14 and 19 that are inspired by jazz’s black musical heritage. The afternoon begins with unique arrangements by Tomorrow’s Warriors of classic jazz standards, trawling through the archives of the truest in jazz sensibility, and finishing with a massive jam session. This is a not-to-be-missed showcase for the rising jazz stars of tomorrow.

Myrna Hague vocals Gary Crosby double bass/bandleader Mark Crown trumpet Denys Baptiste tenor saxophone Andrew McCormack piano Rod Youngs drums Myrna Hague is known universally as Jamaica’s First Lady of Jazz. Her stunning and highly distinctive vocals make a very welcome Kings Place debut. She performs alongside Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop, featuring an all-star line-up led by Crosby, a stalwart of the UK jazz scene on the award-winning independent label, Dune Records. Performing new arrangements of classic jazz standards Myrna Hague exudes elegance, sophistication and style. Formed in 1991 by bassist Gary Crosby, Nu Troop’s format is based upon Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, providing a means to introduce new jazz talent to the world circuit. This latest incarnation of Nu Troop is without doubt the finest ensemble in the UK playing jazz in the African-American tradition. It features a superlative line-up of award-winning artists, all of whom are bandleaders in their own right. By virtue of the artists’ individual touring schedules, the collective have only been able to come together for a limited number of shows throughout the year, so don’t miss this rare opportunity to see them live.

25 Tomorrow’s Warriors Quartet Hall Two 4pm ‘The cream of young British talent.’ Time Out ‘The most promising recent jazz arrivals.’ Guardian

The Dune Music Company presents

JAZZ © Janine Irons

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

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Binker Golding tenor saxophone Alex Ho piano Gary Crosby double bass Eddie Hick drums

Tomorrow’s Warriors hits the stage again at Kings Place with the Tomorrow’s Warriors Quartet – a fresh new ensemble featuring some of the brightest rising jazz stars of the future. The session follows in the footsteps of previous editions, which have included award-winning stars Soweto Kinch, Denys Baptiste, Jason Yarde, Andrew McCormack and ensembles including J-Life, Empirical and recently launched Rhythmica. This latest collective injects a bright, contemporary sound into their music, whilst staying true to Tomorrow’s Warriors’ legacy for the jazz tradition.

left to right: Tomorrow’s Warriors, Gary Crosby, Binker Golding

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

SPOKEN WORD

The Magpie’s Nest – Once Upon a Time… Spellbinding Storytelling Storytelling is the oldest oral art. Many, many years ago, when the only form of communication was by word of mouth, stories were the sole means of education and spreading news. They taught who we were, where we came from, how we should treat each other. Storytelling encompasses a vast heritage of lore, myths, epic tales, folk tales and travellers’ tales; tales of the creation of the world, tales of its destruction; sagas of gods and men; all the great traditional legends from around the world. These stories are not learned by rote or read from books but retold by the tellers, making each interpretation unique. Kings Place is delighted to bring you its first Festival storytelling series – you will be spellbound.

Curated by Sammy Lee

Jess Smith was raised in a large family of Scottish travellers. ‘I have been a gatherer of tales for most of my life, and I suppose it all began when I was a wee girl. I shared a home with parents, seven sisters and a shaggy dog. It could be said that I lived a different sort of life from most other children, because ‘home’ was an old blue bus.’ Acclaimed for her autobiographical trilogy, Jessie’s Journey, Jess is on a mission to pass on the stories she heard as a girl. ‘If you are aged from around 10 going on 100, then you’re a fine age to enjoy and hopefully remember forever these ancient oral tales of Scotland’s travelling people... imagine that, as my friend, you are by the campfire listening to the magical Scottish stories that have been handed down through generations of travellers.’

27 Debs burst out of Birmingham armed with a bucketload of stories and songs from her Anglo-Irish family, a dirty laugh and a way with an audience. Quick-witted and charismatic, Debs can enthral 55-year-olds and charm five-year-olds (often at the same time), command an audience of 1,000 at Shakespeare’s Globe and warm the hearts of even the most jaded, rain-sodden festival goers. Debs is the first ever Storyteller-inResidence at Cecil Sharp House, home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.

Debs Newbold St Pancras Room 3pm

Jess Smith St Pancras Room 4.15pm

29 Taffy Thomas St Pancras Room 5.30pm Taffy Thomas has just been appointed as the first-ever Storyteller Laureate, and has an MBE for services to storytelling and charity. He has an astonishing repertoire of more than 300 stories, tales (and elaborate lies!) collected mainly from traditional oral sources, which he is happy to tell in almost any situation. Who knows which ones he will regale us with! Currently artistic director of Tales in Trust, the Northern Centre for Storytelling in Grasmere, Taffy has appeared at the National Storytelling Festival in the USA, the Bergen Arts Festival in Norway and a Blue Peter Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

CLASSICAL

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Essence of Enlightenment Three distinctive and engrossing short programmes performed and devised by principal players from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and showcasing music from great Baroque composers including Purcell and Bach, as well as gems from lesser-known composers such as Böhm and Locke. The players from this orchestra are renowned for their historical expertise, virtuosic abilities on period instruments and forward-looking flair in performing and communicating.

Buxtehude, Böhm, Bach Hall One 7pm

Dieterich Buxtehude Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 163 Georg Böhm Suite No. 2 in D J S Bach Italian Concerto in F, BWV 971 © Jane Hilton

Steven Devine harpsichord Dieterich Buxtehude, long-time organist of the Marienkirche in the north German city of Lübeck, left a substantial body of keyboard music. His Praeludium in G minor for organ without pedals, although commonly called ‘Prelude and Fugue’, in fact contains three short, contrasting fugues (the second with perhaps coincidental pre-echoes of Handel’s Messiah), framed and separated by quasi-improvisatory fantasia sections. Georg Böhm, organist of the Johanniskirche in Lüneburg for many years, probably knew both Buxtehude and Bach. His Suite in D major is a keyboard imitation of the popular Franco-German form of the orchestral dance suite, beginning with a substantial French-style Overture, and ending with an unusual Chaconne which uses a whole selection of stock bass patterns, repeating each a few times then moving on to the next. Bach included a similar ‘Overture after the French manner’ in Part II of his Clavierübung (Keyboard Re-creation), published in 1735 – alongside the ‘Concerto after the Italian Taste’. This uses the contrast between the two manuals of the harpsichord to suggest a soloist standing out from an orchestra in the brilliant outer movements, and in the central Andante to allow the floridly ornamented melody to sing out over its ostinato accompaniment.

J S Bach & the keyboard Hall One 8.15pm

J S Bach Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord in G, BWV 1027 Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord in D, BWV 1028 Sonata for viola da gamba and harpsichord in G minor, BWV 1029 Jonathan Manson viola da gamba Steven Devine harpsichord The viola da gamba or bass viol, with its wonderfully rich resonance, was the only member of the Renaissance viol family in regular use throughout the Baroque period. Bach’s three sonatas for it were written, or adapted from existing works, during his later years in Leipzig. Rather than the usual shorthand continuo accompaniment, they have keyboard parts which are fully written out almost throughout – so that they are effectively trio sonatas, with melodic parts of equal importance for the gamba and the harpsichordist’s right hand, over the bass line in the left hand. The First Sonata is indeed a version of an earlier Trio Sonata for two flutes and continuo. This Sonata has the shape of the Baroque sonata da chiesa, or ‘church sonata’, with four movements, alternately slow and fast; the two fast movements are both fugal in texture. The Second has a similar outline, but the quick movements are more freely conceived, with hints of the up-to-date ‘galant’ style, and in the finale an episode of brilliant keyboard figuration. The Third Sonata, by contrast, has the fast–slow– fast form, and in the outer movements the ritornello structure and rhythmic drive, of a Vivaldian concerto – but is it an adaptation or an imitation?

Three Violins – Music from Purcell’s London Hall One 9.30pm

Nicola Matteis Divisions in D minor Thomas Baltzar Pavan and Galliard in C John Jenkins Fantasia in F for two trebles and bass Nicola Matteis Fantasia for solo violin Matthew Locke Fantasia in C from The Broken Consort Henry Purcell Pavan in G minor, Z780 Fantasia: Three Parts on a Ground, Z731 Matthew Truscott, Alison Bury, Catherine Mackintosh violins Jonathan Manson viola da gamba Steven Devine organ/harpsichord The thriving musical life of Restoration London attracted many foreign composers and performers. Among them was the German violinist Thomas Baltzar, whose Suite in C major for three violins and continuo introduced to England a popular northern European scoring – though its opening Pavan and Galliard are dances in the English tradition. The same instruments are used in the Divisions, or variations, over a repeating ground bass by the Neapolitan violinist Nicola Matteis, who, as his solo Fantasia suggests, must have been an outstanding virtuoso. John Jenkins wrote chiefly in the native English tradition of the fantasia in several sections for viol consort; but the lively writing of his Fantasias for two trebles and a bass (completed by 1650) seems more suited to violins than to viols. His younger colleague Matthew Locke added keyboard continuo to this trio sonata scoring, and followed a fantasia with a series of dances, in each of the six suites that he wrote in 1661 for the King’s private ‘Broken Consort’. The great Henry Purcell contributed two early works to the repertoire for three violins and continuo: a Pavan, possibly written in memory of Jenkins; and a set of variations for ‘Three Parts on a Ground’ of fertile invention and great contrapuntal ingenuity. Notes by Anthony Burton

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

COMEDY

Comedy at Kings Place in association with Avalon

With a long history in distributing the highest quality comedy acts, Avalon, in association with Kings Place, brings you three unique comedy giants. Tearing up the stage, whilst tickling your funny bone into complete submission, Tom Basden, Jenny Eclair and Rob Deering give you a showcase of what goes on at Off With Their Heads! our regular Thursday night of comedy at Kings Place. So if humorous discourse is your thing, then miss these at your peril.

Tom Basden’s innovative new brand of comedy genius offers a multi-talented treat of quirky goodness. Think Flight of the Conchords meets David Shrigley and you are halfway there. Subtle heartfelt songs about being an ant and a werewolf sit alongside ditties about winning Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, ghosts and being haunted. His truly oddball material is original, well delivered and raises the biggest of laughs. Tom took last year’s Edinburgh Fringe by storm, winning the First Award 2009 with his inventive delivery, guitar playing, photo stories and ingenious little drawings. He also won If.Comedy Best Newcomer (2007) and was nominated for Chortle’s Best Breakthrough Act and Best Full Show.

Rob Deering Hall Two 9.45pm

‘As sharp and versatile as a Swiss Army knife… one of the best performers currently on the circuit.’ The Independent

Jenny Eclair Hall Two 8.30pm

‘… warm, exuberant and energetic …’ This is Leicestershire Comedy folklore suggests that Jenny Hargreaves acquired her stage name Eclair, whilst pretending to be French at a Blackpool nightclub. Eclair gained notoriety in the 1980s as a punk poet noted for her hard-drinking, chain-smoking, tough-talking, and highly energetic persona. Bringing her own brand of girl power to the comedy circuit she was the first female ever to win the coveted Perrier Award. With considerable TV form she trained as a straight actress, appearing in Holby City and The Bill. A plethora of other appearances include the Grumpy Old Women series, Grumpy Guides, Grumpy Holidays and It’s Grim up North. She also played a woman of forty plus in Al Murray’s Multiple Personality Disorder. Co-writer and star of Grumpy Old Women Live, her two-hour stage show extravaganza played to packed audiences in the UK and Australia, whilst her latest show Because I Forgot to Get a Pension continues to tour. Her West End credits include Steaming, Mum’s the Word and The Vagina Monologues. An enthusiastic writer she contributes to various newspapers and magazines and is currently working on her third novel.

This man is guaranteed to induce the hardest of chuckles with his abundant on-stage enthusiasm, huge cheery likeable face, and comprehensive knowledge of the absolutely useless. Not to mention his legendary guitar playing. The hugely talented Rob Deering has cemented his reputation as one of the UK’s finest stand-ups, taking six solo shows to the Edinburgh Festival, headlining major comedy clubs throughout Britain and taking part in Paramount Comedy’s Edinburgh and Beyond live tour. In 2008 Rob returned to the Edinburgh Festival with his brand new solo show Boobs. Late last year he began hosting Comedy Congregation, a monthly night of serious laughs, impromptu music and sinful good times in Soho’s glamorous Madame Jojo’s which drew the biggest headliners from the comedy circuit.

‘Marvellous’ Evening Standard

35 Tom Basden Hall Two 7.15pm

left to right: Tom Basden, Jenny Eclair, Rob Deering

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

FRIDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

FOLK / CONTEMPORARY

Folk Made In The UK

Curated by Red Orange

For this series of Festival concerts, Red Orange audience and arts development have chosen three different approaches to folk music from the UK: interpretations of traditional English tunes and songs; happy, non-stop, danceable Gaelic folk/roots/world music; and new folk adventures based on international explorations. All three are rare London appearances. Opening the evening are acclaimed north Devon fiddle/viola duo Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll. They are followed by the cheerful, high-energy, Newcastle-based Monster Ceilidh Band, on only its second performance in London. And closing the night is multi-instrumentalist and musical explorer Andrew Cronshaw, with the unforgettably poignant sound of Tigran Aleksanyan’s duduk.

38 Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll St Pancras Room 7.30pm

Monster Ceilidh Band St Pancras Room 8.45pm

Nick Wyke and Becki Driscoll are highly respected musicians and composers. They first collaborated as a fiddle duo on a busking trip around Spain and Portugal. Since then, they have made a strong impact on the British folk scene and received national and international acclaim. Their passion for English traditional music and the violin has led to the development of their unique style. Becki’s melodic, emotive violin and viola blend with Nick’s driving fiddle chords and powerful vocals to create a rich, captivating sound.

This is a Ceilidh with a difference! Outrageously funky grooves from a Newcastle-based four-piece who mix quirky tunes with beats and attitude. Elegant traditional playing mixed with raucous ravelike rhythms that are guaranteed to entertain, energise and electrify. This performance brings a new breed of Ceilidh dancing to generations new and old all over the world.

‘Lovely, inventive playing’ fRoots ‘Passionate musicality and distinctive presence’ The Living Tradition ‘A superb advert for English music’ The Folk Mag 32

‘The coolest Ceilidh band around.’ Kathryn Tickell

Andrew Cronshaw and Tigran Aleksanyan St Pancras Room 10pm Andrew Cronshaw is one of only two artists ever to have been nominated in both the BBC Folk Awards and BBC Awards for World Music, for his last album Ochre. For this show he plays a deep-chiming electrified chord zither, ‘marovantele’ (his unique hybrid of Finnish kantele and Madagascan marovany), the huge breathy Slovak flute fujara, the seductive Chinese ba-wu and more. His partnership with Tigran Aleksanyan, Armenian master of his country’s exquisitely soft-toned reed instrument, the duduk, creates a mesmerising duo. ‘This man is an English original. He paints unusual sound pictures with the melodies we love and brings out totally unexpected aspects of them.’ The Folk Diary ‘In a just world, a man with the talents of Andrew Cronshaw would be a household name. Cronshaw is a musician/producer of rare quality. Don’t worry about categorising this album as folk, classical, world or any other kind of music – just file under Essential.’ Mel McClellan, BBC

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Saturday highlights 11.15am The inimitable Endymion ensemble preface a performance of Mozart’s famous Clarinet Quintet with K, an intriguing meditation on its opening bars by composer and artistic director Phil Venables. 12.15pm Johannes Moser is a formidable young German cellist making a name on the international circuit. He is joined by pianist Sophie Cashell, BBC2’s Classical Star winner, for a highly original exploration of ‘Darkness’ featuring music by Bach, Beethoven, Takemitsu and an improvisation with Nintendo Wiimote. 1.45pm Junk Band play Steve Reich (Free in the Foyer) 3.45pm Massed cellos from the Royal College of Music join the Chilingirian and Millennium Quartet cellists for a performance of Villa-Lobos’s magnificent Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for soprano and orchestra of violoncelli. A sound once heard, never forgotten! 2.45pm, 4pm, 5.15pm Arctic Circle presents the best of Bristol’s talent in three exciting contemporary concerts.

7pm Folk giant and instrumental virtuoso John Kirkpatrick plays and entertains royally with traditional songs, a whole array of the ‘squeezeboxes’ he is renowned for – and of course his own inimitable humour.

7.30pm Twisted Lounge offers you a unique and exciting soundclash – a stunning set of air vibrations where modern classical piano improvisations and beautiful vocals meet hard-edged techno and rich electronica. 35

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

CLASSICAL © IMG Artists

Johannes Moser & Sophie Cashell

Light and Dark

The young German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser came to the world’s attention when he won the famous Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in 2002. He has since performed as a soloist with the world’s great orchestras, and also made a name as a chamber musician, inspirational educator and exponent of the electric cello. He is joined by pianist Sophie Cashell, winner of BBC2’s Classical Star competition (2007) for two contrasting programmes exploring core works of the cello repertoire mixed with live improvisation on electric cello and Nintendo Wiimote. Both e-cello works will be created using strands from the other works on the programme through improvisation. Moser will take feelings and themes from each piece to create a link from one work to the next, as he explains: ‘I would like to share my experiments of the past few months with the electric cello, and show that work-in-progress against pieces that have been in my repertoire for years. I feel more and more that these pieces are subject to subtle improvisations constantly, keeping the music fresh and alive. I am very pleased to be working with Sophie since she really knows the repertoire inside out and is a very keen spirit herself.’

Light Hall One 11am

Dark Hall One 12.15pm

Beethoven Sonata for piano and cello in C, Op. 102 No. 1 Janácˇek Pohádka for cello and piano Messiaen Louange à l’éternité de Jésus

J S Bach Sarabande from Suite No. 5 in C minor, BWV 1011 Toru Takemitsu Orion Beethoven Sonata for piano and cello in D, Op. 102 No. 2

light for e-cello, music box and Nintendo Wiimote

dark for e-cello, prepared piano and vocoder voice

Johannes Moser cello Sophie Cashell piano

Beethoven’s two late Sonatas (from 1815) are characterised by brevity, compression and the incredible ingenuity of the mature composer. The first, in C major, Beethoven named a ‘free’ sonata, his way of accounting for its unconventional design. It opens with deceptively gentle simplicity before plunging into its stormy A minor Allegro vivace. From out of a dreamily rhapsodic, recitative-like Adagio bursts a spirited, Haydn-like Finale in which the instruments play an exuberant game of cat-and-mouse. Janácˇek’s twinkling Pohádka (A Fairy tale) evokes the magical Russian tale of Prince Ivan and his love for Maria, daughter of the King of the Underworld. Drawing on folk song and delightful dance rhythms, it follows the lovers’ trials and enchantments leading to their eventual happy union. Louange à l’Éternité de Jésus is a movement from Messaien’s Quartet for the End of Time, written while he was a prisoner in Stalag VIII-A during the Second World War. Inspired by the Book of Revelation, this magnum opus, composed for musicians available in the camp, was given its premiere before 5,000 shivering inmates on 15 January 1941. In this movement of mesmerising serenity, the cellist plays a long, sustained cantilena over slowly shifting, pulsating harmonies on the piano. A glowing meditation praising the eternal love of Jesus, it is essential Messaien, while prefiguring a whole wave of Minimalist music that would blossom in the late 20th century.

For the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, J S Bach’s fifth suite was simply ‘darkness’. Written for a cello with its top A string tuned down to G, it is the most shadowy and mysterious of the Suites, with this Sarabande forming a still point, its measured, falling phrases, unwinding with their extraordinary chromatic logic into the void. For some, this eloquent aria of pain represents nothing less than the Crucifixion. Toru Takemitsu combined a Japanese sensibility with Western techniques inspired by Debussy, Webern, Messaien and Cage. Orion, named after the constellation, is a chamber version of the first movement of his cello concerto, Orion and Pleiades. Moser recalls meeting Takemitsu’s long-time recording producer, who explained that his tempi markings were related to the Japanese Qi, which means breathing. ‘So however a performer decides to breathe this music will determine the tempo.’ Beethoven’s Sonata in D for piano and cello was to be his last in the form. The first movement, with its jubilant rising arpeggio, is driven by optimism and vigour, in sharp contrast to the sombre Adagio, and its memorably dark-hued chorale. The work ends with a muscular fugue, which takes us back to Bach. Notes by Helen Wallace

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

CLASSICAL

Endymion For Anton Stadler Hall One 11.15am

Phillip Venables K, a prelude to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet W A Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A, K581

Endymion

The world-class chamber ensemble Endymion always strives to bring the greatest chamber music past and present to a wide audience. Known for the vitality, virtuosity and innovation of its players, Endymion has already made an impact at Kings Place by giving the first public performance in Hall One at the opening Festival in 2008, with a new piece by Simon Holt. Last summer Endymion celebrated 30 years with a major new music project, Sound Census, showcasing 27 premieres during a week of concerts here. This year their festival programmes epitomise the character of Endymion’s music-making, contrasting two of the most emotional and engaging classics of the repertoire by Mozart and Brahms with an intriguing recent work by composer and artistic director Philip Venables. ‘The brilliant Endymion’ The Sunday Times Endymion Mark van de Wiel clarinet Krysia Osostowicz violin Clara Biss violin Asdis Valdimarsdottir viola Jane Salmon cello 38

Philip Venables’s K is a tribute and prelude to Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, which follows in this programme. It takes the first two bars of the Quintet and, in the composer’s words, ‘pulls them apart, exposing, reworking, fragmenting, reflecting and elaborating their harmony and gesture’. The fragment on which the piece is based is heard towards the end. Mozart fell in love with the voice-like sound of the clarinet relatively late in life. Clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler was the catalyst for this passion and inspired both the Clarinet Concerto and this Clarinet Quintet. The first of the Quintet’s four movements sets the mood with its charming, conversational exchange between the clarinet and string quartet. The second movement is strikingly similar to the slow movement of the concerto, with the clarinet’s lyrical qualities to the fore. A delightful minuet with two trios follows before the theme and variations of the final movement in which Mozart experiments further with all the possible combinations of instruments in a finale of striking inventiveness.

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Kids F-IRE The F-IRE Collective champions the notion of creative expression and places education firmly at the heart of its core philosophy. It began in the mid-Nineties as a workshop where a group of young musicians met to train in West African dance music, learning through this experience more communal ways of making music that they later applied in their own output. F-IRE rapidly developed into a community of artists whose outlook stretched beyond music and into the realms of dance, poetry, film and other modes of creative expression.

45 Wot is Jazz? St Pancras Room 11.30am

Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

A fun introduction to jazz for six- to tenyear-olds (accompanying adults may learn something too) hosted by Jennymay Logan of Basquiat Strings/Elysian String Quartet assisted by musicians of the collective.

Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet has much in common with the Clarinet Quintet by Mozart (heard earlier this morning). Like Mozart, Brahms’s late conversion to the clarinet was inspired by a virtuoso, Richard Mühlfeld, for whom he also wrote his two masterful clarinet sonatas. Mühlfield premiered the work with a quartet led by violinist Joseph Joachim, Brahms’s long-time friend and collaborator. As a tribute to Mozart’s Quintet, Brahms’s follows a similar fourmovement structure. The first movement, like many of Brahms’s late works, has a brooding, autumnal quality. The second movement shows Brahms at his most expansive and lyrical, with the strings subtly playing on the colours and harmonic flavour of the clarinet melody. The short third movement, with its gently meandering melodies, is one of the few lighter moments in the work. Following Mozart’s example, Brahms finishes with a theme and variations but where Mozart’s is playful and charming, Brahms’s is searching and darkly romantic.

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

46 Clown Revisited St Pancras Room 12.45pm

For Richard Mühlfeld Hall One 12.30pm

Endymion

FAMILY

F-IRE presents

top: Clown Revisited, centre: Jennymay Logan

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Clown Revisited has already received rave reviews with its inventive take on the music that accompanies everyone’s favourite circus performer. This inspirational project from pianist and keyboardist Nick Ramm came from an original idea inspired by circuses in Denmark and Holland, where Nick played in the house band accompanying acrobats, magicians, trapeze artists, jugglers, contortionists and the clown performances. When the time was right, he assembled a group of musicians known for their playing skills and for their ability to read music. Nick has collaborated with many top UK artists including Jim Mullen, The Cinematic Orchestra and Jack Bruce. This five-piece consists of tuba, piano, cello, flute and percussion and they perform with a strong visual element. The skilful players and arrangements offer a vibrant sound with a rich dynamic. Circus-inspired themes keep the players on their toes, balancing written notes with improvised passages that frequently switch between styles and tempos. In this show you will hear an Afro-Peruvian groove, echoes of vaudeville, a cha-cha-cha, a dose of medieval hip-hop, a quick frenzied clown dance and a slow piece with a never-ending melody. This session guarantees to reveal the mysteries of jazz in a fun and participatory atmosphere for all to enjoy. 39

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

CONTEMPORARY

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

CONTEMPORARY

Free Events!

A Cappella at Kings Place

50 47

In the Smoke Foyer 1pm

Rubbish Music Foyer 1.45pm

Many of the members of London-based a cappella sensation In the Smoke sang in Out of the Blue (who caused a stir at the London A Cappella Festival in January) and other award-winning collegiate groups. This is an all-singing, all-dancing, all-enthralling group performing the best of contemporary a cappella music!

Steve Reich Clapping Music Peter Wiegold Brouhaha Philip Venables New Piece (world premiere)

48 Diversity Choir Foyer 2pm Diversity, London’s premier LGBT chamber choir, regularly performs some of the most beautiful classical music written for choirs along with the best of other musical genres. This year, Diversity will compete in the BBC Choir of the Year competition.

49 Evolution Foyer 3pm Evolution are the 2009 BABS (British Association of Barbershop Singers) National Quartet Champions, so probably know a thing or two about a cappella! We are delighted to welcome them back to Kings Place for the first of two sets, following their triumphant performance at the London A Cappella Festival in January.

Serge Vuille Adam Clifford Scott Lumsdaine Sarah Cresswell This short concert features music performed by a ‘junk band’ with instruments made from diverse materials such as tin cans, oil drums, bits of wood and even a drum kit made from cardboard boxes! Together these unusual instruments are capable of creating a remarkable variety of sonic colours. Steve Reich’s Clapping Music is one of his most famous works and a classic of early Minimalism. It is usually performed by a pair of musicians clapping their hands: both play identical rhythms but the shifting of one of the performer’s rhythms against the other creates music of startling intricacy. Today’s performance will use junk instruments to create the ‘clapping’ rhythms. Like Clapping Music, Peter Wiegold’s work, Brouhaha, uses repeated rhythmic cells but these are employed for very different ends. Full of jazzy rhythms and nonsensical vocal noises, Brouhaha is a piece of unrestrained, raucous energy. Originally written for a single percussionist, here it is arranged for the eccentric sounds of the ‘junk band’. Philip Venables, the curator of this event, completes the programme with a new commission. This piece for a quartet of junk players, explores the unique acoustic environment of Kings Place, creating echo and hocketting effects across this immense space. The instruments will be in situ in the Kings Place atrium throughout the festival for you to try out, play with, look at, and read about. Notes by Zubin Kanga

This event is to be repeated on Sunday 12 September

kings place festival’10 www.kingsplace.co.uk

left: In the Smoke

Curated by Philip Venables & Serge Vuille

Following the overwhelming success of the first-ever London A Cappella Festival held at Kings Place in January 2010, this short series of free performances continues to showcase more of the UK’s best a cappella groups. The London A Cappella Festival, curated by the world-famous, five-time Grammy-winning vocal group the Swingle Singers, brings together the UK’s diverse a cappella community, with music ranging from choral and jazz to contemporary and gospel ensembles.

Junk Band

above: Phil Venables

kings place festival’10 www.kingsplace.co.uk

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

Chilingirian Quartet / Millennium Quartet

Chilingirian Quartet Levon Chilingirian violin Ronald Birks violin Susie Mészarós viola Philip De Groote cello

Latin American Classics II

CLASSICAL

David Carpio’s Octet Hall One 2.30pm

Bachianas Brasileiras Hall One 3.45pm

Last Round Hall One 5pm

Alberto Ginastera Quartet No. 1 David Carpio Octet (world premiere)

Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1 Inocente Carreño Quartet No. 2 Heitor Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5

Heitor Villa-Lobos Quartet No. 16 Juan Bautista Plaza Fuga criolla y Fuga romántica Osvaldo Golijov Last Round

Philip De Groote, Valmore Nieves, Melissa Phelps Cellists of the Royal College of Music Sonia Grani soprano Chilingirian Quartet

Chilingirian Quartet Millennium Quartet Enno Senft double bass

Chilingirian String Quartet Millennium Quartet Born in Buenos Aires of a Catalan father and an Italian mother, Alberto Ginastera (1916-83) lived to become unquestionably the most significant figure in Argentinian classical music during the 20th century. Though he eventually moved in a ‘neo-expressionist’ direction, Ginastera was much influenced by Bartók in music of his early maturity. This is well illustrated by the passionate and virtuoso First String Quartet (1948), which was his first significant venture into chamber music after he had made his early reputation with colourful orchestral works. The highly dissonant first movement, the ghostly, muted scherzo and the slow movement whose harmonies are derived from the open strings of the guitar, and the finale’s vigorous play with 5/8 rhythms are all highly characteristic of his music at this period. As we went to press few details were available about the new Octet by David Carpio, who is principal double-bass of the renowned Simón Bolívar Orchestra, other than that the work is scored for 3 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and a quattro (a small Venezuelan guitar), which should make for an unusual and lively sound-texture.

Millennium Quartet Ollantay Velásquez violin Miguel Nieves violin Jesús Pérez viola Valmore Nieves cello

Starting in 1930 Villa-Lobos (1887-1959) composed what is probably his most famous series of works, the nine Bachianas Brasileiras. A lifelong admirer of the music of J S Bach, by this title he meant to suggest a synthesis of Bach’s style – especially his endless melody and elaborate polyphony – with the spirit of Brazilian music in all its melodic and rhythmic diversity, along with Villa-Lobos’s personal blend of polytonality. Bachiana No. 1 was to be performed by a ‘cello orchestra’ of at least eight players, with the central movement, Modinha, being a kind of sweetly melodious, sentimental song which Villa-Lobos thought of as a counterpart to Bach’s arias. The well-loved Bachiana No. 5 is for soprano and eight cellos. In the first movement the soprano spins her soaring melody above pizzicato cellos, and in the passionate central section intones a nocturnal poem by Ruth Valadares Corrêa. The lively, humorous finale is a martelo, a dancesong from Northern Brazil, to a poem invoking the birds of Brazil and their songs. The Venezuelan teacher, conductor and horn-player Inocente Carreño (b. 1919) has written two string quartets displaying a wide range of styles and a melodic gift, founded on Venezuelan folk music, that has also brought him renown as a composer of songs.

left to right: Millennium Quartet, Chilingirian String Quartet

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Villa-Lobos composed his Sixteenth Quartet in Paris in 1955; unflagging in its invention, like many of his works it is infused with Brazilian song and dance character, but sublimated into a sophisticated, mature idiom. The slow movement, with its soulful cello melody, is reminiscent of the Bachianas Brasileiras; the sparkling scherzo is one of his best. Juan Bautista Plaza (1898-1965), noted for his sacred music, was Kapellmeister at Caracas Cathedral but also wrote notable instrumental works. He was a pioneer in Venezuelan music education and musicology who helped his compatriots establish a national style. He composed Fuga criolla for strings in 1931, adding the Fuga romántica in 1950 to make a two-part work, though the two fugues are often performed separately. In a sense they ‘Venezuelanise’ J S Bach just as Villa-Lobos sought to make him into a Brazilian. Osvaldo Golijov is now the most celebrated contemporary Argentine composer of classical music, though his roots are in the Jewish communities of Romania and the Ukraine and he grew up speaking Yiddish. Last Round, originally commissioned by the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, is a sublimated tango fantasy in which two string quartets are scored for an idealised bandoneon (the small accordion-like instrument of which Astor Piazzolla was a virtuoso) and its two movements are a homage to Piazzolla’s fighting spirit and also to Carlos Gardel, whose song ‘My beloved Buenos Aires’ provides the basis of the last movement. Notes by Malcolm Macdonald

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

CONTEMPORARY © Jim Barr

Outer Circle: Bristol 55 Arctic Circle is an extended family of extremely talented individuals from around the world who all share the same musical vision. Its aim is to put on the best events, release the best music or just simply entertain to the best of its ability. Previous Arctic Circle series at Kings Place have featured London-based artists, but now the circle is widening. This series of concerts showcases three of the finest new and emerging talents from Bristol.

Eyebrow Hall Two 4pm Eyebrow is Paul Wiggens and Pete Judge. When not in Eyebrow, Paul has played for the legendary punk-jazz band Blurt and Pete also plays for Get The Blessing (BBC Jazz Award winners 2008). ‘Their haunting sounds trickle down the spine like dripping stalactites. With just one drummer, one trumpet player and a host of expertly controlled effects boxes they create a sound that is both gentle and unsettling’ Morning Star.

Sunday 12 September sees the Arctic Circle concert series team up with Humble Soul to feature some of Manchester’s most exciting and genre defining contemporary musicians.

Rozi Plain Hall Two 2.45pm

François & The Atlas Mountains Hall Two 5.15pm

Rosalind Leyden is the Bristol-based singer-songwriter who records under the name Rozi Plain. Her distinctive voice weaves beautiful, inventive melodies around the sounds of clarinets puffing like steamboats or banjos rippling like bubbling streams and her stage performance is warm and open. Rozi’s stunning 2008 debut album Inside Over Here was hailed by Plan B as ‘unhurried, understated, and ace’, and by The List as ‘gorgeous, original and brimful of character’.

François arrived on the Bristol scene from Bordeaux in autumn 2003. His music is marked by a mix of refreshingly playful and experimental ideas coupled with a natural pop sensibility and gentle bilingual vocals. François plays with band The Atlas Mountains. Their most recent album, Plaine Inondable (Fence) features Gallic chamberpop, inspired by the Seventies African music of Ethiopia and Mali: ‘Piano chords swell, electric guitars gently shimmer, and François’ soft croon ﬂoats throughout – his bilingual songs melding the bitter-sweet yearning of Leonard Cohen with the melodic playfulness of Serge Gainsbourg and Françoise Hardy.’ Folk Radio UK

left to right: Rozi Plain, François, Eyebrow

Curated by Arctic Circle

‘Since emerging last summer, this duo have been spellbinding audiences wherever they play’ Venue, 2010.

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

SPOKEN WORD

Poet in the City: Contemporary Lines Poet in the City is proud to present Contemporary Lines, a series of New Audiences events with the critically acclaimed Faber New Poets, showcasing the work of the seven new talents. Presented by the distinguished poets Jo Shapcott, David Harsent and Maurice Riordan, the Faber New Poets are Joe Dunthorne, Annie Katchinska, Sam Riviere, Fiona Benson, Toby Martinez de las Rivas, Heather Phillipson, and Jack Underwood. With a host of prizes between them, including several Eric Gregory Awards and the Michael Donaghy Poetry Prize, the Faber 7 are sure to deliver a stunning series of readings. Over three intriguing events, the poets will explore important contemporary subjects relating to the different ‘lines’ we use to navigate our lives: Maps, Bodies, and Communications. We use and create maps to understand the world, to locate important things and places, and to identify ourselves. With our bodies, we sense the world, creating pathways as we act and travel. Communications allow us to transmit ideas. We are living in an era where our communications are increasingly complex and our lines intersect to create vast networks, both on the web and in our cultural imagination, leading us to new and unexplored territory.

57 Maps St Pancras Room 3pm With Maurice Riordan, Annie Katchinska, and Sam Riviere

58 Bodies St Pancras Room 4.15pm With Jo Shapcott, Fiona Benson, Jack Underwood, and Joe Dunthorne

59 Communications St Pancras Room 5.30pm (photos in order of listing) Annie Katchinska © Oleg Katchinska Sam Riviere © Alice Lee Joe Dunthorne © Angus Muir

With David Harsent, Heather Phillipson, and Toby Martinez de las Rivas

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

FOLK Curated by Kathryn Tickell

John Kirkpatrick Hall One 7pm

Folkworks – Tradition and Innovation

63 Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell The Askew Sisters Hall One 8.15pm

A series of three concerts celebrating the folk and traditional music of our islands, with some of the country’s best-loved and well-established names, but also introducing newer artists who are making their own special impact and taking the tradition forwards. John Kirkpatrick (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, Musician of the Year 2010) kicks off the evening, followed by talented newcomers Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell, and The Askew Sisters. Last to take the stage are the phenomenal duo Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, in their 15th year of performing together. What an evening! Book early…

John is one of the most prolific figures on the English folk scene with an enviable reputation as an instrumental virtuoso, as well as a leading interpreter of English folk music. His standing in English traditional music has been recognised with the award of Musician of the Year in the 2010 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. He is regarded as England’s leading exponent of ‘squeezebox’ instruments. His remarkable skill with accordion, concertina and melodeon has taken him from folk dancing to experimental rock music and a wide range of international recording collaborations. He is also a notable singer – of traditional songs and of his own inimitable and often humorous compositions.

‘Simply fantastic traditional music – look out, England – the sisters of stomp are heading your way!’ 48

Two young acts making their own distinct imprint. Jonny and Lucy recently won many friends across the country, supporting the Unthanks on their national tour. Their music is a mix of traditional and selfpenned material, described by the Guardian as ‘delicate, thoughtful and sad-edged…. effortless harmonies with their equally delicate guitar, piano and violin work.’ The Askew Sisters’ brand of English folk music is an energetic blend of voice, fiddle and melodeon. They play and sing with an infectious enjoyment, winning them fans wherever they go.

64 Nancy Kerr and James Fagan Hall One 9.30pm One of the most established and respected duos on the folk scene, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan are winners of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Duo and the BBC Radio 2 Horizon Award. Their musicianship and tingling, refreshing on-stage performance is a rare treat. Nancy, with her distinctive singing and exquisite fiddle and viola style, and James, with his powerful singing, dynamic and skilful use of the flat-backed bouzouki and mandolin, enthral their audiences. Proud of their roots, this Northumbrian lass and the lad from Oz, with a twinkle in his eye, have such a finelyhoned act – they never fail to please. 2010 marks the 15th year of this electrifying duo.

from top: Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell, The Askew Sisters opposite: John Kirkpatrick

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

JAZZ

F-IRE presents … The F-IRE Collective has over the last ten years been known for its visionary bands and individuals – Seb Rochford and Polar Bear, Pete Wareham and Acoustic Ladyland, and David Okumu and the Invisible, Ingrid Laubrock, Robert Mitchell, the list goes on... a plethora of maturing stars have come from this fertile London community. F-IRE’s policies of promoting new talent, of sharing knowledge and opportunity, have sustained and grown their creative scene. They have been credited with revitalising UK jazz and inspiring other collectives to form with similar aims throughout the UK and Ireland. Today, F-IRE’s output includes a busy record label, education projects, programming of festivals, even a kick-ass samba group. However this day provides a taster of the warmer and more intimate sounds suited to the perfect acoustics of Hall Two.

65 Tom Arthurs Trio with the Elysian Quartet Hall Two 7.15pm

Tom Arthurs flügelhorn and trumpet Jasper Høiby double bass Stuart Ritchie drums and percussion Emma Smith violin Jennymay Logan violin Vincent Sipprell viola Laura Moody cello The Tom Arthurs Trio features Danish bassist Jasper Høiby (Phronesis, Mark Lockheart) and Scots drummer and percussionist Stuart Ritchie (Julian Arguelles, Colin Steele). They offer their own personal take on the jazz and improvised music worlds with performances all over Europe. The Elysian Quartet (formed in 1999) focus on 20th-century experimental and contemporary music. They are famed for their genre-busting collaborations with the likes of virtuoso beat-boxer Killa Kela, jazz pianist Keith Tippett, and experimental electronic composer Simon Fisher-Turner. Composed during Tom Arthurs’ stint as New Generation Artist for the BBC, and premiered in Manchester’s prestigious Bridgewater Hall in February 2010, this project marks the joining of two of the UK’s most forwardlooking chamber music ensembles. 50

Kit Downes Trio Hall Two 8.30pm

Kit Downes piano Calum Gourlay bass James Maddren drums ‘World class’ Guardian Pianist and composer Kit Downes exploded onto the British jazz scene playing with the band Empirical, taking him through Europe and America (winning the EBU Jazz Award, Jazzwise’s Album of the Year 2008 and the Peter Whittingham Award 2008). He then performed with Troyka, Stan Sulzmann’s Neon, Clark Tracey and James Allsopp’s Golden Age of Steam, going on to win the BBC Jazz Award for Rising Star in 2008, a Yamaha Scholarship in 2009 and two British Jazz Award Nominations. The Trio has recorded live sessions for BBC Jazz on 3 as well as playing at the London Jazz Festival, Cheltenham Jazz Festival and Glasgow Jazz Festival. Their debut album Golden was marked out in Jazzwise’s Album of the Year 2009 list.

Basquiat Strings Hall Two 9.45pm

Ben Davis cello Emma Smith violin Vicky Fifield violin Jennymay Logan viola Richard Pryce double-bass Seb Rochford drummer Inspired by the raucous, rhythmically driving traditional Hungarian string groups of Transylvania, the luxuriously rich Brahms Sextets, and the arrangements of Charlie Mingus, cellist Ben Davis wanted to form a group of players with fully developed classical techniques while being still profoundly influenced by the whole jazz experience. After BBC Jazz Award Winner and Mercury Prize nominee Seb Rochford had performed and recorded with the quintet, Davis invited him to join the line-up. Rochford’s outstanding improv drumming helped to cement the compositions, and their debut album Basquiat Strings (2007) has gained critical acclaim from both the jazz and mainstream music press.

left to right: Tom Arthurs Trio, Kit Downes Trio, Basquiat Strings

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SATURDAY 11 SEPTEMBER

CONTEMPORARY

Twisted Lounge presents …

Born in 2006, Twisted Lounge promotes and supports live musical performances of different genres with established and emerging artists. In 2008 Twisted Lounge became a moveable feast, taking its unique and eclectic brand to venues such as Café OTO and Kings Place, collaborating with a host of different curators and musicians. For the third year in a row Twisted Lounge returns to Kings Place Festival to present three unique and exciting performances.

Breathe curated by John Butcher St Pancras Room 8.45pm John Butcher saxophones John Edwards double bass Eddie Prévost prepared barrel drum, bowed cymbals and chimes Spokes II John Butcher / John Edwards On the Point of a Needle Eddie Prevost Tracking Force John Butcher / John Edwards / Eddie Prévost For tonight’s performance John Butcher teams up with Eddie Prévost and John Edwards. They present a concert which focuses on the concept of ‘musical breathing’ and the physicality of their instruments. As part of the performance Prévost will play a solo on an enormous custom-made drum that he carefully constructed from a wine barrel. For the first time ever the Kings Place audience will hear these unique artists performing in a duo and then in a solo setting before discovering how they finally come together to breathe in unison.

70 Physicality curated by David Toop, Jamie Bissmire and Leon Michener St Pancras Room 10pm This unique soundclash features four distinct radical masters of their craft. Space DJz’s very own Jamie Bissmire works with legendary sound man David Toop, pianist Leon Michener and the refined vocals of E.laine. Hailing from a myriad of different musical backgrounds, they appear at first to possess a juxtaposition of totally opposing styles. However this rare collaboration promises to create a stunning set of air vibrations, where modern classical piano improvisations and beautiful vocals meet hard-edged techno, and rich electronica in a harmonious display of sonic and compositional dexterity.

68 Mezzo-soprano Loré Lixenberg is a performer of spectacular intensity and expressiveness. The warmth, range and agility of her voice impress her audiences, as does as her total absorption in any role. Tonight’s performance is the latest collaboration between Loré and New Music Projects NÖ (Musik Aktuell) directed by Robert Crow. Exploring the depth and breadth of what the human voice can achieve, the project is inspired by an epic tale that embraces music and film animation. from left to right: Loré Lixenberg, John Butcher, David Toop, Jamie Bissmire, Leon Michener

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Loré Lixenberg St Pancras Room 7.30pm

Sunday highlights 11am Gould Piano Trio play Suk and Dvorˇák. A lavishly lyrical programme from Bohemia by the world-class Gould Piano Trio. 12.45pm How Liszt smashed up pianos. Pianist and lecturer Kenneth Hamilton reveals why pianos didn’t always withstand the onslaught of Liszt’s radical new techniques and performs his Fantasy on Bellini’s Norma to demonstrate how it was done! 1.45pm Junk Band play Steve Reich (FREE in the Foyer) 2pm A Cappella Chantage (FREE in the Foyer) 3.45pm Sacconi Quartet and Simon Crawford-Phillips play the Brahms F minor Piano Quintet. Don’t miss one of the great masterpieces of the Romantic repertoire performed by five extraordinary talents. 5.15pm The fabulous Nicolas Meier Trio are rising stars of the jazz scene. They’ll set Hall Two alight with their hypnotic, jazzinfused Turkish, flamenco and world music rhythms. Don’t miss it!

7pm, 8.15pm, 9.30pm Arctic Circle brings you hot new contemporary talent from Manchester in three exciting concerts.

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

Gould Piano Trio

Bohemian Rhapsody Hall One 11am

CLASSICAL

Suk Elegie Op. 23 (‘Under the Impression of Zeyer’s Vysehrad’) Dvorˇák Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op. 65

The Gould Piano Trio is one of the UK’s finest chamber ensembles, boasting an impressive discography, and festival appearances at Edinburgh, Cheltenham, City of London, Bath, Aldeburgh and the BBC Proms. The group have a special affinity with the 19th-century Romantic repertoire, and last year released a set of Brahms’s complete music for piano trio to great acclaim, but they have also been active in commissioning and promoting new music. These two programmes go straight to the heart of the Central European chamber music tradition. The first features the music of two Czech composers, contrasting Josef Suk’s lyrical Elegie with Dvorˇák’s profoundly heartfelt Trio in F minor, written in the wake of his mother’s death. In the second concert Beethoven’s delightful ‘Kakadu’ Variations preface Brahms’s turbulent Trio in C. ‘Alice Neary and Benjamin Frith have developed a deep musical understanding with Lucy Gould in this repertoire… combining a youthful freshness with virtuoso panache as their talents merge into a richly cohesive whole.’ Observer

Variations in a major key Hall One 12.15pm

Beethoven Variations in G on ‘Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu’ Op. 121a Brahms Piano Trio No. 2 in C, Op. 87

Gould Piano Trio Gould Piano Trio The composers in this concert are linked not only through a shared love of Czech folk music – Josef Suk was Dvorˇák’s pupil, and eventually his son-in-law. Suk’s 1902 Elegie was inspired by a cycle of poems about a Czech legend. Although he originally scored for violin, cello, string quartet, harmonium and harp, Suk quickly rearranged the work for the more saleable combination of piano trio. A yearning, heart-on-sleeve theme dominates, with contrast provided by a short but intense section that’s tempestuous in tone, and highly evocative of gypsy music. A snatch of this makes a surprise reappearance towards the end, before a lull and a final reprisal of the main theme. Dvorˇák’s 1883 piano trio echoes the style of his friend Brahms in its dramatic intensity and rhythmic interplay. However, its strong Czech flavour ensures it’s still unmistakably Dvorˇák. Dark in tone, it was composed soon after the death of his mother. The long, frequently tempestuous first movement is dominated by its brooding opening theme, despite the cello offering a calmer second subject. A folky, polkainflected Allegretto grazioso is followed by the most Brahmsian of the movements, a lushly romantic Poco adagio that sets triple and duple meters against each other. Dance-like motives return for the Finale, but in a brooding, dramatic tone that recalls the opening Allegro.

Beethovens ‘Kakadu’ Variations, based on a popular contemporary aria, were probably written around 1803. They were one of Beethoven’s few British-published works, printed by Chappell in 1824. A slow G minor introduction gives way to the chirpy, majorkeyed song theme. The piano alone plays Variation 1, and the three instruments don’t come together again until Variation 4. Contrapuntal imitation is the hallmark of the fifth, before the piano grabs the tune for the sixth, playfully punctuated by the strings. Variation 9 is a pathosridden minor-keyed Adagio. A battle between major and minor ensues during the Presto Variation 10. After the major key conquers, the pace slows to a final Allegretto, also based on the theme. Brahms’s intense Piano Trio, completed in 1882, feels thoroughly symphonic in scale, its rich textures and soaring melodies frequently appearing to strive beyond the confines of their chamber walls. A dramatic Allegro moderato, full of dynamic and rhythmic contrasts, is followed by a tragic, minor-keyed theme and variations. The mood remains dark, and the key minor, for the tensely hurried Scherzo, although its C major trio provides a carefree respite. The exciting Finale, with its surprise modulations of key, and melodies unexpectedly changing tack, builds to a triumphant climactic flourish. Notes by Charlotte Gardner

Gould Piano Trio

Lucy Gould violin Alice Neary cello Benjamin Frith piano

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

FAMILY © OAE

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

Kids

CLASSICAL

Kenneth Hamilton

The World of the Romantic Pianist Scottish concert pianist and lecturer Kenneth Hamilton returns to Kings Place for two fascinating performing lectures on the Romantic piano. Author of the best-selling After the Golden Age: Romantic Pianism and Modern Performance, Hamilton has recently appeared as soloist in Philadelphia for the world premiere of his new edition of Liszt’s Hexameron for piano and orchestra, given a memorable re-creation of Liszt’s 1847 concerts in Constantinople for the Istanbul Festival, and participated in the successful Beethoven Unwrapped series at Kings Place. Expect a lively, informal insight into the Romantic piano world with expert demonstrations.

75 73

Family Events OAE KIDS Workshop Hall Two 11.15am

Come and interact with some of the OAE players and their historic instruments. Bang a drum, shake a maraca, ting a triangle to Handel’s wonderful Water Music. See how a double bass pretends to be a drum and help create a new accompaniment to composer Heinrich Biber’s marching violin. Share the fun with everyone at the following OAE KIDS Concert at 12.30pm. For ages 4-6

(Both events: Maximum of 20 children, with 1 or 2 accompanying adults each) 58

Family Events OAE KIDS Concert: Our favourite things Hall Two 12.30pm Bring your favourite toy – see some of our favourite instruments – hear some of our favourite Baroque music, including pieces by Henry Purcell, Heinrich Biber and George Frideric Handel. Listen out for swinging monkeys, fluttering birds, a marching violin and lots of dancing feet. Enjoy the fruits of the morning’s OAE KIDS workshop as our youngest ever performers share the stage. Get ready to join the fun and songs in our very first concert for young children and their families.

How Sigismond Thalberg invented cocktail music: A Fantasy on Rossini’s Moses St Pancras Room 11.30am Kenneth Hamilton pianist and lecturer The most popular concert piece in the mid19th century wasn’t anything by Chopin, but Sigismond Thalberg’s stunning Fantasy on Rossini’s Moses. When Thalberg first appeared on the scene, even professional musicians had no idea how he achieved his amazing effects; it seemed, they all said, as if he had three hands! But later it was discovered that Thalberg hadn’t actually acquired an extra appendage, he had simply invented what we now know as cocktail-bar piano music. Kenneth Hamilton shows how he did it, and plays Thalberg’s famous Fantasy – disappointingly using only two hands.

76 How Liszt smashed up pianos: A Fantasy on Bellini’s Norma St Pancras Room 12.45pm Kenneth Hamilton pianist and lecturer Thalberg may have had three hands, but not to be outdone, Liszt reputedly had six fingers on each of his. He borrowed quite a few of Thalberg’s piano techniques, and added several more of his own invention to create Romantic keyboard effects that can still astonish today. There was only one problem – the early piano couldn’t cope. Broken instruments littered the stage of Liszt’s recitals. On one occasion he even carried on playing while the piano tuner was simultaneously trying to repair the damage. Performing Liszt’s Fantasy on Bellini’s Norma as an illustration, Kenneth Hamilton demonstrates why the early piano suffered under Liszt’s sometimes excessive, but always imaginative style of playing.

For ages 6 and under

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Free Events!

CONTEMPORARY

Voice Foyer 1pm

Rubbish Music Foyer 1.45pm

Voice is a young, female a cappella trio performing repertoire spanning a range of ages and continents, from the medieval chant of Hildegard of Bingen, to 20th-century European folk songs. Their distinctive sound is driven by individual voices that blend to create beautiful harmonies.

Steve Reich Clapping Music Peter Wiegold Brouhaha Philip Venables New Piece (world premiere)

Winners of the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year 2006, Chantage is one of the capital’s finest and most energetic young chamber choirs, performing an astonishingly diverse array of repertoire, and frequently appearing on TV and radio.

79 Evolution Foyer 3pm A second set from Evolution, who were the 2009 BABS (British Association of Barbershop Singers) National Quartet Champions. We are delighted to welcome them back to Kings Place, following their triumphant performance at the London A Cappella Festival in January.

above: Evolution

kings place festival’10 www.kingsplace.co.uk

CONTEMPORARY Free Events!

A Cappella at Kings Place

Chantage Foyer 2pm

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

Junk Band

A repeat of the Junk Band event on Saturday 11 September

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

above: Phil Venables

kings place festival’10 www.kingsplace.co.uk

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

CLASSICAL

Sacconi Quartet with Simon Crawford-Phillips

‘The festival sensation, the young Sacconi Quartet, completely bowled over a packed audience.The chemistry between these four young players is tangible and magical.’ The Scotsman

Sacconi Quartet Ben Hancox & Hannah Dawson violins Robin Ashwell viola Cara Berridge cello Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

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Rarely is there an opportunity in London to hear three giants of the piano quintet repertoire performed on one occasion. For these three concerts, pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips joins the Sacconi Quartet to bring the great piano quintets of Brahms, Schumann and Dvorˇák to the Kings Place stage. This afternoon of concerts is the first of a planned series in which these musicians will collaborate to perform all of the masterpieces in this genre. The Sacconi Quartet’s innovative programming and exceptional playing mark them out in the British scene today. Their energy and creativity are bringing a new audience to chamber music with their concerts, recordings and outreach work. The Quartet makes a welcome return to Kings Place after their week of groundbreaking concerts, one of the highlights of the opening season. Simon Crawford-Phillips is renowned for his imaginative playing and dynamic musicianship. He is developing a diverse career as soloist, song accompanist, conductor, and pianist in the Kungsbacka Trio.

A Quintet for Clara Hall One 2.30pm

Hard-won Masterpiece Hall One 3.45pm

Dumka and Dancing Hall One 5pm

Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44

Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

Dvorˇák Piano Quintet in A, Op. 81

Sacconi Quartet with Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

Schumann wrote his Piano Quintet for his wife, Clara, during his ‘Chamber Music Year’ of 1842 and it was an immediate success with musicians and audiences. The first movement’s sparkling theme is followed by a gentler, more romantic second subject. After a funeral march, the cheerful Scherzo, based around ascending and descending scales, is unusual for having two contrasting trio sections. Schumann neatly concludes the final movement by combining its main theme with the opening one of the entire work.

This quintet beautifully illustrates Brahms’s lifelong perfectionist streak. Its first incarnation was in 1862, as a string quintet with two cellos. Unsatisfied, Brahms rearranged it as a two-piano duet. Still unsatisfied, in 1864 he re-scored it as a piano quintet. Two tumultuous, passionate outer movements, replete with interwoven melodic lines, are the bookends for a tender, majorkeyed Andante, and an emotionally highly wrought Scherzo.

Dvorˇák’s 1887 quintet is a masterpiece of lyrical Bohemian spirit, its palette of moods ranging from unbounded joy to introspective melancholy. After the dramatic Allegro has whirled to a close, pathos enters with the Dumka, a type of melancholic Ukranian ballad. Well-oiled fingers are required for the merry Scherzo based on a Bohemian dance this time, the furiant. The triumphant rush to the equally light-hearted Finale’s finish is heralded by an augmented pianissimo version of its theme. Notes by Charlotte Gardner

left: Simon Crawford-Phillips right: Sacconi Quartet

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

CONTEMPORARY / CLASSICAL / JAZZ

International Guitar Foundation (IGF) Yet again the International Guitar Foundation brings thrilling music to Kings Place Festival, showcasing the unique versatility of the world’s most popular instrument. The guitar is one of the world’s oldest solo instruments, and it is found in every musical culture. It excels in all musical styles, from heavy metal and rock to jazz, bluegrass, flamenco and classical – and it transcends barriers of age and culture. Celebrating the guitar’s rich heritage, multicultural origins and exciting future, the IGF presents an eclectic preview of its forthcoming London Guitar Festival 2010 (at Kings Place, 27 – 31 October 2010). This concert series features Ireland’s award-winning Stefan Galt, leading young classical guitarist Amanda Cook and rising stars of the vibrant British jazz scene, the Nicolas Meier Trio.

86 Nicolas Meier Trio Hall Two 5.15pm Demi Garcia percussion Paolo Minervini bass Nicolas Meier acoustic guitars

Stefan Galt Hall Two 2.45pm

Amanda Cook Hall Two 4pm

Award-winning Stefan Galt is one of Ireland’s finest young guitarists. His debut solo album Before that I did this is a journey through the heartland of traditional American roots music. With influences from blues, jazz, country and bluegrass, Stefan is following the route of pioneering musicians such as Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel, Bela Fleck and Jerry Reed. His outstanding musicality and jaw-dropping technique never fail to enthral his audience.

One of the leading young classical guitarists of her generation, Amanda has performed and recorded internationally to universal acclaim. Her three solo albums have cemented her reputation as one of the finest players in the UK. She also plays chamber music as a member of the ‘Appassionata’ guitar trio and Tom Kerstens’ G Plus Ensemble. Her programme includes music by John Dowland, Federico Moreno Torroba and William Lovelady.

Swiss guitarist Nicolas Meier is one of the rising stars of a vibrant British jazz scene with his trademark sound of hypnotic, jazzinfused Turkish and world music rhythms. He presents his new trio album Breeze, featuring standards alongside new pieces with flamenco and oriental influences. ‘A seductive balance of strong themes, inventive improvising and dynamic variety’ John Fordham, Guardian.

left to right: Stefan Galt, Amanda Cook, Nicolas Meier

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

Britain’s rich musical life is permeated with Royal Academy of Music graduates, from Sir Henry Wood to Sir Simon Rattle, Joanna MacGregor to Elton John. Every year, talented young musicians from over 50 countries come to study at the Academy, attracted by renowned teachers, and a rich artistic culture that broadens musical horizons and develops professional creativity. Join us for three concerts showcasing the next generation of musical stars. We open with the exquisite sound worlds of Debussy, Satie and Takemitsu. Debussy’s impressionistic Préludes are paired with Satie’s rhythmic miniatures, Descriptions Automatiques, and two of the Japanese Takemitsu’s most accessible works. Next comes a vibrant set from the inter-war period, mixing the comic and bizarre with political insight, interspersed with Stravinsky’s jazz-inspired piano works. Finally, we contrast the fantastical, dreamlike music of Ravel, Bax and Debussy with three richly coloured chamber works for the flute, viola and harp. ‘The Academy exudes a cosmopolitan confidence in tune with the global classical music business’ Guardian, 2009

A Sea of Tonality: Debussy, Satie and Takemitsu St Pancras Room 3pm Performers from the Royal Academy of Music Debussy Préludes, Book I: No. 10, La cathédrale engloutie Satie Trois Descriptions automatiques: Sur un vaisseau Takemitsu Equinox Satie Trois Descriptions automatiques: Sur une lanterne Takemitsu Toward the Sea Satie Trois Descriptions automatiques: Sur un casque Debussy Préludes, Book II: No. 12, Feux d’artifice Satie was one of the most original characters in musical history, his music like the voice of a child, saying outrageous things with complete, honest calm. The core of an astonishing number of future developments in French music can be found in Satie’s seemingly naïve miniatures with their often ludicrous, even nonsensical titles. Satie’s cool detachment however, has an elegant beauty of its own, entirely lacking in nostalgia. Despite its severely restricted scope Satie’s music was an important influence on Debussy – they became friends when they both played the piano for cabaret at Le Chat Noir in Montmartre, Debussy admired Satie’s ‘refined sensibility interpreted by such simple means’, which might well describe the achievements of Debussy’s own maturity, including his piano Préludes. The most original explorations that Debussy made in writing for the piano were in the hushed resonances of pianissimo textures – take the opening of La cathédrale engloutie and indeed, the final page of Feux d’artifice, a piece which, for all its virtuosity and fierce gymnastics, has the detached effect of a vivid dream. Debussy was the 20th-century composer who made the most radical break with the Western tradition and his ‘feel’ for the East found an echo in Takemitsu’s feel for the West. Takemitsu considered Debussy his teacher and the worlds of dream, water, sea, garden, rain and wind which often feature in Takemitsu’s music were prominent in Debussy too, unpredictable, fluctuating forms of nature. ‘My music is bottomless,’ Takemitsu declared, ‘I only have the top – that’s because I’m Japanese.’

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

89 88 Pastiche, politics and all that jazz: Stravinsky, Weill and Eisler St Pancras Room 4.15pm Performers from the Royal Academy of Music Hanns Eisler ‘Über den Selbstmord’ Hanns Eisler ‘Lied einer deutschen Mutter’ Stravinsky Piano-Rag-Music Stravinsky Three Easy Pieces Kurt Weill ‘Je ne t’aime pas’ Hanns Eisler ‘Lied des Händlers’ Stravinsky Ragtime Stravinsky Tango Hanns Eisler ‘Mutter Beimlen’ Kurt Weill ‘Die Moritat von Mackie Messer’ The impact of jazz on European music in the turbulent 1920s and 30s is difficult to overestimate, sharpening as it did the split between traditional and new values as composers embraced contemporary elements such as jazz and cabaret music for inspiration. Both Eisler and Weill turned away from the influences of their respective teachers Schoenberg and Busoni to write in styles combining elements of jazz, cabaret and popular music with astringent instrumentation and an acid tonality. The leftwing stance of both composers led them to work with the German poet, playwright and theatre director Bertold Brecht and Weill’s first major collaboration with Brecht, on Die Dreigroschenoper (‘The Threepenny Opera’) in 1928 was a colossal success, a fusion of popular music with a classical structure which is regarded by many as the embodiment of Weimar Republic satire at its finest. Eisler was even more politically engaged as a composer and his commitment to socialism and his belief that music should be accessible to the proletariat led him to compose political choruses, protest songs, theatre music and film scores, often in a pungent, combative style. That supreme and all-embracing cosmopolitan Igor Stravinsky’s magpie tendencies drew him to take an ironic look at different musical conventions, including jazz. Tango may be a musical joke but the Piano-Rag-Music is a more serious attempt to extend the horizons of the ragtime formula by means of more sophisticated techniques; the cadenza-like interludes – without bar lines – are composed in the improvisatory style of jazz ‘breaks’.

Elegiac Harp St Pancras Room 5.30pm Performers from the Royal Academy of Music Ravel (arr. Kanga) Sonatine Bax Elegiac Trio Debussy Sonata for flute, viola and harp ‘I feel my creative power moving headlong. May it endure, Lord!’ Debussy wrote in August 1915. He was staying near Dieppe in a villa from which he could gaze at ‘the expanse of the sea’, and had recently finished his Sonata for cello and piano and was immersed in the composition of his piano Études and the Sonata for flute, viola and harp. This work, he said, reminded him ‘of a very antique Claude Debussy, he of the Nocturnes, or so it seems to me’. His choice of instruments gives the work a veil of melancholy, despite its incomparable charm and moments of restrained joy. Bax wrote his Elegiac Trio in 1916, the year after Debussy’s Sonata for the same instrumental combination but composed in quite different circumstances. Bax was an Irishman at heart and wrote this Trio in one movement after the Easter Rising and the execution of one of the Irish nationalist leaders, Pádraig Pearse. However, this poignant music is not so much in memory of individuals as an elegy for Romantic Ireland, the evocation of a distant past. Skaila Kanga’s ingenious and sympathetic arrangement of Ravel’s Sonatine for the same combination of instruments as Debussy’s Sonata for flute, viola and harp was first performed in 1994. Notes by Jeremy Hayes 2010

Royal Academy of Music

CLASSICAL

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

Outer Circle: Manchester Curated by Arctic Circle

Arctic Circle is an extended family of extremely talented individuals from around the world who all share the same musical vision. Its aim is to put on the best events, release the best music or just simply entertain to the best of its ability. Previous Arctic Circle series at Kings Place have featured London-based artists, but now the circle is widening. Sunday sees Arctic Circle team up with Manchester’s Humble Soul to take us on a journey from the homespun, delicate, melodic folk of Nancy Elizabeth through the percussion-driven space pop of Homelife to the otherworldly electronic songwriting of Denis Jones.This series of concerts showcases some of Manchester’s most exciting and genre defining contemporary musicians. There is another Arctic Circle concert series on Saturday 11 September, featuring artists from Bristol.

Nancy Elizabeth mixes folk and post-rock influences in her enchanting and dynamic music, featuring piano, guitars, dulcimers, harmonium and other instruments alongside her unique voice. This concert will feature songs from Nancy’s latest album Wrought Iron which has received rave reviews: ‘Brilliant, brilliant record’ The Word ‘This is a sincere and genuine album of songs devoid of contrivance. An artist who should be seen as a beacon for future folkies’ BBC Music ‘A record of subtle beauty… Haunting, ethereal and totally compelling, everything a singersongwriter should be’ Bearded This concert will be a special full-band performance with a choir and brass section.

Homelife Hall One 8.15pm

Denis Jones Hall One 9.30pm

Manchester legend Paddy Steer and longterm collaborator Tony Burnside are Homelife, creating music that is both ethereal yet earthy, with heavy use of acoustic timbres, swarms of coloured percussion, bulbous synths and fresh use of languid Hawaiian guitar. Paddy’s first love was punk, and Tony cites Hendrix as his introduction to the power of music, but Johnny Cash and Gillian Welch’s names come up first when the band discuss current influences, signalling a more mellow acoustic and an emphasis on song writing. © John Corrin

Nancy Elizabeth Hall One 7pm

Denis Jones is a self-taught guitarist and songwriter based in Manchester. He began his musical life as a singer songwriter in the classic UK mould of the likes of John Martyn, and in recent years has developed a show-stopping live performance based around the core of his exceptional and unique guitar-playing style and rich, soulful voice. Using a loop station and all manner of samplers and effects, Denis creates vast, complex orchestrations of beat-box rhythms, multi-layered vocals and other-wordly sounds which veer from subtle heart-wrenching folk and blues to heavy bass-driven electronica.

left to right: Nancy Elizabeth, Homelife, Denis Jones

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

CLASSICAL

The Dante Quartet is now familiar to Kings Place audiences after its stunning Czech Mates week this spring and performance of Ravel’s quartet earlier this year. The Quartet (whose name was chosen to reflect the idea of a great and challenging journey) return to complete a Franco-Belgian cycle with the string quartets of Debussy, Fauré and Franck. Winners of BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award 2009 for their Fauré/Franck recording on Hyperion, the Dantes have gained equally enthusiastic reviews for their ‘powerful, passionate yet completely controlled performance’ of the Debussy. Each of these three composers wrote only one string quartet. Opening with Franck’s radiant D major Quartet, written in the late flowering of age, the evening continues with Debussy’s youthful Quartet and goes into the night with two masterpieces of Fauré’s elusive late style: the second Violin Sonata and the marvellous String Quartet, his swan song. ‘One of the UK’s finest quartets… for sheer refinement, sweetness and unanimity of purpose, these performances strike me as exceptional.’ Financial Times

Dante Quartet Dante Quartet Krysia Osostowicz violin Giles Francis violin Judith Busbridge viola Bernard Gregor-Smith cello

97 Late Fauré Hall Two 9.45pm

Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

Fiery Franck Hall Two 7.15pm

Gabriel Fauré Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano in E minor, Op. 108 String Quartet in E minor, Op. 121

Dante Quartet with Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

César Franck String Quartet in D Dante Quartet The extraordinary blossoming of César Franck’s music in his later years culminated in his last chamber work, the String Quartet of 1889. It is constructed on an ambitious scale, with many of Franck’s trademark ‘cyclic’ links between movements. The first movement is in five sections: a slow introduction based on the strong initial melody, which is to be the main cyclic theme of the work; a minor-key Allegro setting out two contrasting themes; a slow interlude in the form of a fugue on the initial melody; a resumption of the Allegro, completing a sonata scheme with a development and recapitulation; and a slow, subdued coda returning once more to the initial melody. The two central movements are a muted Scherzo of Mendelssohnian lightness, with a central trio in which the cello briefly recalls the cyclic theme, and a rondo-form slow movement of Beethovenian intensity. The finale begins by alternating between a stormy octave figure and echoes of the previous movements, before adopting the cyclic theme as its main subject, and a motif from the first-movement Allegro as a contrasting theme; the principal melody of the slow movement is prominent among the earlier ideas brought back in the passionate coda.

The harlequin colours of Debussy Hall Two 8.30pm Claude Debussy Sonata for cello and piano String Quartet in G minor

Dante Quartet with Simon Crawford-Phillips piano Debussy’s Cello Sonata was composed in 1915, as the first of a projected set of Six Sonatas for various instruments – though he was to write only two more before his death. The Prologue has opening and closing sections balancing declamation and lyricism, around an accelerating central episode. The Serenade evokes the guitar-playing Pierrots and Harlequins in the paintings of Watteau, with a middle section of flickering pizzicato half-light and a subdued reprise. This leads into the urgent Finale, in which slow interludes refer back to the previous movements – though in an understated, elusive fashion characteristic of this subtle piece.

Such ‘cyclic’ cross-references are much more overt in Debussy’s only String Quartet, a glorious early work from 1893 (by which time he was already at work on the opera Pelléas et Mélisande). The opening phrase, with its strong rhythmic profile and distinctive melodic contour, constitutes a motto theme which in various guises crops up throughout the fluent first movement, dominates the scherzo, with its exotic pizzicato colouring, forms the increasingly impassioned melody which rises up in the centre of the slow movement between serene, muted outer sections, and permeates the finale, from its gradually accelerating introduction to its exultant major-key coda.

The second of Fauré’s two violin Sonatas, written in 1916/17, exemplifies the continuous melodic flow of his later music, with Beethovenian dramatic gestures replaced by a subtle play of light and shade, but with climaxes of great intensity. The first movement, in a 9/8 metre disrupted by syncopations, ends in the major key on a flood-tide of piano arpeggios. The Andante has a Bach-like ornamented melody (taken from an abandoned symphony of more than 30 years earlier) over an initially simple chordal accompaniment. The major-key finale becomes in its later stages both more active in its piano textures and more expansive in its melodic line. The String Quartet was Fauré’s last composition, written in 1923/24 in the face of declining health and deafness. His only chamber work without piano, it channels his habitual flowing lines into predominantly contrapuntal textures, in three movements which all begin in minor keys and end in the major. They are a sonata-form Allegro moderato (based on themes from an unfinished violin concerto of the late 1870s), a meditative Andante, and a scherzo-like finale, which unfolds with great spontaneity to make, as Fauré’s biographer Robert Orledge says, an ‘exhilarating finish to a lifetime’s work’. Notes by Anthony Burton

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

BLUES

Spitz Blues After selling out Spitz Blues at the Kings Place Festival 2009, the Spitz is back with a line-up that brings together the best of last year and what will undoubtedly be the best of this year. We introduce you to J D Smith’s Rockabilly slideplaying – and if that doesn’t wake you up, John Crampton returns with his stomping Blues. After missing last year’s Festival, we are delighted that Parkbench will wind up the evening with their psych-ridden, multipurpose blues.

99 John Crampton St Pancras Room 8.45pm

Parkbench St Pancras Room 10pm

‘ …raucous but technically skilled blues mainly based around his flair on national steel (with and without bottleneck) or, on two track banjo and harmonica.’ Blues in London on Kings Place Festival, 2009

‘There is jazz here, and blues, and country, and roots, and nothing that you can pin down to a genre or a style! But it’s all good! Takes you in direction after direction.’ Blues Matters (2008)

Having wowed the Kings Place Festival audience last year, one-man blues explosion John Crampton is back. Self-taught on guitar and harmonica, John creates a big and powerful sound of hard-hitting and danceable uptempo blues and bluegrass. John plays slide and bottleneck on a 1930s National Steel Guitar with fantastic harmonica and thumping stomp box to provide a driving rhythm.

100

After a year and a half in San Francisco, Parkbench are back in town with more ‘darkly sophisticated slabs of lonesomeness’ (Time Out). Be ready for brutal blues incantations with sudden musical u-turns and plenty of wall-of-sound Pink-Floydian improvisations. Frontman Martin Wissenberg is joined by friends – David Villanueva (guitars, bass, Starman); Franck Alba (guitars, Piano Magic) and Jim Kimberly (drums, Bruise).

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

J D Smith St Pancras Room 7.30pm

‘Sounds like an Elvis for the modern era’ The Music Magazine J D Smith is a London-based solo blues punk rockabilly slide player. Smith has rescued rockabilly from the brink and brought this amazing music to a larger audience. With an idea, a guitar and a heap of blues thrown in, J D is hoping to wake people up to the idea that a solo act can be dangerous again.

left to right: John Crampton, J D Smith, Parkbench

kings place festival’10 all tickets £4.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk

EXHIBITIONS

KINGS PLACE GALLERY

20 August – 2 October 2010 Art from Cape Farewell UNFOLD

KINGS PLACE GALLERY T: 020 7520 1485 F: 020 7520 1487 E: kpg@kingsplace.co.uk Opening hours Kings Place Gallery and Bookshop: Monday – Friday, 10am – 6pm Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 5pm Closed Bank Holidays Admission Free 74

above: Chris Wainwright Red Ice Aluminium print 119.3 x 170cm

UNFOLD presents work in a variety of media by leading international artists and other creative individuals who have produced groundbreaking new works and responses that address climate change, primarily through their involvement with two Cape Farewell expeditions to the High Arctic and one to the Peruvian Amazon between 2007 and 2009. Participating artists include Chris Wainwright, David Buckland, Ackroyd & Harvey, Amy Balkin, Claire Twomey, Francesca Galeazzi, Ian McEwan, Michele Noach, Sam Collins, Shiro Takatani, Sunand Prasad and Tracey Rowledge. Organised in collaboration with the University of the Arts, the exhibition tours to the University Gallery, Northumbria University from 8 October – 12 November 2010. Closed Bank Holiday 30 August

20 August – 8 October 2010 Anthony Whishaw RA Images on the Edge of Perception – Large Paintings

POST FESTIVAL LECTURE Winter Landscapes Guest Lecturer: Dr Gail-Nina Anderson Monday 13 September, 6.30pm

Anthony Whishaw’s tree paintings lie somewhere between abstraction and empathy. They are neither country nor climatespecific but are, as he put it, more “a Platonic idea of tree-ness.” Some paintings are abstracted to the point of becoming diagrammatic, though painterly, marks: others are more sculpturally descriptive. Always, however, an elastically shifting space, deep, shallow and what he terms “microspace with little sense of scale” plays its part. His complex meditations upon and representation of Nature culminates in “an image in the process of making itself visible.” Closed Bank Holiday 30 August

From the allegorical imagery of the four seasons to the impeccable snowy landscapes that look so inviting on our Christmas cards, representations of winter can chill and delight, surprise and reassure us. This talk brings together winter imagery from medieval calendars, Dutch landscapes, sentimental Victorian art and startlingly fresh Impressionist works to show how the coldest season finds pictorial form.

above: Anthony Whishaw Lyminge Forest 1991–2 Acrylic on canvas 242 x 301cm

St Pancras Room, Concert Level, Kings Place TICKETS: £6.50 online www.kingsplace.co.uk Box Office: 020 7520 1490

EXHIBITIONS

PANGOLIN LONDON

PANGOLIN LONDON KINGS PLACE Sculpture, Prints & Drawings T: 020 7520 1480 E: gallery@pangolinlondon.com www.pangolinlondon.com Opening hours Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm Mondays by appointment only. Closed Bank Holidays and between exhibitions. Admission Free All works are available for purchase. The gallery is available for corporate hire and private parties, please contact us for further information.

9 September – 24 December William Pye – Sculpture William Pye is a master of manipulating water. His well known water sculptures can be found around the globe and will be exhibited at Kings Place for the first time during Autumn 2010. The natural world is a source of inspiration for many artists, and William Pye’s observations of natural forms, combined with his creative use of geometry, lie at the heart of his sculpture. above: William Pye Swishdish

8 September – 16 October David Bailey – Sculpture & Photographs Pangolin London Festival Opening Hours 10am – 10pm Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday 76

above: David Bailey Shoe Tongue

As one of the world’s most notorious photographers recognized for his iconic images of 60s and 70s legends and his love of women, few know of David Bailey’s passion for Picasso, Pliny The Elder, and his dedication to making his own sculpture. This show is the first ever public exhibition of Bailey’s sculpture and challenges the traditional boundaries between art forms.

left: William Pye Scylla

Free Daily Sculpture Tours 12pm and 6pm Meet in Pangolin London Guided tour of the exhibition on display at Pangolin London and the works located around Kings Place. Maximum number: 30 77

FESTIVAL FOOD & DRINK

Treat yourself to a delicious meal at Kings Place The 2010 Festival brings a huge range of eating options which are fun, family friendly and will not break your bank! The highlight of this year’s festival is our first Farmer’s Market by the canal. The Market will have exciting products available for you to choose from. Open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 7pm. Walk around our canalside stalls and enjoy the last of the summer sunshine.

FESTIVAL FOOD & DRINK

Al fresco eating...

Or drink and dine inside – we offer three options for the Festival

A table out on Rotunda’s terrace is a relaxing spot to enjoy our hearty British cuisine while watching the canal boats glide by. We pride ourselves on always sourcing the freshest seasonal British ingredients. Our farm in Northumberland produces the best lamb and beef, which we passionately cook in Rotunda’s kitchen. The Hog Roast on the terrace is a delicious addition to our al fresco dining. The succulent, carved hog roast served in a fresh, wholemeal bap will whet your appetite to return for more. Evenings by the water are just magical. Cocktails and cold drinks are the highlight – Rotunda Bar’s expert mixologists create fruity concoctions to satiate body and soul.

Green & Fortune Café – for light bites

Rotunda Bar & Restaurant – for quality British food

Festival Café – a hearty buffet on the waterside

Explore our generous selection of wholesome soups, fresh sandwiches and salads, and succulent, hot carvery meats. Succumb to an enticing display of cakes and desserts as an afternoon treat – no need to feel guilty, it’s a special weekend after all!

A fantastic waterside restaurant and bar in which to treat your family and friends. We offer a great selection of British dishes, all very reasonably priced. With special emphasis on British produce, we proudly cook lamb and beef reared on our own farm in Northumberland. Rotunda’s Private Dining Room, also with a canalside view, is ideal for a group of friends or a family gathering, with space for up to 24 guests for lunch or dinner.

Serving hot food and drinks only during the Kings Place Festival period, our café in Battlebridge Room is a relaxed place to enjoy a meal while taking in the view over Battlebridge canal basin. A hot buffet is available here each day.

Green & Fortune Café will be open every day during the Festival until 10pm.

Festival Café opening hours: Thursday & Friday 5pm – 9pm Saturday & Sunday 12 noon – 9pm

Rotunda Bar & Restaurant Festival opening hours: 11am to midnight

To reserve a table in Rotunda Restaurant: enquiries@rotundabarandrestaurant.co.uk T: 020 7014 2840

TICKETS AND TRAVEL

Booking Tickets for all performances £4.50 online Online www.kingsplace.co.uk Secure online booking 24 hours a day.

Hall One Allocated Seating

Hall Two All seating is unreserved

St Pancras Room All seating is unreserved

Phone & in Person 020 7520 1490 Monday – Saturday: 12 – 8pm; Sunday: 12 – 7pm (Closed Bank Holidays)

Post Kings Place Box Office 90, York Way, London N1 9AG

Your Journey We are located 300 metres from King’s Cross & St Pancras Stations

Public Transport Visit www.tfl.gov to help plan your Journey, alternatively call London Travel Information 020 7222 1234.

Parking NCP Car Park – Pancras Road Visit www.ncp.co.uk or call 0845 050 7080 for further details.

Multi buy Offers Book tickets and save money:

3+ events save 10% 6+ events save 15% 10+ events save 20% The same number of tickets must be booked for each event to qualify for the discount.

Opening hours will vary during the Festival

Want to stay informed about what’s on at Kings Place? Visit www.kingsplace.co.uk and sign up for e-updates.

Access Kings Place is fully accessible to those with disabilities and all auditoria offer suitable seating. Please inform us of any access requirements when booking. There is an induction loop at the Box Office to assist those with hearing aids. An infrared system is available in both Hall One and Hall Two. Two types of hearing enhancement are available, headsets for audience members who do not use a hearing aid or neck loops for use with hearing aids switched to the ‘T’ position. Guide Dogs and Hearing Dogs for the deaf can be taken into all areas of Kings Place.

Kings Place: Outstanding Events Venue We have a passion for art, music & food. Kings Place combines outstanding meeting & events spaces with concert halls, art galleries, Rotunda Bar & Restaurant, Green & Fortune Café all in an inspiring & versatile setting just a short stroll from Kings Cross Station. A range of flexible spaces to accommodate up to 420 people • Waterside restaurant & event facilities • Dedicated Event Management Team • High-specification conference room • Innovative food with a key emphasis on quality, taste and presentation 90 York Way London N1 9AG event bookings: 020 7014 2838 events@kingsplaceevents.co.uk www.kingsplace.co.uk

www.kingsplace.co.uk box office 020 7520 1490 all tickets £4.50 online

Design / production: Spring House | Print: St Ives

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capital … the acoustics of Hall One at Kings Place is one of the best I have ever encountered anywhere in the world.

Martino Tirimo 2010

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www.kingsplace.co.uk

Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9AG