Your Supporter News / Spring 2018
INSIDER
Welcome
Welcome to your supporter magazine, Southbank Centre Insider. I am delighted to be this issue’s guest editor and to thank you for your loyal support. Next month, I step down as Artistic Director at Southbank Centre after 12 fantastic years. It has been the most stimulating and enjoyable time, and I’ve enjoyed meeting so many of you over the years. Like you, I believe art has the power to change society for the better and WOW – Women of the World festival is an extraordinary example of this. Find out inside how it’s been a force for positive change and how you can help WOW continue to thrive. Our 2018/19 Classical Season looks at the future of what classical music can be and who it is for. Read on for a glimpse at the new music across the programme, and to find out how your valuable support can help us continue to invite world-class artists to Southbank Centre. Warmest wishes,
Jude Kelly CBE Artistic Director
2 Spring 2018
Insider Updates It’s been another action-packed six months at Southbank Centre. Here are some of the ways your generous support has made a difference.
A brutal beauty remade
January marked the beginning of Hayward Gallery’s 50th anniversary year, and the reopening of this iconic Brutalist building after its extensive two-year refurbishment. The Guardian called it ‘a brutal beauty remade’ and The Sunday Times said ‘the Hayward has had a glorious rebirth.’ Thanks to Arts Council England, Heritage Lottery Fund and over 50,000 people supporting our Let The Light In campaign, Hayward Gallery can continue to present its programme of world-class exhibitions every year. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this historic project.
International Day of the Girl
For the sixth year running, you have helped us welcome 180 secondary school girls (aged 11–18) to celebrate International Day of the Girl with speed mentoring on the London Eye followed by a day of workshops led by inspiring female leaders.
Being A Man returns
The schools day was one of the many highlights of this year’s Being A Man festival, welcoming 50 young men from across London and outside the capital. Your continued support makes its possible to provide opportunities for speedmentoring with representatives from a range of industries, giving young men a vital space for conversations about issues including masculinity and identity.
Endangered languages
London Literature Festival featured many of the most anticipated literary events of the year including in-conversations with Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tom Hanks and Philip Pullman. During the festival, the National Poetry Library (resident here at Southbank Centre) also launched the Endangered Poetry Project to shine a light on poetry from languages perilously close to extinction.
The sound of the future To celebrate the reopening of Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room following a two year refurbishment, we spoke with five musicians and composers about their concerts in these iconic venues.
Since Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room opened in 1967, they’ve been a space for cutting-edge sounds, and many established composers and musicians trace their careers to early performances here. The buildings reopened in April with concerts commemorating some special moments in their history. It isn’t just the greatest hits, though: Director of Music Gillian Moore is bringing plenty of fresh sounds to the halls in 2018/19. She comments: ‘We want to celebrate the fact that Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room have always been about the future.’ 4 The sound of the future
From April, you can hear a fantastic selection of new music by established and hotly tipped composers, performed by expert interpreters. We asked some of the music-makers about the experience of creating brand new works here.
‘We want to celebrate the fact that Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room have always been about the future.’
I accept a commission only if I feel that the framework and the specifications given by the commissioning party fit into my compositional plans and my musical preferences. But then the difficulties start: the musical reality on paper is full of technical details, and the compositional process is always complex and excruciating. After the piece is finished, I feel free again, in particular since I have the luck of being performed by a number of fantastic artists and orchestras whom I can trust. Composer Philip Venables’ latest work The Gender Agenda turns Queen Elizabeth Hall into a game show and the audience into contestants. He has had several previous premieres at Southbank Centre, including Illusions in 2017. Illusions was incredibly exciting because it was my Royal Festival Hall debut, and it is such an explicitly sexual and political piece that I was quite nervous about how people would respond. It was met with screams of laughter and cheers throughout, so I was delighted! I hope music in the future won’t be perpetually scared of what its future might be; that narrative in classical music is self-fulfilling. The future will be great! The Gender Agenda is performed by the London Sinfonietta on 12 April.
The Philharmonia Orchestra performs Le chant des enfants des étoiles on 15 April.
New York-based composer Tyondai Braxton came to Queen Elizabeth Hall in 2012 with his band and the London Sinfonietta, to perform a live version of his 2009 album Central Market. He returns with TELEKINESIS, a new work for orchestra, electronics and choir. The show with London Sinfonietta was an incredible experience. The group I was touring with and the orchestra gelled very quickly. TELEKINESIS is the longest piece with the largest amount of forces I’ve ever written for. In the age of streaming, discardable art and instant gratification, I hope that in the future there will still be a concerted effort from cultural institutions to focus on the art of listening and letting art and music reveal their deeper selves.
Composer Unsuk Chin’s Southbank Centre premieres include Miroirs des temps (1999) and Cantatrix Sopranica (2005). This season, the European premiere of her work Le chant des enfants des étoiles (The Song of the Children of the Stars) is performed by orchestra, mixed choir, children’s choir and organ.
The BBC Concert Orchestra performs the world premiere of TELEKINESIS on 18 April.
‘I hope that in the future we will still focus on the art of listening’ Classical Music 5
‘The lead-up to a first performance is always thrilling’
Percussionist Colin Currie has performed numerous premieres of new music at Southbank Centre, by composers from Louis Andriessen to Steve Reich. However many times a work is performed thereafter, it will be in some way marked and remembered for its first ever performance. These occasions are often a major emotional rollercoaster. Before a premiere, I try to tackle the technical challenges as soon as the music is available. I ask myself how to leave an enduring impression were anybody to hear the work in question but once. Much is now discussed about access to music: streaming, downloads, internet. But music is a live art, and there will never be a better format for it than a concert. Colin Currie performs the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s Intrada for Piano and Percussion on 19 April.
‘Music is a live art, and there will never be a better format for it than a concert’
One of the earliest public performances of Charlotte Bray’s music was at Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room, the saxophone quartet Throw Back in 2008. She premieres a new work this season. The lead-up to a first performance is always thrilling and nerve-racking in equal measure. Often the piece grows from conversations with the musicians. I wrote Throw Back for some fellow students at the RCM. It was wonderful to have a piece programmed in such a prestigious hall at this point in my career. I had the idea for [Mid-Oceaned] when I was travelling east by sea and crossed the international date line. I began composing on the first day, the 18th of April, writing ideas for the first movement. At midnight, the day was reset. How would it play out for a second time? The London Sinfonietta performs the world premiere of [Mid-Oceaned] on 16 May.
Love music? Help Southbank Centre continue to work with world-class artists DONATE TODAY or call 020 7921 0801. Thank you 6 The sound of the future
He took me out every Saturday night
here Capture the moment. Name a seat at Southbank Centre. To name a seat or for more information, visit southbankcentre.co.uk/nameaseat, call 020 7921 0801 or email nameaseat@southbankcentre.co.uk
WOW Wonders WOW – Women of the World festival has travelled the world, bringing together women and girls and encouraging them to make changes both big and small. Here’s just some of the ways in which WOW has inspired women of all ages, as told by WOW founder and Southbank Centre Artistic Director, Jude Kelly CBE.
Women’s rights
Political engagement
Building communities
Following dreams
Nimco Ali and Leila Hussein first launched Daughters of Eve, their anti-FGM programme at WOW. It now advises governments worldwide.
Through our Giving Testimony sessions – where women share their experiences of rape in their own words – and panels on domestic abuse and violence, we support girls and women in recognising that remaining silent simply reinforces notions of personal shame and blame that instead need to be firmly placed at the feet of the perpetrators. The outcome of these sessions has been amazing, with school programmes being launched, YouTube channels coming into being and self help forums being established allowing girls and women to own their experiences, while not being defined by them.
Musical equality
We formed the WOW Orchestra – the only all female symphony orchestra in the world – as part of a campaign to show the music community that we need conductors, composers and players to be 50% women. Audiences are almost immune to the gendered imagery of an all-male or largely male orchestra but startled and suddenly fully conscious of the reality of discrimination when they see it reversed.
8 WOW Wonders
The Women’s Equality Party was formed by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Meyer as a direct response to WOW’s influence and now has a membership of over 65,000.
Sana Mir is the captain of the Pakistan cricket team and the first Pakistani woman to play in 100 one-day international matches. In the mid90s, when women’s cricket was introduced, all the players received death threats and Sana and the young women she leads are very clear that they are forging a difficult pathway for other girls to follow. She came to WOW Karachi, then London, and inspired a group of young Muslim basketball players from WOW Bradford to continue their struggle with family and community to have full permission to pursue their ambitions.
What’s next?
WOW’s next project is to build an online ‘WOW College’ in order to reach millions of girls and women, thirsty for knowledge and connection. One of the major ambitions of the college is the creation of a major year-round, globally accessible WOW online presence. Live events are irreplaceable and essential, but followup, continuity of dialogue and the realities of access for most means that a global digital platform is essential.
Angela Davis © Alice Boagey
Inspired by WOW’s impact around the world? Support WOW today and help these conversations continue DONATE TODAY or call 020 7921 0801. Thank you
Diary: a Hayward Gallery curator Hayward Gallery Assistant Curator Katie Guggenheim explains what happens in the days before a big exhibition. Andreas Gursky, the UK’s first major retrospective of the German photographer, takes place from 25 January to 22 April.
Thursday 4 January
Monday 8 January
They use a crane to lower the huge, heavy, climate-controlled crates onto the terrace outside the upper galleries. The works are landed on wheeled wooden platforms so that they can be moved into the galleries.
Wednesday 10 January
I have a 7am start today; the shipping company has travelled overnight from Dusseldorf with the artworks. After arriving at the Hayward Gallery loading bay, technicians are unloading the crates and they are being secured with chains ready to be craned into the building.
Friday 5 January
The smallest artworks are positioned on a big table so that the conservator can check them thoroughly for any scratches under very bright lights, to confirm their perfect condition for the exhibition. There are very strict handling instructions for these enormous works: for example, they can’t be rotated or twisted.
Andreas Gursky arrives to begin installing. He has been working on the layout using a smallscale model of the galleries.This is always a really exciting moment for everyone in the team, and he’s really pleased with the way the work looks in the galleries. Guided by Andreas Gursky and Ralph Rugoff, technicians move the works around in the gallery to find the perfect position. The artworks look stunning in the gallery’s new natural light.
‘Gursky is one of the most interesting artists of our time. He has created images of the world we live in that are unprecedented in their complexity and insight ... And he makes pictures on a scale that works perfectly in the Hayward’s voluminous exhibition spaces.’ Ralph Rugoff, Hayward Gallery Director 10 My Diary
Due to their size, a crane is used to move artworks onto the gallery terrace
Andreas Gursky considers the layout and makes final adjustments
The artworks are moved into their final positions and hung
The new natural light in the gallery adds the final touches to the show
Help Hayward Gallery in its 50th year. You can help Hayward Gallery continue to present extraordinary shows by the world’s most influential artists DONATE TODAY or call 020 7921 0801. Thank you. © Katie Guggenheim
My Diary 11
If you would like to make a donation or want to talk to us about your support of Southbank Centre, please contact Rebecca Macdonald on 020 7921 0801 or email supportus@ southbankcentre.co.uk Image credits: Page 3 International Day of the Girl © Belinda Lawley Page 5 Philip Venables © Harald Hoffmann Unsuk Chin © Boosey&Hawkes/ Priska Ketterer Luzern Page 6 Colin Currie © Marco Borggreve Charlotte Bray © Nicholas Dawkes
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