The London Philharmonic at St John’s Waterloo

The London Philharmonic Orchestra kicks off the new year with a four-concert series of chamber music concerts at St John’s Waterloo church. 

Bringing audiences closer to the music outside of a concert hall setting, the repertoire focuses on works by living composers, and incorporates arrangements of the likes of Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder for surprising instrument combinations, as well as showcasing innovative contemporary pieces that involve elements of audience participation.

Elena Dubinets, Artistic Director of London Philharmonic Orchestra, says of the upcoming series: “St John’s Waterloo creates an atmosphere where smaller chamber works can have the greatest of effects, with audience and orchestra sharing the musical experience more closely than in a traditional concert hall.”

For the debut season the historic Grade II* listed church will be the venue for the following London Philharmonic Chamber Concerts:

John Luther Adams’s songbirdsongs

WED 17 JAN AT 6:30PM
Based on Adams’s own observations and studies of actual bird songs which he scored for various ensembles of piccolos and ocarinas. Rather than having a fixed score, each musician performs their part from the composer’s instructions, but with the unique spontaneity of birds interacting with one another in nature.

Jazz Roots Soul Branches: From Duke Ellington to Stevie Wonder 

WED 7 FEB AT 6:30PM
A programme of pop and jazz music including songs by Duke Ellington arranged by David Schiff for clarinet and string quartet, Simon Bainbridge’s tribute to Miles Davis, For Miles, Carl Davis’s arrangements of George Gershwin classics for clarinet and strings, plus two funk soul songs arranged for four bassoons: Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody and Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.

An Imagination Shared 

TUE 12 MAR AT 6:30PM
Audience participation is the central element of this concert with music by Alex Ho, Ryan Carter and Ligeti. The evening begins with Ho’s piece, Breathe and Draw (for sinfonietta, two conductors and audience participation) which encourages the audience to draw breath in response to the music, followed by Carter’s Concerto Molto Grosso (for audience and orchestra) which puts the audience’s mobile phones centre-stage as soloists. The unique participatory evening closes with 100 metronomes being set for Ligeti’s iconic Poème symphonique for 100 metronomes; a piece that is different every time it is performed.

Streetwise Opera’s Re:Discover festival 

WED 22 MAY  
The final concert in the series is part of Streetwise Opera’s Re:Discover festival, celebrating the works of composers of African and Caribbean heritage. It includes two works by the LPO’s new Composer-in-Residence, Tania León: her String Quartet No. 2, and Altwood Songs for soprano and piano.