Top Tips for Time

Feature

We find out what the artists and presenters of Time Unwrapped would choose to go and hear themselves.

Cathie Boyd, artistic director of Sonica Festival, brings brain-teasing installations and audio-visual premieres to Time Unwrapped (25 Apr).

‘Stimmung from Theatre of Voices is one of my series highlights – 74 minutes composed of 108 pitches with 12 different tones for each female singer and 24 for each male singer. Stockhausen certainly pushes the boundaries! It’s incredibly calming. I first heard it over 10 years ago, just after I had the incredible opportunity to direct Stockhausen’s widows, who were a complete dream to work with.’

TIME-LINE – 28 FEB

Peter Millican, Executive Chair, Kings Place Music Foundation, was responsible for the building of Kings Place, and created the ‘Unwrapped’ series brand.

‘Being asked to select just one concert from this amazing series is an impossible task so I closed my eyes and spun a dice. The dice landed on Thomas Gould’s Time-Line, a happy choice. Thom is just the most wonderfully imaginative violinist who has brought joy to Kings Place ever since we opened.’

GENERATIONS – 17 MAR

Kerry Andrew, composer & vocalist in Juice Ensemble, among others, runs a singing workshop for the special COMA anniversary day, Playing the Pulse, entitled Time is a tree (23 Sep).

‘I’m a big fan of Eliza and Martin Carthy, having only seen them live for the first time last year. They have a beautiful familial rapport and I’m sure their billing with Tim & Rhona Dalling will be a corker!’

50 YEARS OF MOOG – 14 APR

Max Baillie, who plays violin and viola in ZRI, will present a new project to accompany Chaplin’s early films, Chaplin in the Jazz Age (8 Apr).

‘One of the fascinating things about the music of Bach is its chameleonic potential – his pieces have been translated by countless generations and into such an incredible variety of styles and mediums… and still sound like Bach. As a self-confessed Bach addict, I’m choosing Homage to Switched-On Bach: 50 Years of Moog. I’d love to hear this music on analog synths!’

SONICA FESTIVAL – 20 – 21 APR

Lisa Illean is a young Australian composer whose new work on the theme of time will be performed by the Explore Ensemble in their concert featuring the music of Gérard Grisey, Messiaen and Romitelli (Vortex Temporum 30 Sep).

‘I was first introduced to Sonica through intriguing works by composer Justė Janulytė and audio-visual artist Kathy Hinde. I anticipate that this year’s festival, which comes to Kings Place as part of the Time Unwrapped series, should be equally imaginative and thought-provoking.’

EARLY AND LATE – 29 APR

Nicholas Collon, conductor of Aurora Orchestra, will conduct the Viennese New Year’s Eve concert featuring Imogen Cooper, and lead the festivities for Aurora’s special countdown Lock-In later that evening (31 Dec).

‘I think the programme with the Chiaroscuro Quartet, Early and Late, looks alluring. Two of my favourite quartets by Beethoven and Schubert, played on gut strings and classical bows. I hugely admire what this wonderful quartet do – such integrity and joy in their playing. Unmissable!’

IN PLACE – 15 JUN

James Poke, director of Icebreaker, will perform in Louis Andriessen’s timetricking De snelheid (5 May).

‘Among many exciting concerts I’m keen to catch, top of my list must be this project In Place with the wonderful singer Melanie Pappenheim, performing new songs by Colin Riley, focusing on time and place, sounds and nature, and text and dialect. It’s going to be an amazingly resonant and evocative evening.’

FOUR SEASONS – 20 MAY

Yulianna Avdeeva, award-winning Russian pianist, presents Inheritance, a programme exploring the relationship between JS Bach and Chopin (16 Feb).

‘I feel very much intrigued by the Four Seasons programme presented by such a wonderful musician as Lawrence Power with his new ensemble, Collegium. Piazzolla, Brahms, Schubert, Milhaud and Copland – indeed, a very unusual combination, which promises an exciting journey between continents and musical traditions!’

BEFORE LIFE AND AFTER – 2 NOV

Iestyn Davies, countertenor, appears in Aurora’s celebration of the music of Nico Muhly, Old Bones (23 Nov).

‘Everybody should see Roddy Williams sing at least once in their lifetime; for me he’s a real singer’s singer. He manages to transfix the audience with his physically still performances, drawing your attention to his face and ultimately the song texts; it’s an enviable skill. This recital of settings of Hardy poems by various composers will showcase his extraordinary talents as a recitalist alongside the consummate pianist Iain Burnside.’

HARRISON’S CLOCKS – 14 NOV

Thomas Gould, violinist, presents an intriguing programme for violin and electronics, Time-Line (28 Feb). He has picked a sequence formed around Birtwistle’s Harrison’s Clocks, itself a celebration of clock maker John Harrison.

‘One concert that I wouldn’t want to miss is Alasdair Beatson’s solo piano recital, Harrison’s Clocks. Alasdair has such a brilliant programming mind, and this evening will include works by three of his favourite composers (Schumann, Faur. and Ravel) alongside major 20th-century solo piano works by Ligeti, Kurt.g and Birtwistle – it should prove a fascinating series of juxtapositions.’