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What’s On Festivals & Series Songlines EncountersLondon Piano FestivalFuture Folk: Contemporary Sounds from Traditional RootsMemory Unwrapped

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Composer-in-Focus: Steve Martland

One of our major focuses this year is on the British composer Steve Martland, one of the most vibrant, unconventional and dynamic voices in British music, until his untimely death in 2013.

Born in Liverpool, he studied composition in Holland with Louis Andriessen. His music is raw, physical, rhythmic and uncompromising, yet his vision extended far beyond sound alone. Steve cared deeply about the role of the composer in society: he was outspoken on issues of access, diversity and challenging the establishment. He also devoted himself to education, leading composition projects in schools across the UK and abroad. Collaboration was central to his practice, often working with musicians outside the classical world and regularly performing with his own ensemble, The Steve Martland Band.

Throughout this series of five performances, we invite the The Colin Currie Group – Carice Singers – Hebrides Ensemble – Riot Ensemble and Artists in Residence, GBSR Duo to tell his story through sound.

This series is generously supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation.

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Memory Unwrapped

Remembering the past to reimagine the future

Memory Unwrapped is the 18th in the award-winning series from Kings Place. Throughout 2026, the series will invite audiences on a journey with artists delving into the past to reimagine the future, uncovering how memory and music can spark transformation and inspire change.

Featuring Artists in residence Renell Shaw, GBSR Duo and Olivia Chaney, Composer in Focus Steve Martland, and a host of exciting performers new and familiar, Memory Unwrapped will explore the extraordinary power of music to stir innermost recollections, to preserve history and to honour the unforgettable – from vibrant stories rooted in the venue’s home of King’s Cross to tributes to the greats of spoken word and song.

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Songlines Encounters

Songlines Encounters returns to Kings Place for its 15th anniversary, this time as an extended series of events across 2026. Dedicated to showcasing music from around the world, Songlines Encounters highlights cultural richness across continents and creates space for extraordinary international artists to be heard.

The series opens with British-Burundian singer Muco, reimagining medieval folk songs and poetry. Legendary Malian ngoni lute player Bassekou Kouyaté and his wife, revered griot singer Amy Sacko, follow. Winner of Best Group at the Songlines Music Awards 2024, Mostar Sevdah Reunion represent traditional music from Bosnia and Herzegovinia. Soon after, French duo Cocanha draw upon polyphonic songs from the traditional Occitan repertoire. Armenian tar player, singer and composer Miqayel Voskanyan brings his jazz-influenced version of the plucked tar to the UK for the very first time, and completing the spring season, Kora master Suntou Susso is joined by his all-Gambian ensemble, the Gambian Superstars, for their debut UK performance.

The autumn season brings Malian Samba Touré, whose music is characterized by hypnotic desert guitar grooves, Hajda Banda, a Belarusian-Polish band specialising in traditional dances and songs from eastern Poland’s Podlasie region, Irish fiddle master Martin Hayes performing with cellist Kate Ellis, and Japanese big-band Minyo Crusaders, who rework historic Japanese folk songs (min’yō) with Latin, African, Caribbean and Asian rhythms.

As ever, the festival is proudly presented in partnership with one of the world’s leading global music magazines, Songlines and will feature more exciting additions to come.

The curation of Songlines Encounters is supported by the 1900 Building 1900bldg.com

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Irish Folk Nights

Kings Place proudly presents Irish Folk Nights, a brand new series celebrating the vibrant energy and evolving sound of Ireland’s contemporary folk scene. Bringing together some of the most exciting established and up-and-coming artists from across the island, these evenings offer a rare chance for London audiences to encounter the next generation of Irish folk artists in an intimate, acoustic setting.

From heartfelt ballads to contemporary folk sets, each performance showcases the depth and diversity of today’s Irish folk tradition. Audiences can expect a mix of traditional tunes reimagined, original songwriting steeped in story, and the warmth and wit that defines Ireland’s musical spirit.

More than a concert series, Irish Folk Nights aims to build creative bridges between artists and audiences, offering a platform for emerging and recognised talent to share their music, make connections, and grow their profiles within London’s thriving folk community. Whether you are a lifelong folk fan or discovering Irish tradition for the first time, these evenings promise a joyful celebration of shared heritage, talent and fresh sounds from Ireland today!

Join us at Kings Place as we bring the sounds of modern Ireland to the heart of London!

Stay tuned for more shows to be announced throughout the year.

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Artist in Residence: Renell Shaw

Renell Shaw

Ivor Novello Award–winning composer, songwriter and producer Renell Shaw explores cultural identity and heritage throughout his 2026 Memory Unwrapped residency. From an electrifying opening-weekend collaboration with electronic duo 2Fox to the live premieres of The Windrush Suite and Echo in the Bones, culminating in the world premiere of Remember Us Tomorrow, Shaw invites audiences on a journey that honours roots, reclaims stories and reimagines the future.

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Brodsky Quartet at Kings Place

The Brodsky Quartet’s first performance at Kings Place took place during our opening festival in 2008. Even before that moment, however, they played an important role in the project, contributing to acoustic testing and artist consultation while the building was still in development. From those early conversations, the Quartet has been a central artistic voice in shaping our programme. Highlights have included their complete Shostakovich cycle, the much-loved Schubert Hour series, their tenure as Artistic Associates, and a wealth of collaborations that have inspired our artistic direction. For our Memory Unwrapped series, we are delighted to welcome back this iconic British quartet to revisit some of the most treasured programmes from their years at Kings Place.

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Artist in Residence: Olivia Chaney

Grammy-nominated songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Olivia Chaney explores tradition, evolution and transformation through her 2026 Memory Unwrapped residency. She opens the year with intimate sets as part of our festival-style launch, A Night to Remember, before unveiling the debut of her new electric folk-rock band, News from Nowhere. In June, Chaney presents a major new project celebrating her lifelong love of Henry Purcell’s music, followed by a programme of original compositions in the autumn. Her residency offers a vivid portrait of an artist in evolution, reshaping history through voice, storytelling and sound.

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Edition Records and Kings Place presents

Edition Records and Kings Place present a thrilling new series, as part of Edition’s associateship with Kings Place, featuring the exceptional talent from Edition’s acclaimed artist roster. This partnership embodies a spirit of deep collaboration and bold creativity – creating live experiences that push the boundaries of jazz and showcasing the creativity, skill, and vision of some of the genre’s most exciting artists.

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Rock ‘n’ Roll Politics

Political commentator and broadcaster, Steve Richards, presents the latest behind-the-scenes guide to the epic dramas and the characters shaping seismic events. How have we got here? What’s going to happen next? Are there any answers to these questions? Come along and find out.

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IGF Guitar Summit

Live the ultimate guitar experience!

IGF Guitar Summit is back at Kings Place for three days of concerts, workshops, and events featuring some of the world’s greatest guitarists!

The festival kicks off on Friday, 17th July, with the return of the spectacular Pedro Navarro Duo, with support from Manuel Alonso.

Hailing from Castellón, Valencia, Pedro Navarro is one of the brightest young stars on the flamenco firmament. Described as one of the strongest voices of modern flamenco, he mixes traditional flamenco with a wide variety of other styles, creating a style that is distinctive, exciting, and very much his own.

Manuel Alonso, who will open the concert with a 30-minute set, is a brilliant flamenco guitarist based in Barcelona, Spain. Internationally recognised for his distinctive artistic voice and refined musicianship, this marks his IGF debut.

On Saturday, 18th July, we present an all-day event, La Leona, women and the guitar. Vick Bain, founder of The F-List for Women, will present a free talk on Women’s Careers in Music: Research and Representation, in which she will explore the structural, cultural and socio-economic factors shaping women guitarists’ career pathways. The session will examine how inequality operates across individual careers, sector practices and wider society.

In the evening, we present a shared concert featuring two outstanding artists: Welsh-Ghanaian singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer Adjua Mensah and Rihab Azar, Syrian oud player, composer and finalist of the Aga Khan Music Award 2025.

On Sunday, 19th July, our Young Artist Platform presents 2025-2026 awardee guitarist Maryna Vosmirova, who will be joined by fellow guitarist Kacper Dworniczak. Maryna hails from Ukraine and Kacper from Poland; both are students at the Royal Academy of Music in London and have performed across the UK and Europe. Their concert will include two world premieres of brand new solo IGF guitar commissions, including Night Sky in a Stone, commissioned for the Young Artist Platform by Freya Waley-Cohen, plus a new work from Martha-Maria Mitu. Maryna and Kacper will perform both as soloists and as a duo.

Come and feast your ears on the world’s most popular and versatile instrument – the guitar!

Tom Kerstens, Artistic Director

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King's Cross Summer Sounds

Summer Sounds is a free annual festival that takes place in King’s Cross’s Coal Drops Yard in August.

With an emphasis on local talent and businesses, Summer Sounds is the place to celebrate the community spirit at the heart of King’s Cross. Audiences gather in to enjoy electrifying performances from a diverse lineup of artists and musicians from all walks of life, all programmed by local partners.

Amidst a stellar lineup curated by organisations including Voices Radio, Lafayette, Queer Britain, and the Aga Khan Centre, Kings Place presents a specially programmed performance from the renowned Kings Place Jazz Orchestra.

See full festival information here .

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Kings Place Jazz Orchestra

Kings Place Jazz Orchestra (KPJO) is a handpicked, project-based ensemble, made up of the UK’s finest jazz and big band musicians, alongside rising-star young artists. Kings Place Jazz Orchestra is more than a new resident ensemble – it’s a bold statement of artistic ambition.

The ensemble hopes to serve as an inspiration for young musicians, opening its doors throughout the year to experience the ensemble in the surroundings of Kings Place, Hall One.

Committed to celebrating the depth of jazz tradition while pushing the boundaries of contemporary large ensemble writing, KPJO is set to become a cornerstone of Kings Place’s vibrant musical landscape.

Founded in 2025 by Callum Au (Director), Hannah Hutton (Producer), and Sam McShane (Artistic Director, Kings Place), the Orchestra was created to bring the powerful, immersive sound of the big band to the heart of a contemporary arts centre.

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Kirckman at Kings Place

The Kirckman Concert Society was founded by Geraint Jones and Calton Younger in 1963 to promote young artists of exceptional talent.

The Society’s panel of distinguished musicians has developed a reputation for ‘spotting’ tomorrow’s stars in the making. The Society offers its young musicians a London platform as well as the possibility of concerts further afield; and while these artists are not yet household names, concert-goers have a unique opportunity to hear for themselves the exciting promise which these artists offer.

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I Fagiolini at Kings Place

Resident at Kings Place for its 40th anniversary in 2026, I Fagiolini announces three projects, the first in December 2025 and two in 2026, with another special event to be announced later. Three composer portraits of music the group illuminates with its trademark energy and engaged solo-voice delivery. Come and immerse yourself in great works by Charpentier, Purcell and Victoria performed one-to-a-part with I Fagiolini’s ‘wonderfully expressive approach’ creating ‘a little bit of magic’ (Planet Hugill).

In an age of AI, I Fagiolini is a hand-painted original. The group is internationally renowned for its genuinely innovative productions, which are as much online as live, including world premiere recordings, collaborative cross-art projects, education and short (multi award-winning) music videos with Polyphonic Films. Founder director Robert Hollingworth has spent much of his life considering how audiences receive music, instead of just how performers want to deliver it: engagement with audiences both live and on film has always been at the heart of the ensemble’s work.

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Artist in Residence: GBSR Duo

Winners of the 2025 RPS Young Artist Award, GBSR Duo (George Barton, percussion, and Siwan Rhys, piano) explore the boundaries of sound, memory and time across Memory Unwrapped. Their residency spans Morton Feldman’s meditative For Philip Guston, immersive new commissions from Beatrice Dillon and Sarah Davachi, and a tribute to Steve Martland as part of the Kings Place Composer-in-Focus series. Using cutting-edge spatial audio technology, they invite audiences to experience music as shifting memory, where resonance, space and recollection merge.

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Black Lives in Music presents Classically Black

Now in its third year, Classically Black is more than a festival. It is a growing cultural movement redefining what classical music looks and sounds like today.

Rooted in Black and global majority experiences, the programme celebrates and elevates Black and global majority musicians and composers in classical music, past and present. Through performance, discussion, youth engagement and new talent, Classically Black offers a fresh perspective on the genre, one grounded in excellence, pride and cultural truth.

Curated by Black Lives in Music, Classically Black 2026 returns to Kings Place, London on Saturday 10 October 2026 for a powerful day of music, conversation and celebration.

Full day and half day tickets are available.

Join the movement. Be part of the change.

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Future Folk: Contemporary Sounds from Traditional Roots

Future Folk: Contemporary Sounds from Traditional Roots

Kings Place is proud to present the return of Future Folk, our series showcasing emerging artists creating and reshaping music inspired by folk traditions in new, progressive ways for contemporary audiences. Across five events from autumn 2026 to Spring 2027, we put these emerging musicians centre stage in a time when breakthrough acts can easily become lost in the current economic realities of folk music programming.

The series offers an exciting opportunity to discover new music. We open in October with a double billing with punk and alt country-inspired multi-instrumentalist Elspeth Anne and banjo player and instrument builder Jacken Elswyth, known for collaborations with Shovel Dance Collective. In November, award-winning Anglo-Scottish duo Janice Burns & Jon Doran lead us into the festive season with a project focused on seasonal traditions, through tight vocal harmonies, mandolin, bouzouki and guitar.

January brings multi-instrumentalist, composer and film-maker Tamsin Elliott, playing music with roots in the traditional dance tunes of the British Isles alongside her trio – Sid Goldsmith on cittern and concertina and Rowan Elliott on fiddle. In February, passionate ambassador for English folk tradition Cohen Braithwaite-Kilcoyne combines his powerful, commanding voice and masterful skill on the Anglo concertina and melodeon. Closing the series in March, Arthur Coates & Kerran Cotterell deliver foot-stomping tunes with rich harmonies, cheek and charm on percussion, fiddle, guitar, and vocals.

In partnership with Alan Bearman Music.

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London Piano Festival

Welcome to the 2026 London Piano Festival at Kings Place!

The 2026 London Piano Festival returns for its 11th edition with four days of exceptional performances, conversations and masterclasses, bringing together some of today’s most celebrated pianists alongside exciting new Festival artists.

Co-Artistic Directors Katya Apekisheva and Charles Owen are joined by an outstanding line-up including Peter Donohoe, Gülsin Onay, Keelan Carew, Junyan Chen, Tom Poster, Martin James Bartlett, Bill Laurance and Kathryn Stott. The Festival opens with music by George Benjamin and Olivier Messiaen, features an intimate Mozart Gala for four hands and two pianos, a family Halloween Piano Party for younger audiences, and a special masterclass led by Kathryn Stott. The Festival concludes with a solo performance from acclaimed pianist and composer Bill Laurance.

From classical masterworks to jazz, family events and behind-the-scenes insights, the London Piano Festival celebrates the piano in all its variety, bringing world-class artists and audiences together at Kings Place.

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EFG London Jazz Festival

Every November, the EFG London Jazz Festival takes over the city, with a diverse line-up showcasing global stars and emerging talent.
As the biggest pan-city music festival in Europe, it brings over 100k audience members together at 300+ live shows at venues across the city, from basement jazz bars to the world’s finest concert halls, including Kings Place.

The festival is the highlight of the jazz calendar in the UK, with a long history of programming a wide variety of talent from around the world.

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