TAPESTRIES
Premieres from George Lewis and Alex Paxton
Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
Inspired by large Bruegel and Ody Saben paintings, Writing the Future composer Alex Paxton’s kaleidoscopic new piece Candyfolk Space-Drum is a busy and sensually colourful tapestry that depicts many different aspects of our society. Written to include the sound from a series of improvisatory workshops with local school children, the piece is a riot of colour in sound.
Alongside this, the premiere of a new commission, The Deformation of Mastery, from American composer, performer, and scholar of experimental music, George Lewis. The title of the piece comes from African American literary theorist Houston A. Baker Jr.'s influential book, Modernism and the Harlem Renaissance.
The concert will be followed by a free post-concert talk in the Queen Elizabeth Hall Foyer, where you can hear behind-the-scenes insights from a selection of artists.
Alex Paxton Candyfolk Space-Drum (London Sinfonietta commission, world premiere)
George Lewis Emergent for flute and electronics (2014)
George Lewis The Deformation of Mastery (London Sinfonietta / Southbank Centre co-commission, world premiere)
Alex Paxton trombone
Claire Chase flute
Martin France jazz drum kit
Children's Chorus from The Belham Primary School, Southwark
Tim Anderson conductor
Aga Serugo-Lugo children's choir director
Senem Pirler live electronics (flute solo)
Jonathan Evans sound engineer
Tony Simpson lighting
London Sinfonietta
Find out more about the Southbank Centre's Covid safety measures
Behind the scenes: Alex Paxton's creative process
Ahead of the concert, Alex revealed some pictures of his art on Twitter. From coloured sand to googly eyes, this will all gear up towards his new kaleidoscopic piece in March.
Alex Paxton is a system-crasher of genre, who merges jamming video game soundtracks, musical overtures, virtuoso chamber music and jazz improv into an unmistakable style...highly complex, sophisticated and extremely entertaining, virtuoso ad absurdum Neue Zeitschrift fur Musik
Some creative figures really do “contain multitudes” as the poet Walt Whitman put it. They are so protean, it’s hard to get a handle on them. George Lewis is one of them. The Telegraph
[George Lewis'] music proved to be a microscopically detailed collage of intriguing textures and timbres, superbly woven together The Times
Produced by the London Sinfonietta
This concert is supported by The Marchus Trust and the Southbank Centre.
The London Sinfonietta's Writing the Future programme is generously supported by Michael and Patricia McLaren-Turner, The Boltini Trust, Jerwood Arts, PRS for Music Foundation and The Stanley Thomas Johnson Music Foundation.
With the friendly support of the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation
George Lewis' commission is kindly supported by Nicholas Hodgson.
The work of the London Sinfonietta is supported by the John Ellerman Foundation.
The London Sinfonietta is a member of ACE's National Portfolio of Organisations and is grateful for the ongoing support it receives.
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£22, £15
