Stories

The History of LSO St Luke's: Frequently Asked Questions

Delve into the history of LSO St Luke’s, our venue on Old Street housed in a deconsecrated Hawksmoor Church.

Six Questions with Eric Lu: Beethoven Edition

We caught up with Eric Lu about what initially attracted him to the piano in his early years and the significance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s music, ahead of his concert debut with the Orchestra next week.

Five things you should know about Kurt Weill's Lady in the Dark (and the Symphonic Nocturne)

Have you heard of it before? Read on to find out more about the piece and the story behind it.

Basically Beethoven: Four questions for Ilker Arcayürek

Five Reasons to Love Janáček's Jenůfa

There’s lots to love about Jenůfa, the opera that propelled Czech composer Leoš Janáček to fame, from its dramatic plot and multi-dimensional characters, to the colourful, folk-inspired music.

Theories of Forgetting: Hollie Harding

On Saturday 14 January at LSO St Luke’s, composer, curator and LSO Jerwood Composer+ participant Hollie Harding presents an evening of music inspired by time and memory including the world premiere of her brand new piece Theories of Forgetting. Here Hollie explains her approach to curating the evening, and how each piece connects itself back to the impermanent yet enduring nature of memory over time.

Joel Thompson on To Awaken the Sleeper: 'Baldwin asks us to build a new world'

Joel Thompson is an Atlanta-based composer, artist and educator best-known in the US for his 2015 choral work Seven Last Words of the Unarmed, that sets the final words of seven Black men who were killed by police or authority figures. On 6 November at the Barbican, London, we perform another of his pieces in the UK for the first time, To Awaken the Sleeper, written for orchestra and narrator. Joel introduced this new piece, and the inspiration behind it, to us.

André J Thomas on marking Black History Month with the LSO

Announced as LSO Associate Artist in May 2022, André J Thomas is a world-leading expert on choral and American gospel music. He has already brought his passion for gospel to two concerts with the LSO (March 2020 and May 2022), and this Autumn he does it all again, paired with a second concert of orchestral works from contemporary US composers Joel Thompson, Carlos Simon and Wynton Marsalis.

Read on to find out more about each concert.

Tangram's Naomi Woo: What, where and why is silent music?

On 28 and 29 August at LSO St Luke’s, Tangram present Our Silence is Your Silence, a concert exploring the boundaries between sound and silence in music on the 70th anniversary of John Cage’s pioneering silent piece, 4’33”. In preparation for the performance, Naomi Woo reflects on many facets of silent music, including Cage and beyond.

Introducing Our Soundhub Associates (Part 2)

On Wednesday 15 June four LSO Soundhub Associates present a composer-curated evening of music at LSO St Luke’s. We recently caught up with Arthur Keegan-Bole and Marilyn Herman to find out more about their creations, compositional style, experiences working with the LSO and what’s coming up next for them. Read on to find out more.

A Lifelong Love of the Trumpet: Håkan Hardenberger

Interview by James Drury

'It is vital we protect them'. LSO viola Steve Doman on keeping bees

Friday 20 May is World Bee Day, a worldwide celebration of bees and beekeepers. It aims to raise awareness of how bees contribute to food security, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, the mitigation of climate change and the conservation of the environment.