NONCLAXXICAL

The London Symphony Orchestra and pioneering new music promoter/label Nonclassical celebrate the most adventurous sounds in orchestral music today. Transforming Hackney Empire into a club, they spotlight thirteen visionary composers defining the here, now and future of classical music, including sonic polymath Mica Levi, acclaimed electronic artist Beatrice Dillon, and the ever-inventive producer/DJ Matthew Herbert, who spins special contemporary classical-meets-dance music sets throughout the evening.

Expect live electronics, surprising instruments in the form of bubblewrap and drum machine, and a host of world premieres.

Beatrice Dillon (PAN) – acclaimed composer, producer and sound artist – premieres her first orchestral work. Known for her widely-celebrated album Workaround (Album of the Year by The Wire Magazine 2020), Dillon translates her distinct vocabulary of synthetic sound and generative systems into the acoustic realm of the orchestra.

Further music on the night ventures into far sonic horizons, spanning the spectrum of diverse voices genre-bending and redefining both electronic and classical worlds: Mica Levi’s iconic Love (from the soundtrack for Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin) envelops listeners in a bear hug of oozy synths and sustained notes; Sasha Scott’s Inertia and Gabriel Prokofiev’s Dark Lights converge intense, exhilarating live electronics with orchestral texture; Tonia Ko’s Breath, Contained III explores the delicate, nuanced sonics of bubble wrap; and Tansy Davies’ The Beginning of the World spins a 16th-century dance tune into a bold new contemporary work.

The night builds up to the first ever Concerto for Drum Machine and Orchestra, celebrating the iconic Roland 808 drum machine – heard on tracks by artists including Run-DMC, Afrika Bambaataa and Talking Heads – with movements by Josephine Stephenson, Laurence Osborn, Max de Wardener and Beni Giles. And revered producer/DJ Matthew Herbert ends the night with his signature eclectic DJ set.

Beatrice Dillon will premiere her work as a composer, rather than performer – she will not be performing on the night.

Matthew Herbert’s DJ sets will be between orchestral sets and end the  night.

Nonclassical is grateful for the support of the Cockayne Foundation.
Header image © Nick Rutter