Off the back of their rebranding this summer, Sinfonia Smith Square have announced an Autumn Season that sits comfortably in line with their new ambitious and innovative aims as an organisation. As a beacon for the future of classical music, they are set on demonstrating the importance of classical music for all ages while supporting emerging artists, and will give audiences the opportunity to experience this in several new ways.
Encapsulating the power of their own recent transformation, a particular highlight of the programme is Sinfonia Smith Square’s Rush Hour Concert series. These hour-long concerts offer commuters the chance to enjoy classical music at an affordable price, with tickets priced at just £2 on the door.
This October, Rush Hour #1: Anthems will celebrate music’s ability to move and unite us with a programme featuring Jesse Montgomery and Beethoven; embodying the success that music has had in bridging monumental boundaries and inspiring revolution throughout history and beyond.
As part of the venue’s innovative #ConcertLab series, audiences are invited to immerse themselves in The Orchestral Forest, an event that combines the beauty of classical music with forest recordings, lighting design and movement to explore humanity’s complex relationship with trees. In amongst an ‘exploded’ orchestra, concertgoers will be free to walk between instruments, experience the soundscape and reflect on humanity’s relationship with nature and the potential for an alternative future.
This experience-led event advocates for re-wilding and underlines the venue’s dedication to becoming carbon zero in the coming years, alongside breaking classical music’s traditional programming barriers.
This November, Sinfonia Smith Square will be tapping into the heartfelt attachment each of us have to a certain piece of music, as they present Stories – a concert event that sees their 34 musicians present the pieces of music that have shaped their lives. Showcasing works that have ignited their involvement in the orchestral world, each performance becomes a window into the hearts and minds of these talented musicians as they share moments from childhood memories, to lost loves, to triumphant victories.
Also continuing into the Autumn months is their well-loved Thursday Lunchtime Concert series, offering Londoners a chance to escape the chaos and connect with classical music in the middle of their working day.
With a performance by Ryan Wigglesworth and ensembles from the Royal Academy of Music, to organ recitals and vocal performances, audiences can experience fresh interpretations of renowned music from the likes of Beethoven and Shostakovich, filling the concert hall in the early hours of the afternoon.
In December, their legendary Christmas Festival returns with a sparkling catalogue of events, kicking off with A Pembroke Christmas from Anna Lapwood MBE and The Choirs of Pembroke College. Audiences are invited to embrace the festivities throughout the month with further concerts such as Christmas with Eric Whitacre and the Eric Whitacre Singers, and wonderful family concert, The Snowman and The Snowdog.
Expect vocal, choral and instrumental virtuosity as Polyphony & the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment join forces under the direction of Stephen Layton for a very special concert, presenting Bach’s great retelling of the nativity story.
In a particular highlight of the Christmas season, the 7th of December will see Tom Morris OBE (Breaking the Waves, Dr Semmelweis, War Horse) direct a fresh and innovative version of Handel’s Messiah. This dramatised, in-the-round performance by the exciting young company Wild Arts received rave reviews during its sellout 2023 tour and will be brought to life at Sinfonia Smith Square this winter.
Venue: Sinfonia Smith Square Smith Square Hall, London W1P 3HA
About Sinfonia Smith Square
A beacon for the future of classical music, Sinfonia Smith Square is the coming together of two much-loved organisations: Southbank Sinfonia and St John’s Smith Square. Every year, Sinfonia Smith Square’s Fellowship programme welcomes 34 talented graduate musicians to form an orchestra.
Through world-class collaborations, bold programming, and educational leadership projects, the programme intensifies their professional development and advances their musical careers.
Since its formation in 2002, it now has over 650 alumni, who have gone on to become leaders in the classical music world. Smith Square Hall has been welcoming musicians and music lovers to its renowned acoustics since 1969. A Grade I listed Baroque masterpiece in the heart of Westminster, it champions emerging musicians, attracts world-class artists, and embeds the Fellowship programme at its heart. From lunchtime recitals, Baroque festivals, late night jazz, to activities for families, this orchestra-led venue brings the joy of music to ever- wider audiences.
Over the next few years, the organisation will be undertaking a restoration that will create and improve welcoming and accessible spaces for audiences, world-class artists, performers, and its Fellowship orchestra.
You may also enjoy Lumen’s expansive site specific light and sound exhibition – eclipse by Nonotak.
