The British Museum Hosts First Major Music Festival

Taking place from 16th - 29th April 2018, 'Europe and the world: a symphony of cultures' will explore Europe's interactions with the world and will strive to allow a dialogue between works of classical and contemporary music and the British Museum's extraordinary objects from all over the world. In doing so the festival will contribute to a better understanding of both the role of the encyclopaedic museum and the evolving relationship between Europe and the World.

Over two weeks the festival will feature seventeen different performances, some accompanied by panel discussions. Programmed by Artistic Director Daniel Kühnel, Director of the Hamburg Symphony, the programming follows on from a series of performative music festivals and panel discussions that took place in major museums in Jerusalem and Dresden.

The festival includes works by European composers, some of them musical pioneers of the twentieth century, whose challenging approach draws attention to ways in which the cultures of Europe have interacted with the cultures of the world. It also places musical performances in gallery environments that invite visitors to perceive synergies between cultures, across centuries, creating living encounters and echoing encounters of the past.

Works by composers including Ligeti, Berio, Stockhausen, Liszt, Messiaen, Strauss, Bartók, and Nono, will be featured alongside performances devoted to historic musical traditions from different parts of the world, including medieval temple music from China, classical music from India, Spanish colonial and flamenco music, Spiritual Japanese music from the 7th century and Byzantine choral music.

Performers include the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble für Intuitive Musik Weimar, Accademia del Piacere, Zhang Jun and his Kunqu Ensemble, Kaushiki Charkraborty and Ensemble, and Reigakusha Ensemble Tokyo.

As part of the festival, the historic Reading Room will be used for special performances. Audiences will be able to experience remarkable musical performances within this atmospheric space, including the closing concert of the festival, given by the Arditti Quartet, and repeat performances over both festival weekends of Ligeti's Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes. This is a unique opportunity for visitors to experience the Reading Room whilst longer term plans for its use are being developed.

The festival will provide a huge variety of musical experiences across the Museum's galleries, featuring bold and challenging concerts which invite audiences to consider the collections in a new light. Performances will see different art forms juxtaposed with their surroundings, such as an evening of Japanese orchestral music from the 7th century - which was first heard at the Imperial Court in Kyoto and follows strict ceremonial rules - among the imposing stone sculptures of Ancient Egypt. Panel discussions will explore the role of museums in complex political times, continuing themes initiated in an international symposium held in Dresden in September 2017.

The British Museum is uniquely placed to host this festival. As a Museum of world cultures, where the whole of human history can be explored under one roof, it enables visitors to experience encounters between one culture and another, and to explore contemporary questions within a historical context.

In collaboration with the British Museum's festival 'Europe and the World: a symphony of cultures', BBC Radio 3 will bring its audiences three major programmes featuring content from the festival; Music Matters, Music Planet and In Tune. Hearing from performers, composers and historians, Music Matters will report from the festival highlighting significant objects from Indian, African and Asian cultures which show concepts that radically influenced and changed European music. Music Planet will broadcast a session with the ensemble Reigakusha who perform traditional Gagakum and will also record Moroccan singer/performer Aïcha Redouane from the festival for transmission on 4th May. Flagship drivetime show, In Tune, will be featuring performers from the festival including, on 23rd April, Romanian vocal ensemble Corul Madrigal.

The festival is generously supported by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Hartwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum said:

'Europe and the world hopes to encourage listening - to others, to ourselves and to the great symphony of cultures represented by the British Museum. With the generous support of the German Foreign Office, these performances will look at the role of Europe, and its relationship with the world. The universality of music reveals connections between cultures across the globe and allows us to explore our shared humanity through the British Museum's collection. This programming is a new departure for the Museum. As we think about the longer-term uses of the site at Bloomsbury, we can use music to find new ways to explore the spaces that our visitors see each day.'

Andreas Görgen, Director-General for Culture and Communication, German Foreign Office, said:

'The festival is part of the German Foreign Office's engagement to deepen the British-German cultural cooperation and to foster greater cooperation among our countries, institutions and partners abroad. In a global political landscape, it is important to facilitate access to culture and to champion European cooperation through museums as diplomats of the 21st century such as the British Museum and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD).'

Daniel Kühnel, Artistic Director of the festival said

The world collections of the British Museum provide extraordinary opportunities for musical performance. Here the material inheritance of the world's cultures is stored and deciphered, and we are invited to interpret the ways that regions and peoples assert their identities - an endless and urgent task. Here we can use music and performance to tell stories, explore new ideas in a historic setting and explore encounters between cultures. This festival continues the work done in Jerusalem and Dresden exploring paths towards a European identity shaped by a new openness to the world at large.'

Alan Davey, Controller BBC Radio 3, BBC Proms, BBC Orchestras and Choirs said:

'At BBC Radio 3 we've always believed that helping people to engage with music and culture from the all over the world and at different historical moments is part of our public service mission. Therefore we're delighted to be sharing with our millions of listeners, some of the world class performances and debates from the British Museum's Europe and the world: a symphony of cultures festival.'

Organised by the British Museum and the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and supported by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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