Artistic Curator Andre de Ridder Announces Visionary Programme for Spitalfields Music Festival 2017

André de Ridder, one of the most influential and daring conductors working across genre boundaries in music today, guest curates Spitalfields Music Festival this December. Now in its 41st year, the east London festival enters an exciting new chapter, with a reinvigorated vision for 2017 that reflects its location at the heart of one of London's most vibrant areas. With André at the helm, this year's festival is packed with extraordinary International Artists and visionary collaborations, celebrating classical music in its widest sense. Drawing on the festival's core founding values, Spitalfields Music Festival 2017 will bring together artists, audiences and communities to experience outstanding early music interpretations alongside ground-breaking contemporary work in intimate and inspiring locations.

Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday 18 September at 10am. For booking and more information visit www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk/.

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Exceptional artists from a range of musical styles including Bengali folk, rap, classical, soul and jazz reinterpret Schumann's Dichterliebe inside 16 historic Huguenot Houses of Spitalfields.

• Alongside authentic performances of Monteverdi's Eighth Book of Madrigals, a stellar line-up of ensembles and soloists perform modern premieres and re-interpretations inspired by the Renaissance master and composed by Josephine Stephenson, featured composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir and Qasim Naqvi.

• An exhibition of new art work by Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner explores the links between post-punk band Fugazi and classical masters Schumann and Monteverdi.

• Classical collides with techno, experimental and electronic as André de Ridder's pioneering s t a r g a z e collective perform a reimagining of Daniel Brandt's Eternal Something and premieres by Nik Colk Void and Qasim Naqvi.

• Spitalfields Music partners with Classic Album Sundays to explore Recomposed By Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons as Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy speaks with composer Max Richter and conductor André de Ridder followed by vinyl playback of the influential album.

• Three incredible solo musicians Veli Kujala, James McVinnie and Aart Strootman explore counterpoint across four centuries in three strikingly different solo performances.

• London Contemporary Orchestra performs the London premiere of featured composer Anna Thorvaldsottir's In The Light of Air featuring a breathtaking light installation.

• The award-winning Musical Rumpus brings to life the multi-sensory world of Fogonogo in this opera for babies and toddlers.

• BBC Radio 3's Sara Mohr-Pietsch gives behind the scenes insight in a series of extended conversations with festival artists in Spitalfields Music's new podcast series.

André de Ridder introduces Spitalfields Music 2017:

'With this year's festival we have ambitiously aimed at making each event, each evening a festival in its own right. No programme will be presented by just one ensemble or soloist, but by a gathering of different artists and line-ups, exploring musical worlds and ideas in a myriad ways.

Creating a dialogue between older masters and contemporary composers and performers, our major projects House of Monteverdi and Schumann Street are more than just pure representations of iconic works; they build bridges between different musical genres and styles, and into the 21st century. Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner's installation There will be two wars reflects some of the themes explored in these large-scale events in relation to the work and ethos of the seminal post-hardcore band Fugazi.

We welcome as our guest and featured composer the internationally acclaimed Anna Thorvaldsdottir and shine a light on young French-British composer Josephine Stephenson. We present new works by composers best known as members of cult bands Factory Floor (Nik Colk Void), Dawn of Midi (Qasim Naqui) and Brandt Brauer Frick (Daniel Brandt), exposing and supporting their own independent creative output. We also collaborate with young creative voices in Tower Hamlets through Platform (Electric Counterpoint) and Schumann Street Reimagined to re-invigorate the relevance of this seminal music. I invite you on this boundless musical journey of discovery and exploration throughout Spitalfields Music Festival 2017.'

André de Ridder is the Artistic Director of Musica nova Helsinki and founder of the ground-breaking ensemble s t a r g a z e (whose recent projects include the BBC David Bowie Prom). He has given premieres of works by Bryce Dessner, Kaija Saariaho, Donnacha Dennehy, Mica Levi, Wolfgang Rihm and Nico Muhly, amongst many others. He is a regular at such festivals as Edinburgh International Festival, Sydney Festival and Holland Festival and conducts such orchestras as New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, BBC Symphony, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Orchestre de Paris and the Concertgebouw Orchestra. With s t a r g a z e, his appearances include Ruhrtriennale with Owen Pallett, Sacrum Profanum Festival with These New Puritans, Holland's Rewire Festival, Paris Philharmonie, and the ensemble's own festival at Volksbühne-Am-Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. His discography includes Max Richter's The Four Seasons Recomposed, works by Bryce Dessner and Jonny Greenwood, and Africa Express Presents: In C Mali, a recording he produced of Terry Riley's In C with Malian and western artists including Brian Eno and Damon Albarn.

House of Monteverdi

Shoreditch Church
Saturday 2 December | 5pm

Celebrating Monteverdi's 450th anniversary, a stellar line-up of artists contrast authentic performances of the Renaissance master's Eighth Book of Madrigals with ground-breaking modern works, premieres and re-interpretations.

Taking place over several hours this extraordinary marathon includes world premieres by French-British composer Josephine Stephenson, London premieres from featured composer Icelandic Anna Thorvaldsdottir and a UK premiere from American composer Qasim Naqvi.

Artists will include David Bates: La Nuova Musica, Liam Byrne, The Hermes Experiment, Ben Johnson, Katherine Manley, Mayah Kadish, Gavin Kibble, s t a r g a z e, Tom Williams: The Erebus Ensemble and Presenter: Sara Mohr-Pietsch.

Generously supported by Geoffrey Collens, the RVW Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation and Spitalfields Music New Music Commission Fund

Schumann Street
Huguenot Houses of Spitalfields
Saturday 9 & Sunday 10 December | 5pm & 7.30pm

16 songs. 16 rooms. 1,000 journeys.

Schumann Street is an ambitious staging and reinterpretation of Schumann's iconic song cycle: Dichterliebe. Taking place inside the stunning Huguenot Houses of Spitalfields, each of the 16 songs in Schumann's cycle will be performed by a different artist drawn from a wide range of stylistic backgrounds including Bengali folk, rap, classical, soul and jazz.

Visitors will create their own path around Spitalfields through this immersive song-cycle installation and experience intimate performances close-up inside these atmospheric historic homes. This is house music in its original form.

The exceptional line-up of artists includes Bryan Benner, Sam Beste, Liam Byrne, Uri Caine, Mara Carlyle, Rahel Debebe-Desselegne, Anne Denholm, Abimaro, Lisa Hannigan, Topi Lehtipuu, Katherine Manley, Phil Minton, James McVinnie, Robert Murray, Alex Reeve, Shapla Salique, Saied Silbak, Aart Strootman, Heloise Werner, Apollo 47 and more.

Generously supported by Spitalfields Music Keyholders Circle and Cockayne Grants for the Arts.

Schumann Street: Reimagined
Rich Mix
Friday 8 December | 2pm

With help from composer John Barber and artists from Schumann Street, Year 4 pupils from Osmani and Shapla primary schools have trodden the well-worn path of Robert Schumann and created their own song-cycle inspired by Dichterliebe. The children will perform these new musical re-imaginings alongside exceptional artists from the Schumann Street installation.

Generously supported by the Mary Kinross Charitable Trust and Spitalfields Music's Christopher Vaughan Legacy Fund.

East End Speed Histories: Tales Less Told

Mystery Location
Sunday 3 December | 2 & 4pm

East End Speed Histories is a series of theatrical snapshots revealing the best kept secrets of London's colourful East End. Comprising short tales from actors, historians and authors, this will be an unpredictable adventure through history. This special iteration will take place in a mystery location not usually open to the public.

East End Speed Histories is created by East End local Alan Gibey who, along with Steve Wells, reinvented the history walk with their popular Backpassages of Spitalfields tours which ran for over a decade. Fed up with the abundance of predictable Jack the Ripper walks in their area, they used street theatre, props and stand-up comedy to bring the lesser known stories of this atmospheric area of London to life.

Classic Album Sundays presents
Recomposed by Max Richter:
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons
Shoreditch Church
Monday 4 December | 7pm

In 2012, Max Richter released a record which brought contemporary classical and electronic hybrid genres into the mainstream: Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons.

Revisiting how this album was created and discussing its legacy, Classic Album Sundays' founder and BBC broadcaster Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy speaks with composer Max Richter and conductor of the album André de Ridder. Following the discussion, there will be an uninterrupted vinyl playback of the album on the Classic Album Sundays' audiophile hi-fi.

Founded by music producer, label owner, radio host and journalist, Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy, Classic Album Sundays (CAS) has become the world's most popular record club. CAS allows listeners to fully immerse themselves in an album by exploring the context and the story behind the music before experiencing a full replay on vinyl. Starting in London in 2010, CAS sessions have now been held all over the world.

Musical Rumpus: Fogonogo
Rich Mix

Monday 4 & Wednesday 6 December | 11am & 1.30pm
Ages 0 - 2 ½

The award-winning Musical Rumpus brings to life the multi-sensory world of Fogonogo in this opera specially created for babies and toddlers by Sam Glazer, Zoë Palmer and Sophia Lovell-Smith. Characters Mica and Feldspar delight in a series of playful experiments in this interactive story set to the enticing soundscape of Fogonogo, performed live by two singers, a cellist and a percussionist.

Musical Rumpus is an opera series designed to create early experiences of music and adventure for babies and toddlers. Taking celebrated baroque operas and re-imagining their stories and music specifically for the youngest of ears, the series gives children the opportunity to explore sounds, instruments and objects in a specially designed, multi-sensory, hour-long performance. The project has been developed with music leaders Zoë Palmer and Sam Glazer and was born out of previous research which showed that exposure to live arts supported very young children's cognitive and social growth, and also encouraged parent and child bonding and further engagement with the arts. Previous productions have included Catch A Sea Star, Run, Rindle Rill, Lyrebird and A Fairy Queen in the Forest.

Generously supported by Youth Music and the Kirby Laing Foundation.

Hyperchromatic Counterpoint
Shoreditch Church
Tuesday 5 December | 8.30pm

Three incredible solo musicians - Veli Kujala, James McVinnie and Aart Strootman - explore counterpoint across four centuries.

Originating in the 14th Century, counterpoint is a technique whereby independent musical lines are played simultaneously, twisting around and complementing each other.

James McVinnie will perform selected movements from JS Bach's Art of Fugue and Aart Strootman presents Steve Reich's seminal Electric Counterpoint. Referencing both Bach and Reich's work, Veli Kujala's Hyperchromatic Counterpoint extends the melodic realm with his custom-built accordion into an expansive and psychedelic sound-world.

Platform: Electric Counterpoint
Shoreditch Church
Tuesday 5 December | 6.15pm - 7.15pm | Free, booking required

Inspired by the collaborations running throughout the festival, young musicians aged 11 - 16 from the Thames Big Band and Senior String Ensemble have come up with something special in this fantastic display of local talent. Working alongside Spitalfields Festival Artists they have created a new piece inspired by counterpoint and minimalism, combining the sound worlds of classical strings and big band Jazz.

In partnership with Tower Hamlets Arts and Music Education Service (THAMES).

Renegade New Classical: Daniel Brandt, Nik Colk Void
Shoreditch Church
Wednesday 6 December | 8.30pm

Boundaries are blurred and new sound worlds imagined as the realms of classical collide with minimal techno, experimental and electronic music in this special event presented by André de Ridder's exceptional orchestral collective s t a r g a z e.

Nik Colk Void (one third of Factory Floor) premieres an electroacoustic composition, while Erased Tapes signee Daniel Brandt (of Brandt Brauer Frick) presents an orchestral realisation of his solo album Eternal Something. The programme is completed with a new work by Qasim Naqvi (of Dawn of Midi) specially written for s t a r g a z e.

Generously supported by the RVW Trust, Hinrichsen Foundation and Spitalfields Music New Music Commission Fund.

There will be two wars (songs of love and war)
Shoreditch Church
Saturday 2 - Sunday 10 December | Exhibition hours on website

Fusing the realms of music, theatre, art and words, Turner Prize nominee Mark Titchner has created Spitalfields Music's first visual art exhibition. This multi-media exhibition will explore links between American post-punk hardcore band Fugazi and classical masters Schumann and Monteverdi.

Highly politicised and fiercely independent, Fugazi's music directly addresses religious, scientific and cultural issues. The exhibition will evolve over the festival through contributions from community projects.

These Two Wars: In Focus
Shoreditch Church
Thursday 7 December | 7pm

Breathing life into the installation There will be two wars (songs of love and war), Turner prize nominee Mark Titchner, festival curator André de Ridder and presenter Sara Mohr-Pietsch lead an evening combining discussion, performance and exhibition tour.

Inspired by the legacy and socio-political ethos of the band Fugazi, the conversations that unfold will touch on themes of artistic independence, activism and the ownership of art.

The evening will be interspersed with specially commissioned Instrument Solos based on material from Fugazi songs composed by Greg Saunier (of Deerhoof).

In the Light of Air
Shoreditch Church
Friday 8 December | 8pm & 1.15am

Transforming Shoreditch Church into a home for mindful listening, the London Contemporary Orchestra will perform selections of work by Pauline Oliveros which explore producing sound naturally for meditative practice.

Following this LCO will perform the London premiere of Anna Thorvaldsottir's In The Light Of Air. Rumbling and atmospheric, it calls to mind the sparse landscapes of Thorvaldsottir's native Iceland, featuring a light installation which dims and glows according to the players' breath.

Generously supported by the RVW Trust and Hinrichsen Foundation

Sara Mohr-Pietsch presents: SMF17 Podcast Series
Taking place throughout the festival

BBC Radio 3's Sara Mohr-Pietsch gives behind the scenes insight and weaves together the stories and themes of this year's festival in this stimulating podcast series. Mohr-Pietsch will interview festival artists, including festival curator André de Ridder, in a series of extended conversations that will be released on www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk.

Photo credit: Brian Sweeney

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