Southbank Sinfonia at St John's Smith Square Reveals 2023 Autumn Season

St John’s Smith Square and Southbank Sinfonia have announced a thrilling programme of events for  their Autumn 2023 Season including orchestral, choral, jazz, chamber music, and more. In one  highlight of the season, visitors will be transported to the furthest reaches of the galaxy with an  innovative planetarium-style concert. Audiences can lie and stare at the stars while enjoying live  celestial harmonies from Southbank Sinfonia. Another highlight and festive treat will see St John’s  Smith Square’s youngest visitors enthralled by the timeless classic, Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman,  accompanied by a live orchestra. 

In November, St John’s Smith Square becomes a planetarium as Southbank Sinfonia present  #ConcertLab, The Night Sky. The audience will experience a sonic journey into the cosmos as they  lie down amongst Southbank Sinfonia and enjoy ceiling projections of the universe captured by the  Webb and Hubble space telescopes whilst listening to live music themed around astronomy. This  immersive, breathtaking experience is conducted by Olivia Clarke. 

Southbank Sinfonia will perform a live orchestra to a screening of Raymond Briggs’ beloved  children’s book, The Snowman. In partnership with Carrot Productions, world leaders in orchestra  and film events for families, the enchanting programme also includes The Bear and the Piano, based  on the award-winning book by David Litchfield. Featuring mesmerising music by Daniel Whibley,  and narrated live by a surprise guest, this captivating performance will leave the whole family  spellbound.

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Also for families, St John’s Smith Square will continue to run Musical Zoo sessions with Southbank  Sinfonia. This unique musical experience invites young musicians to visit the musical zoo,  encouraging them to meet lots of different families of instruments and have a go at playing some of  them too! 

Throughout the Season, the Thursday Lunchtime Concert series continues to showcase the  exceptional talent of internationally renowned musicians alongside those of emerging artists. In a  programme spanning 123 years, the Halcyon Quartet will perform a lunchtime concert of music that  reflects on the past and embraces the present. Neoclassical vitality fizzes in Polish composer,  Grażyna Bacewicz’s String Quartet No. 3, dovetailed by Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A  minor. First Prize and Commission Prize winners at the Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music  Competition 2023, another string quartet, the Kleio Quartet, will perform in September. 

International concert organist and the organ soloist from the film Interstellar, Roger Sayer, will put  St John’s Smith Square’s organ through its paces in September. Polina Sosnina, the Organist and  Director of the Junior Choir at St Martin-in-the-Fields will take her turn at St John’s iconic organ in  October with Widor’s Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42. Also on the organ, Charles  Andrews, Liturgical Organist of the Temple Church, London and professor of organ and Organ co ordinator at the Royal College of Music, will perform works by Bach, Krebs, Franck and more in  November. 

As well as organ recitals and string quartet performances, piano trios and wind octets make for a captivating line-up of concerts. In October, newly formed group Azuri Piano Trio, who were brought  together by Southbank Sinfonia, will perform chamber music works of Rachmaninoff and Brahms. Trumpet trio Natrio will offer a versatile mix of music from all timelines of music. Beginning with  music by composers such as Tomasi and Britten, and including new music written for the group.  

The Footstool Café at St John’s Smith Square hosts the Crypt Classics series and provides the perfect  opportunity to enjoy coffee and cake alongside a free performance by musicians from the Royal  College of Music. Late-night Jazz in the Crypt sees this space transformed into an intimate and  enchanting setting for an unforgettable evening of live music that will welcome groups including  Richard Jones Quartet, Jazz trio from the Vortex Collective and The Hot Club of Jupiter throughout  the Autumn.

St John’s Smith Square’s sublime Christmas Festival returns in December, featuring guest artists  including Polyphony and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in an annual treat that’s not to  be missed.

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