Wednesday 20 February 2019, 7.30pm
An evening of premieres, in which leading new music group The Riot Ensemble collaborate for the first time with 'Enemy' (Kit Downes / Petter Eldh / James Maddren) in music by Downes and Eldh, and with the duo of Evan Parker / Alexander Hawkins in music by Hawkins.
The Riot Ensemble is one of the fastest growing and most ambitious new music ensembles at work in the UK today. Their 18 Artistic Board members work as performers, project creators, curators, commissioners and collaborators; creating and producing a diverse array of projects around Europe. They are particularly active in bringing emerging international voices into the UK’s new-music scene, and since 2012 have given 179 World and UK Premieres by composers from more than 30 countries.
Riot has performed at festivals such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (UK), Dark Music Days (Iceland), Tampere Biennale (Finland), Nordic Music Days (Sweden) and Musica En Segura (Spain). Select engagements over the next two years include concerts at November Music, the Spitalfields Music Festival, Wien Modern, Darmstadt and return appearances at HCMF and Dark Music Days. Riot has performed multiple times live on BBC Radio 3, and at venues that range from art galleries and pubs to major concert halls such as the Southbank Centre and LSO St Luke’s. Upcoming recordings include music by Patricia Alessandrini, Liza Lim, Rebecca Saunders, Laurence Osborn, Mirela Ivičević, Jonathan Harvey, Chaya Czernowin, Samantha Fernando, Donghoon Shin and Pauline Oliveros.
Riot’s initiatives have included a Young Composer of the Year programme which, in collaboration with the foreSOUND School of Music, has commissioned more than a dozen teenagers to write their first pieces. Their work has been supported by Arts Council England and numerous private sponsors, alongside Opus 2 International, PRSF, Ambache Charitable Trust, the RVW Trust, and the Holst Foundation.
‘Enemy’ - Petter Eldh (bass), Kit Downes (piano) and James Maddren (drums) are based in London and Berlin. The members of the band have all received their own critical acclaim (Mercury Music Award, BBC Jazz Award, ECM) as well as having toured the world with some of the finest musicians around (Django Bates, Squarepusher, James Zoo) - but here they shine collectively, as like-minded experimentalists and improvisers - engagingly exploring enemies both internal and external.
"Enemy is a delight in its intersection of artistry and technicality, but it’s more brilliant in its authenticity." - Downbeat Magazine
