Bloomsbury Festival Music Programme, October 2022

Brilliant music programme being presented in the Bloomsbury Festival 14 – 23 October 2022. Over 21 live music events will be presented in venues across the Bloomsbury area, including international music, multi-disciplinary collaborations, lunchtime concerts, an album launch and a one day folk festival in a pub, plus workshops.

The Bloomsbury Festival has announced their full programme of shows, exhibitions, events, concerts, walks and talks in the 2022 programme with the theme «Breathe» inspired by the environment and freedom of expression through a series of events including performance, art, communities, heritage, and science.

The full programme includes over 100 events across 10 days, ranging from hard-hitting creative reflections on the environment to quiet moments of mindfulness.

The festival is working with artists of all backgrounds and ages, and with some of the area’s leading institutions and academics, to present events which explore our freedom to Breathe freely, and whether this relates to freedom of expression, finding your voice, or to wellbeing and air quality.

Bloomsbury Festival has received support for their ‘Platform’ for emerging talent from Arts Council England, and this year begins a new literary focus for Bloomsbury on Writers of Colour, which has developed from conversations with young residents of Bloomsbury.

Festival Director Rosemary Richards has said «The festival is constantly evolving, and working to develop, promote and explore new creative work for all types of audience.  While the programme includes a diverse range of subjects – tear gas, eco-tourism, the physical act of breathing – it also features numerous events and exhibitions, walks and talks highlighting both the pleasures of Bloomsbury’s garden setting, local environmental projects, as well as the heritage of Bloomsbury’s free thinkers.  There is something for everyone, including our free events – our opening Store Street Global Garden Party, and our three-day Discovery Hub».

Dates : 14 – 23 October 2022

Various Venues across Bloomsbury, London
bloomsburyfestival.org.uk | 0203 2806905
Tickets prices vary, including a number of free and unticketed events. Top price tickets £15

Programme

Niwel Tsumbu and Éamonn Cagney: The Art of the Duo

Éamonn Cagney and Niwel Tsumbu blend Classical, Jazz, Congolese, West African, Irish and Flamenco influences to create a unique and exhilarating fusion.

19 October, 6pm

Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG

Ticket price TBC | All ages

SOAS: Remembering Partition

A one-day festival celebrating South Asian culture through film, music, food and dance, 75 years after the Partition of the Subcontinent

15 October, 12pm

SOAS, University of London Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Ticket price TBC | All ages

The Harrison All Day Folk Festival

The (in)famous Harrison All Day Folk Festival returns! A vibrant afternoon and night of live music, beer and roasts. Ten great bands back to back in the basement, plus folk music sessions in the bar.

22 October, Food from 12 noon, music from 2pm

The Harrison Pub, 28 Harrison St, London WC1H 8JF

Free – just turn up | All ages

New Wave Lunchtime Concert: Stories through Songs with Immy Churchill

Immy Churchill and Matt Carter present an acoustic set of Immy’s originals, inspired by Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Nick Drake.

18 October, 1pm

The Music Room – 49 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HZ

Suggested £5 donation | All ages

Lunchtime Concert: José Songel (Piano)

Two iconic piano works make up this Piano Recital by Jose Songel: Bach English Suite 2 and Liszt Sonata in B minor.

16 October, 1pm

The Music Room – 49 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HZ

Free to book, a suggested £5 donation on the day | All ages

Pierrot XXI

An immersive one-hour concert, where music, tarot cards and costumes create a dream-like, mysterious and colourful atmosphere. Produced and presented by Clara Barbier Serrano and Ensemble Matters.

20 October, 6pm

Senate House Library, University College London, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

£8 | All ages 

Tess Buckley

Eloquently combining elements of alternative and jazz with subtle undercurrents of blues, the Canadian singer songwriter has carved a sound that is entirely her own.

19 October, 8.30pm

The Harrison Pub, 28 Harrison St, London WC1H 8JF

£12 £10 concession | All ages

Dreams & Tales

7pm | 120 min | 14+

Concert by Goodensemble Orchestra featuring exotic orchestral works by Mendelssohn, Grieg, and two much-loved piano concerti by Ravel & Rachmaninoff.

21 October, 7pm

Great Hall, Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB

£12 / £10 conc | 14+

A Space of One’s Own

Inter-disciplinary duo Kaira create a space through the meeting of Medtner’s music, Movement and Meditative Practices. In this performance the duo open an inclusive space for every individual to simply be.

19 October, 6pm

Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

£8 / £6 conc | 16+

Rosalind Ventris Solo Album Pre-Launch Concert

A recital of solo viola music by twentieth and twenty first century female composers given by Rosalind Ventris. The London pre-launch concert for Rosalind’s debut solo album for Delphian Records.

15 October, 7:30pm

Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church

£12 / £10 concession – £18 pre-purchase CD with ticket | All ages

Dancing Chopin

Zhu Sun reimagines Chopin’s third piano sonata with a new choreography by Noé Engelbeen that gives fresh insights into the music.

19 October, 1pm

Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

£8 / £6 conc | All ages

Elevating Women’s Voices

Dream.risk.sing is a recital programme which gives voice to women’s experiences which are rarely heard in song. Curated and performed by soprano Samantha Crawford and pianist Lana Bode, the programme highlights five specific aspects of a woman’s life: growing up, love and lust, motherhood, career and legacy.

22 October, 7.30pm

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

£12 / £10 conc | Age 16+ 

Summertime

Travel back in time with Gerschwin and Kapustin! This musical installation will take you back to 1920s in Kaunas, when the city became a temporary capital of Lithuania. Get ready for glam and lots of jazz.

21 October, 1pm

Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

£8 / £6 conc | All ages

The Story of Holborn and its Music Halls in 10 Songs

Between 1860 and 1940 Holborn was at the heart of the London’s music scene. The Holborn Empire was amongst the most popular theatres in the city and its stars were household names. Join the Good Companions for a musical romp through Holborn’s colourful and dramatic history, with rousing, singalong performances of the era’s classic songs

15 – 16 October, 8pm and 3pm

Venue TBC

£12 / £10 conc | All ages

Sound Meditation

Stop and relax in a soothing, alleviating atmosphere. ‘Sound Meditation’ is a therapeutic experience with music by Debussy, Čiurlionis and others. Stand, sit or lay down and prepare for mindfulness.

22 October, 11am and 3pm

Chancellor’s Hall, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU

£8 / £6 conc 

New Wave Lunchtime Concert: Lucilla Rose Mariotti

Lucilla Rose explores with her violin the shifting moods and exuberant sunny cheerfulness of two sonatas by Debussy and Beethoven, along with the nocturnal wanderings of the Faust by Wieniawski.

22 October, 1pm

The Music Room – 49 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HZ

Suggested £5 donation | All ages

New Accents

A collaboration between musicians from NW Live Arts and Freedom from Torture’s Write to Life group present a dynamic programme of song, instrumental music and new writing.

20 October, 7:30 pm

Art Workers’ Guild Main Hall, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT

£12 / £10 conc | 14+

New Wave Lunchtime Concert: Birds in the Forest of Longing- A Piano Recital

Piano recital presenting Romantic music next to short pieces inspired by bird song.

15 October, 1pm

The Music Room – 49 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HZ

Suggested £5 donation | all ages

Garden Unlocked

Visitors are invited to the world premiere of Garden Unlocked, an outdoor dance and music performance. Inspired by the air we breathe and the spaces we live, Garden Unlocked is a curious amalgamation of site dance, aleatoric music, and cross-disciplinary experiments.

19 – 21 October, 1pm

Venue TBC

£5 | All ages

Sunday Concerts: Greenwich Trio

The Greenwich Trio showcase the works of Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, alongside their male colleagues. Musicologist Katy Hamilton opens the event with a preshow talk.

23 October, 5.30pm

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

Adult £12, Conway Hall Members £10, Under 26s Free | All ages

Stories of Song

Conway Hall brings singers together from differing traditions and cultures to discuss life, song, the craft of singing and the magic we can make with just our own breath Conway Hall

18 October, 7pm

Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL

Adult £10, Concession and Conway Hall Members £8 | All ages

WORKSHOPS

Sing and Subvert

A professional singer will lead participants through a vaudeville song exploring both the words and the melody and having fun all the way.

23 October, 5pm

The Windsor Suite, the Royal National Hotel, 51 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0DG

Free | AGES

Breath and Singing Workshop

A gentle hour-long workshop in which Jane Streeton, Lead Singing Tutor at RADA, explains the way actors are taught to sing and how Breath is the key building block in their process! Join in and learn some of the exercises our students and graduates use to keep their voices in good shape!

16 October, 2.30pm

RADA Studio 1, 16 Chenies St, London WC1E 7EX

TICKETED? | 60 min