Count Basie and the Centennial Year of Thad Jones

Jan 31 2024, 7:30 pm Susie Sainsbury Theatre, Royal Academy of Music, London

Renowned composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist Giacomo Smith conducts the Academy Jazz Orchestra in a concert celebrating the centennial year of the great Thad Jones, exploring his shared musical lineage and legacy with Count Basie.

Basie’s blues and riff-based explorations became the foundation for jazz orchestra music, and Jones joined his trumpet section in 1954 and doon began writing for Basie’s big band. In 1966, Jones co-founded a legendary ensemble with drummer Mel Lewis, notable for its racially integrated line-up.

Jones’ iconic music seamlessly retained the Basie essence while integrating his harmonic and rhythmic advancements as a composer.

Love Notes: A Pre-Valentines Day Concert

Feb 7 2024, 6:30 pm David Josefowitz Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London

A collaboration between two duo’s, this concert explores the theme of love through Renaissance and Baroque song, including works by Strozzi, Monteverdi, Charpentier, and Handel.

This performance will feature Chantefable (voice and keyboard duo (harpsichord)) and Intesa (viol and voice duo with Lucine Musaelian and Nathan Giorgetti).

Patricia Kopatchinskaja: Dies Irae

Feb 21 2024, 7:30 pm Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre

Patricia Kopatchinskaja, one of the Southbank Centre´s Resident Artists for Spring/Summer 2024, created this staged production as a response to global warming and the violence it causes.

Featuring video projections and lighting, this evening will juxtapose old and new music to culmintate in Ustvolskaya´s merciless Dies Irae, with its seven double basses.

Apollo e Dafne

Feb 22, 2024, 6:30 pm Angela Burgess Recital Hall, Royal Academy of Music, London

A complete performance of Handel´s lesser-known cantata depicting the ancient Greek story of the god Apollo and the nymph Dafne.

Demystifying the Diva

Mar 7, 2024, 3:00 pm Royal Academy of Music Piano Gallery

Soprano Victoria Hodgkinson gives insight into her PhD research, which focuses on female performance identity across time, in Handel´s Opera seria.

RAM Jazz Orchestra Vortex Jazz Concert

Mar 8, 2024, 7:00 pm and 9:15 pm

Join us at this iconic London jazz venue for a celebration of International Women’s Day, featuring two of the world’s leading jazz musicians.

Ingrid Jensen, Visiting Professor of Jazz at the Academy, is one of the most celebrated contemporary trumpet players on the scene. Alongside her distinguished career, she is Dean of Jazz Arts at the Manhattan School of Music and a member of the supergroup Artemis.

Nikki Iles is one of the UK’s greatest pianists. She is Composer in Residence 2023 for the famous NDR Bigband in Hamburg and leads her own celebrated ensembles: The Printmakers and the Nikki Iles Jazz Orchestra.

Tonight, these two artists collaborate for the first time, performing a programme of their own music and some pieces by mutual friends and colleagues.

Love in Verse and Song

Mar 9, 2024, 10:45 am St. Mary of Charity Church, Faversham, UK

This concert sees Chantefable exploring poetry and Renaissance and Baroque song. The poetry will be accompanied by on the spot compositions by Andrew Cowie meant to match the mood and theme of the poetry. This draws influence from folk, jazz, and classical music.

Handel’s Saul

Mar 23, 2024, 7:30 pm All Saints’ Church, Hertford, SG13 8AY

Join us for a rare opportunity to enjoy Handel’s dramatic oratorio Saul, performed with a period orchestra and professional soloists. It tells the story of King Saul, the first King of Israel, and his ultimately destructive jealousy of his successor David.

Paws and Poems: Creatures in Concert

May 17, 2024, 1:00pm Regents Hall, London

Join us to hear Billy Cowie’s song cycle ‘Chantefable’, featuring 10 different animal songs, with poetry including Custard the Cowardly Dragon and short, witty animal poems by Ogden Nash and Hillaire Belloc. This concert is not one to be missed!