City of London Sinfonia (CLS) announces further details of its Émigré Series of concerts, one of the highlights of its 2014–15 season. Emigration has been a constant theme for musicians throughout history. Composers and performers have frequently embarked on journeys between countries and continents to seek fame and fortune, explore new artistic ventures or escape political and religious repression. TheÉmigré Series will see CLS explore these journeys– whether undertaken to reach a global metropolis in the 18th century, or those made to escape persecution in the early 20th century – which resulted in émigrés’ sharing their nation’s culture with the world and enriching the communities where they settled. The series will culminate with a tale of immigration to one of the most diverse cities on earth and home of CLS – London.
There is no other global city which embodies the spirit of the Émigré Series better than London. It is a nexus where people from all over the world meet, chose to make their home or launch their business. In the current socio-political climate, migration is often thought of in terms of political policy, mass immigration and xenophobia, often resulting in a negative portrayal in the media. However, there are also positives to be discovered, including integration, inclusivity and fostering a sense of belonging in this digitally connected, yet disconnected time.
The Émigré theme permeates CLS’s work on stage and off – which includes working with more than 400 Key Stage One (aged 5-7) children in Tower Hamlets, which has one of the highest ethnic minority populations in the capital. In partnership with L’Chaim and Jewish Care in North London, CLS also work with those suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s who have personal narratives as exiles from central Europe before and during the Second World War.
CLS’s Émigré Series will allow audiences to reflect on how the relocation of these musical émigré’s has helped to enrich cultural life and strengthen communities in their adopted homes. The Émigré theme is not just about the music experience – it’s about the building of strong communities, bringing people together, celebrating differences and encouraging civic participation.
CLoSer: To and From Buenos Aires, 25 February, Village Underground
CLoSer – the informal concert series from CLS and Spitalfields Music at Shoreditch’s Village Underground – opens the Émigré series on 25 February with To and From Buenos Aires, an exploration of composer’s Piazzolla and Osvaldo Golijov’s interpretation on tango’s melancholic rhythms and dance, directed by CLS leader Alexandra Wood. Argentinian émigré Piazzolla left Buenos Aires in the 1950s, taking tango music to New York, Paris and later the rest of the world. The concert will feature his works Romance del Diablo, Tango del Diablo and Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Three decades earlier, Romanian Osvaldo Golijov’s family escaped anti-Semitic persecution in their homeland to find a new life in Buenos Aires. His work Last Round forms part of this performance. Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances completes the programme. A ‘Tango taster’ lesson before the concert is included in the ticket price, and there will be the opportunity for the audience to put their new Tango moves into practice at a post-concert drink and dance.
CLoSer: Ljova, 29 April, Village Underground
On 29 April Russian émigré composer and violist Ljova performs his own music alongside CLS for CLoSer’s Ljova concert. A modern day tale of immigration from Russia to the USA, Ljova’s musician parents moved from Moscow to New York in 1990 as communism fell in the Soviet Union. The result of that journey is Ljova’s unique musical signature, haunting and vibrant, combining classical music with his own blend of Russian folk music, jazz, Balkan Gypsy and Klezmer. Ljova also joins CLS for the Émigré Season’s Crash Bang Wallop! family concert on 9 May.
From Hollywood to New York, 2 May, Cadogan Hall
Cadogan Hall hosts the From Hollywood to New York concert on 2 May. In the 1920s and 30s, an exodus to the USA of composers escaping Hitler’s religious and political persecutions resulted in the creation of ‘the sound of Hollywood’. Some of classical music’s biggest names, including Stravinsky, headed to Los Angeles in their wake. Inspired by this exodus, CLS and conductor Michael Collins will perform Stravinsky’sSymphony in Three Movements. Half a century earlier, Czeck émigré Dvorák left Prague to head for a new life in New York, and whilst there poured his longing for his homeland into his Cello Concerto, which will be performed by Bulgarian cellist Michael Petrov – a recent recipient of the Guildhall School’s prestigious Gold Medal. Austrian émigré Eisler was exiled from Austria to the US in the 1930’s after his music was banned by the Nazi Party, and his Kleine Sinfonie is performed here. The programme will open with Herrmann’s Overture to North by Northwest, from the Hitchcock film of the same name. Herrmann’s father, a Russian Jew, was part of the first wave of mass Jewish immigration to the US in the late nineteenth century. Korngold’s Adventures of Robin Hood Suite closes the programme. In 1938, Austro-Hungarian Korngold composed the piece during a residency in Hollywood and was then forced to settle there permanently, as the Anschluss – the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany – had occurred during his absence.
Crash Bang Wallop!: Bon Voyage, 9 May, Cadogan Hall
Crash Bang Wallop! – CLS’s regular series of interactive family concerts at Cadogan Hall – present Bon Voyage! on 9 May. Animateur Claire Henry and composer and musician Ljova will take families on an adventure around the world, collecting musical momentos along the way. Claire, Ljova and the audience will be joined by the CLS musicians on this exciting musical journey around the globe. The concert is particularly suitable for children aged between 3 and 6 years of age. Before the concert there will be activities from 11am including Meet The Musicians, Percussion Zoo, Minute Maestro conducting and musical arts and crafts.
Georgian London: Global Metropolis, 16 June, Shoreditch Church (St Leonard’s)
The Émigré series will conclude on 16 June with Georgian London: Global Metropolis, performed at the historic Georgian Shoreditch Church. CLS and conductor Stephen Layton perform a programme which explores 18th century London through the music of composers who were drawn to London during the Georgian period to seek fame and fortune. Parallels can be drawn with contemporary London, which continues to attract musical talent which in turn contributes to wider cultural globalisation. Renowned choir Polyphony join CLS for this programme which features Haydn’s Symphony No.101 ‘The Clock’, JC Bach’s Sinfonia Concertante for flute, 2 clarinets, 2 horns and bassoon in E flat major C41, Mozart’s Symphony No.4 and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum. Georgian London: Global Metropolis is the closing concert of Spitalfields Music’s Summer Festival 2015.
The Émigré Series is a pertinent and topical body of work in the current social climate, strengthening the core value at the heart of CLS – to bring surprising and moving musical experiences to people of all ages and backgrounds, building a harmonious future together.