Music of Today
Begun in 1991, Music of Today is the name of the FREE series of pre-concert performances at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall that features contemporary music, usually profiling a single composer. Taking place before the main evening concert at 6.00pm and lasting less than an hour, the informal concerts are a way of giving new and existing audiences the confidence to try a new listening experience.
Julian Anderson, Artistic Director, Music of Today
As an integral part of the series, whenever possible, the profiled composer is interviewed on stage by the Artistic Director Julian Anderson and introduces his or her music to the audience. This gives listeners a chance to gain a direct insight into the works programmed and helps to demystify contemporary music, as shown by the feedback from one audience member:
"I am grateful to the [presenter's] words, which open my ears to the unfamiliar"
The first Artistic Director was James Macmillan, and his enthusiasm, vision and commitment over the first ten years of Music of Today created a strong identity to the series. He introduced the works of lesser-known composers, such as Sofia Gubaidulina, Michael Torke and Deirdre Gribbin to UK audiences, many for the first time. The current Artistic Director is Julian Anderson and he introduces each concert in the 2007/08 series.
"Today there is no guarantee that great music will have the performance it deserves; so the coming season includes a typically wide range of music from seventies classics by Nicholas Maw to the UK première of the marvellously imaginative Voi(Rex) by Philippe Leroux, combining live electronics with voice and ensemble. A revival of two of Iannis Xenakis’s boldest pieces will be conducted by Diego Masson, and we are happy to be mounting the first major UK showcase of the colourful music of Enno Poppe. There are portrait concerts of Tansy Davies, a rapidly establishing talent, and of the lyrical Italian Luca Francesconi, and the season opens with a special appearance by Peter Eötvös, whose music combines the strong rhythms of his native Hungary with electro-acoustic finesse." Julian Anderson
