what are noisenights?

noisenights are our vision for the future of classical music: informal crowdfunded events featuring international soloists in clubs, converted warehouses, and bars.

read more

Most noisenights features two short classical sets, one early evening, one late. All tickets to the late set include live music for the rest of the night, including jazz, latin, afrobeat, swing and funk acts.

Live music needs your backing more than ever. Becoming a noisenight backer means getting tickets to hear the world's best performers up close while becoming part of a community working for a positive future for live music.

Please note that due to the venue's license, this noisenight is strictly 18+.

back this / get tickets >>

the music:

Alexandra's debut album My European Journey combines her passion for nineteenth-century music with a love of discovering lesser-known composers and bringing them into the spotlight.

Expect Alexandra to dip in and out of music by Napoléon Coste, Giulio Regondi and Luigi Legnani - bringing local sounds and character from from Vienna, London, Copenhagen, and beyond.

Alexandra will collaborate with Esther to perform a selection of rarely heard guitar and violin duets, building on Esther's passion for highlighting the work of women composers. Full programme TBA.

alexandra whittingham (guitar):

After studying classical guitar, piano, jazz guitar and composition at the world-renowned Chetham’s School of Music for seven years, Alexandra Whittingham gained a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

read more

Having been awarded first class honours and the Timothy Gilson Guitar Prize in 2019, she returned to the Royal Academy the following year to complete her master's degree. She graduated with a distinction, a Diploma of the Royal Academy of Music (awarded for an outstanding performance in a final recital) and the Regency Award for distinguished studentship.

In May 2021 Alexandra released her debut studio album My European Journey, which explores the guitar’s great coming of age in nineteenth-century Europe. The album reached No.1 on the iTunes Classical Chart as well as taking first place on The Presto Chart solely through pre-orders before its release. My European Journey sees Alexandra's passion for nineteenth-century music combine with a love of discovering lesser-known composers and bringing them into the spotlight. Staple works by Napoléon Coste, Giulio Regondi and Luigi Legnani give a warm Romantic embrace to a clutch of unheard miniatures – brimming with character and local colour from Vienna, London, Copenhagen and beyond.

Maintaining an active online presence, Alexandra has gained over 200,000 subscribers on YouTube during the last five years, where videos of her performances have collectively surpassed 30 million views. Her audience online has lead to live performances all over Europe including at Festival Le Temps des Guitares in south-west France, Vilnius Town Hall in Lithuania, venues in Italy and Germany, and the British Embassy in Paris.

Closer to home Alexandra has performed at London's Abbey Road Studios, County Hall, Milton Court Concert Hall, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Wells Cathedral. She has also appeared as a concerto soloist with Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra and Dorset Chamber Orchestra.

back this / get tickets >>

esther abrami (violin):

Born in 1996 and raised in Aix-en-Provence, Esther Abrami knows how it feels to grow up in a culture far from towering classical institutions. “I had a countryside childhood” she says. “I went to a small, country school and I was always outside as I loved nature."

read more

Aged just three, Esther was given her first tiny violin by her grandmother, who herself had been a gifted violinist but, as was the custom at the time, gave up her own music-making when she got married. “I remember her trying to teach me how to hold the little violin” Abrami recalls. Although enchanted by this small, beautiful object, it would not be until the age of ten before Esther started to learn how to play in earnest, taking to the violin immediately. “I loved the feeling of the violin tucked in so close to me, like a living creature. I loved the sensation of the warm sound travelling through my body. After just half an hour with the bow in my hand, I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life”, she recollects fondly.

Always serious about her art, even as a child, Esther would watch concerts on television and try to recreate the sounds she heard. Being extremely motivated and having studied incredibly hard, at the age of 14 she eventually became a boarding student at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, often getting up very early at 5am to spend extra time in the rehearsal rooms.

Her hard work paid off and in 2017 Esther was accepted as a student at the world-leading Royal College of Music in London. Alongside her lessons, Esther also began to build her online career, playing popular classical music on her social media channels. She was more surprised and gratified by the positive response, however, when she started uploading practice videos, sight reading videos and tips and helpful techniques for aspiring young musicians.

Esther has approached social media with the same open mindedness with which she performs her music. She has a sense of fun and fashion and delights in her collaborations with leading fashion houses like Givenchy. She has also entertained people online by demonstrating the difference between the sound of a priceless Stradivarius and a copy and is not averse to including the rescue cats she fosters in her posts. A recent YouTube video of her practising with a kitten snuggled in a pouch around her waist has received over 100,000 views.

Of her upcoming debut single on Sony Classical showcasing Clara Schumann, Esther Abrami notes: “I’m passionate about highlighting the work of women composers overall. It is such a pleasure to discover and perform their works, some of whom are only just beginning to be celebrated. For International Women’s Day, I’m especially delighted to be recording a piece by the wonderful Clara Schumann”.

Esther believes people have connected with her because she has opened up and told her own real story - not just one of the glamour of international travel and performing on stage but also the truth about the hours of practice and toil that otherwise goes unseen and unnoticed. Esther confirms: “It actually makes me feel vulnerable to put practise videos out there as it’s rather intimate, but I do want other people to see what happens behind the scenes, because I think that is much more inspiring. When I first came to England, I often felt that I was behind many of my peers in terms of technique and at times that was discouraging, but I’ve come so far. I’ve learned that it’s never too late and that you can always improve – that’s the positive message I wish to convey. I am always humbled and heartened by the messages I receive from people all over the world, telling me that somehow I have encouraged them to start to learn to play an instrument. That never fails to inspire me”.

In 2019, Esther Abrami became the first classical musician to be nominated in the Social Media Superstar category at the Global Awards. She has been awarded a full scholarship for a masters degree at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire under the guidance of Professor Wen Zhou Li.

back this / get tickets >>