solem quartet + alice zawadzki
13 july 2023 / 7.30pm / the speakeasy, dalston
100% funded (sold out)
Award-winning Solem Quartet are joined by vocalist Alice Zawadzki to play music by Steve Reich and Kate Bush in a hidden Dalston beer garden. Support from miche (DJ).
6pm: doors open + miche (dj)
7.30pm: solem quartet + alice zawadzki set
8.30pm: miche (dj)
noisenights summer residency:
noisenights are our vision for the future of classical music: informal crowdfunded events featuring international soloists in bars, warehouses, and clubs.
For summer 2023 we're taking them outdoors, with a series of five festival-style gigs in the beer garden of The Speakeasy, Dalston. The noisenights summer residency will feature cross-genre artists performing music inspired by Western European, West African, and South American classical music.
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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.
After a noisenight reaches its funding target, we'll e-mail all backers to confirm the event and a small amount of extra tickets will be made available. Tickets are released in four stages, with the first release always being the cheapest. Book early for the best price.
Please note that due to the venue's license, all those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. A full list of dates in the noisenights summer residency can be found here.
the venue:
The Speakeasy is a family run cocktail bar located in the heart of Dalston. The cosy indoor bar opens up to a huge hidden pub garden at the back, nestled between high rises and warehouses.
Featuring a retractable roof and outdoor heaters, you can be confident it'll be comfortable whatever the weather. It's also a special venue for us, as it's just round the corner from through the noise HQ.
the music:
Solem Quartet bring their latest collaboration with Alice Zawadzki to Dalston, featuring Steve Reich’s Grammy-winning Different Trains for string quartet and tape, and songs by Kate Bush, newly arranged for the ensemble by violinist William Newell.
solem quartet:
Praised for their “immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and “cultured tone” (Arts Desk), Solem Quartet have established themselves as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation.
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A 2020 awardee of the Jerwood Arts Live Work Fund, one of 33 artists selected from more than 1200 applicants, the Solem Quartet takes its place amongst some of the UK’s brightest artistic voices, with award recipients spread across practices including music, theatre, opera, circus, dance, live art and performance.
They enjoy a busy concert schedule, ranging from international tours in Asia and Europe to performances at venues such as London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester and Oxford’s Holywell Music Room, and have built a strong following since winning the Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Competition 2014.
Passionate about collaborating with the composers of their time, the Quartet have worked closely with Anna Meredith, Colin Matthews and Thomas Adès and recently gave the UK premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s Suite from “There Will be Blood” (for string quartet) at the V&A Museum. The success of their ground-breaking ‘Solem Lates’ concept, created in 2019 with the aim of presenting classical music in a fresh way and reaching broader audiences, has underlined the Quartet’s position as leading exponents of new music. Past ‘Solem Lates’ projects have included bringing music for quartet + electronics to nightclubs around the UK, performing Bartók’s 3rd Quartet from memory, and collaborating with Picturehouse Cinemas to bring Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster to life through live score performances alongside the iconic film.
The Solem Quartet are widely known for their thoughtfully curated programmes. In ‘Beethoven Bartók Now’, the group’s current ‘Solem Lates’ project, they present the works of these two giants alongside six major commissions, bringing new life and relevance to these iconic masterpieces; a wealth of digital content and educational activity surrounds each performance. One such component of this far-reaching project is ‘Writing for Quartet’, generously supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society, a biannual online workshop for composers of all backgrounds.
alice zawadzki:
Loosely connected to the jazz world but realistically inhabiting her own realm, Alice Zawadzki is a vocalist, violinist, songwriter and composer based in London, with considerable repute as “a genuine original” (The Guardian), and a distinctive and individual presence on the creative European music scene.
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Alice’s rich musical background and “whimsical hyper-creativity” (MOJO Magazine) create a sound which draws upon her early exposure to New Orleans jazz and gospel with the legendary Lillian Boutté who took Alice under her wing and on tour as a teenager, an extensive classical training as a violinist, and a continuous exploration of improvisation, poetry, and folk music from diverse traditions, “all propelled in a voice of velvet suppleness and gutsy emotional power” (The Arts Desk).
She performs extensively as both a soloist and as a collaborator, with headline performances at major UK venues and festivals, including the Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scott’s, the London Jazz Festival, the Vortex, Celtic Connections, and internationally at festivals from Taipei International Jazz Festival (Taiwan) to Coventry Calling (Massachusetts, USA) to Sűdtirol Jazz Festival (Italy), Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Canada), Musicá Impopular (Brazil), Usina Del Arte (Argentina) and many more.
Her 2019 release, ‘Within You Is A World Of Spring’ (Whirlwind Recordings), was described by Jazzwise Magazine as 'a cornucopia of delights', and features a who’s-who of celebrated players, including guitarist Rob Luft, bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado, pianist, drummer and producer Fred Thomas, taegum player Hyelim Kim, and the Amika string quartet. This second solo album was met with vigorous critical praise, including being awarded Contemporary Album of the Month by The Guardian newspaper in October 2019, making the Top 20 Albums of 2019 from John Fordham and Jazzwise Magazine, as well as a host of other warm national and international reviews, BBC and Jazz FM radio play, live radio sessions, and a nomination for British Vocalist of the Year from Jazz FM.
Rewards: unallocated standing tickets to noisenight26 at 7.30pm on Thursday 13 July 2023 with Solem Quartet and Alice Zawadzki. Part of the noisenights summer residency at The Speakeasy, Dalston. First-come, first-served for the best views.
In order to qualify for a concession ticket, you must be in receipt of Universal or Pension Credit, in full-time education, or under the age of 21. There are a strictly limited number of concession tickets available for each event. These are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
support us
Can't attend any of our upcoming noisenights but still want to support live music and be part of our crowdfunding community?
Your donation means that we can continue to attract the UK's best musicians to our noisenights series and push the boundaries of live classical music. It also means that we can keep our events guide independently curated and expand our mindmusic programme which promotes mental health and wellbeing in our local communities.
