New music festival for North London
The first Islington Festival of Music and Arts will take place from 22-25 July 2021. The festival will present 15 events across the 4 days, including 11 concerts in beautiful and inspiring buildings throughout the Borough of Islington.
There are three series of concerts at the festival, always at the same time each day:
The Lunchtime Series will take place in Islington Square, site of the former post sorting office, which has been transformed into a retail and residential area. The three concerts will take place in the South Arcade: Ensemble ÉMIGRÉ with much-loved songs from the era of Vera Lynn and Marlene Dietrich, violin favourite salon pieces, and a flute and piano duo, with traditional jazz standards.
The Evening Concert Series is in Christ Church Highbury, close by the beautiful Highbury Fields. These 4 concerts showcase the chamber music of Franz Schubert, and every concert will have one of his famous works: The Trout and Cello Quintet frame the Series, and you can also hear his intimate Fantasie for Piano 4 Hands, the Arpeggione Sonata and a selection of songs from “Die schöne Müllerin”.
Alongside Schubert are several of the 19th century's major composers: Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mahler and Schumann. Also, you will have the chance to hear a rarely-performed quintet by Adolph Blanc.
The Late Night Bach Series will be shared between the Newington Green Meeting House, No 20 Arts, and The Old Queens Head pub. The Meeting House has recently undergone major renovation and refurbishment thanks to support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and is now an amazing building with a fantastic acoustic too.
No 20 Arts is a beautiful contemporary art gallery, and The Old Queen’s Head is a famous landmark building in Islington, which regularly hosts concerts and other events. These four concerts are exclusively devoted to the works of J.S. Bach, and include solo violin, lute music, and 3 of the outstanding choral Motets.
Tickets go on general sale from 17 May, with free tickets for those aged 25 and under available for most of the 11 concerts. More details here.
