<img src='' title='Event Category: Music' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Music

Jazz Noël

Jazz Noël is all about bringing people together through the warmth and joy of live music during the festive season. Blending well-loved Christmas tunes made famous by legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and Nat King Cole with fresh, modern jazz arrangements creates a sound that feels both familiar and exciting.

A tight, groove-driven rhythm section lays the foundation for the evening, joined by a rich four-horn line-up that adds depth, colour, and energy, alongside two outstanding vocalists who bring personality, warmth, and flair to every song. From relaxed, soulful moments that capture the calm of a winter evening to upbeat, feel-good grooves that reflect the buzz of the holidays, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. The musicians interact in a natural, conversational way, adding spontaneity and fun to each performance.

Whether you’re a lifelong jazz fan or simply looking for a great night out in the run-up to Christmas, Jazz Noël offers a welcoming, uplifting experience that captures the spirit of the season in a fresh and engaging way!    

www.jazznoel.co.uk

City of London Sinfonia – These Memories May Be True

These Memories May Be True

An evening exploring what home means, how we hold onto it, and how we carry it with us when we have to leave, with music by Reena Esmail, Bushra el-Turk, Lembit Beecher, Piazzolla, Vaughan Williams and Copland. Part of CLS’s wider season exploring asylum and migration in the UK.

This concert was born from a year of conversations in a community kitchen, between musicians and people who are seeking asylum in the UK, about the memories of people, places and lives they had left behind and their hopes for the future they are building. Scents and sounds so evocative and distinct that they conjure us through time, space and memory to a particular place.

The musical programme moves across continents, borders and centuries. Reena Esmail writes from the meeting-point of Indian and Western classical traditions. Bushra el-Turk draws on her Lebanese heritage. Lembit Beecher gives life to his Estonian grandmother in five luminous minutes of string quartet. Piazzolla evokes Buenos Aires in a single, heartbroken melody. Vaughan Williams reaches into the English folk tradition for something ancient and aching. And Copland’s Appalachian Spring distils an entire American spirit; pioneering, optimistic and alive with hope.

It feels fitting that this evening takes place at Wilton’s Music Hall, off Cable Street; a place with its own deep history of community, resistance and refuge.

With a performance interweaving orchestral music with words and stories, this is an evening that asks what binds us to a place — and to each other.

Musicians – City of London Sinfonia 
Alexandra Wood – CLS Creative Director and Leader 

 

The Swingle Singers – Close-Mic Classics

The story of a sound that inspired decades of vocal music. 

In Paris 1962, Ward Swingle assembled a group of session singers and had them sing Bach as if it were jazz. He described the sound “as if the singers were whispering in the audience’s ear.” 

The records that followed won Grammy awards, inspired the genre we now recognise as modern a cappella, and crafted a sound that has carried The Swingle Singers for sixty years. 

Close-Mic Classics continues that story, showing how Ward’s writing and arranging shaped a genre, and is still present in how the current group arranges and composes over six decades later. 

With Ward’s centenary only months away, come and celebrate this legacy with The Swingle Singers as they perform his original arrangements in the oldest grand music hall in the world. 

Hear live some of the celebrated reimaginings of Bach, jazz standards, and original writing that made The Swingle Singers a household name.  

OneTrackMinds

Presented by VERYFINE

The award-winning live show returns to Wilton’s Music Hall for another night of music and storytelling.  

An engaging cross between Desert Island Discs, TED Talks and The Moth, OneTrackMinds asks a selection of five guests to tell a story about one song that has changed their life – before we play that song to the audience. 

Previous guests have included: Sir David Suchet, Katie Melua, Jane Horrocks, Harry Hill, Peter Tatchell, Inua Ellams, Tom Basden, Jessie Buckley, Deborah Frances White and Chris Difford.  

“This show is like stepping into a warm bath” – Vanessa Kisuule 

“A London institution waiting to happen” – Erica Buist 

WINNER – Audience Award – Bitesize Festival 2024  

Songs from the Sea

The Salts are one of the most exciting and energetic folk concepts around, performing original material alongside unique interpretations of traditional sea shanties.  From the chilly windswept shores of the UK to the tropical lagoons of South America, a voyage of seafaring songs and shanty-based folk awaits.  

The band features five seasoned musicians delivering full-on harmonies, great musicianship and a splash of humour. Drawing from their vastly different musical backgrounds, the result is a unique take on homegrown songs and maritime classics. In short, 21st century folk fires a respectful broadside at the traditional. 

Line-up:  
Lee Collinson – guitar/banjo/vocals  
Jeremy Hart– guitar/vocals  
Brian Bull – mandolin/vocals  
Richard Nash – drums/vocals  
Tim Cantrell – double bass/vocals 

Pulman & Stilgoe Hooray for Hollywood

A century of movie musicals, live in one evening.

Some songs stay with you. Whether you first heard them at the cinema, on a Sunday afternoon with your parents, or curled up watching old films with your grandparents, the songs from The Wizard of Oz, Singin’ in the Rain, West Side Story, Wicked and dozens more have a way of never quite leaving. Hooray for Hollywood brings them back to life.

Liza Pulman and Joe Stilgoe weave a century of movie musical songs into an evening of laughter, romance and pure joy. Pulman brings a voice of exceptional warmth and clarity. Stilgoe’s piano playing is inventive, brilliant and impossible to take your eyes off. Together, they hold the room completely.

No big screen, only big talents, great harmonies and lots of music and laughter. So, bring your popcorn as they bring you the magic of the movie musicals.

★★★★ ‘All elegance, escapism and generosity’ Spy in the Stalls

Photo credit: Matt Crockett

Is Shakspere Shakespeare?

Is Shakspere Shakespeare?
A socio-political take on the authorship question
by Ege Maltepe

After a sold-out run in Istanbul, Turkish playwright and actress Ege Maltepe brings her acclaimed play to London—now in English.

What do we really know about Shakespeare? A mysterious genius, we are told, who rose from modest beginnings in a small town to become the greatest writer in world literature. But is that story so simple? Or even believable?

Is Shakspere Shakespeare? begins with a historical controversy. It explores the socio-political forces behind the name “Shakespeare.” It asks why an artist’s identity might be concealed—and what that reveals about art and power in a colonised and industrialised world.

The play unfolds in a witty and philosophical courtroom inspired by Plato’s cave. It is guided by an original character, a playful figure, “Madam Art” alongside appearances from iconic Shakespearean characters and English queens.

A Fulbright scholar, Maltepe studied with Oscar-winning director Mike Nichols in New York. She later gained recognition in New York’s theatre scene through her original plays and theatrical concerts with pianist Emir Gamsız. She also introduced the improvisational acting technique “Spolin”  to Türkiye, helping spark a new movement in theatre.

Following the tradition of her first mentor, legendary theatre artist Ferhan Şensoy, Maltepe writes, directs, and performs the piece herself. She embodies eight characters, seamlessly. The audience soon forgets it is a solo play.

With classical music woven into its dramaturgy—and acclaimed pianist Emir Gamsız at the piano—the performance invites audiences to re-think history, authorship, and the true power of art.

Written and performed by Ege Maltepe
Pianist: Emir Gamsız
Music: Bach, Händel, Scarlatti, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Amy Beach and Emir Gamsiz
Voice of the Judge: Emir Gamsız
Technical Crew: Nil Celen, Brina Vozelj, Nesime Olcay, and Asya Asenova

Chatty Pianist – Piano Rumours

Chatty Pianist: Piano Rumours
Gossip, myths and scandals in classical music
by Emir Gamsız

Music history is full of stories: some documented, some distorted, and some entirely invented. Works reach us carrying more than what is written in the score—controversial attributions, dubious nicknames, romantic rumours, rivalries between musicians, nationalist claims, and unreliable biographies.

In this programme, Chatty Pianist Emir Gamsız explores well-known virtuoso works by nine composers, from Bach to Prokofiev, alongside the rumours that surround them.

The first half of the programme focuses on post-Beethoven composers—their personal worlds, relationships, conflicts, and scandals that continue to echo today. The second half turns to two of the greatest figures in music history, Bach and Beethoven, examining the social tensions between art, the artist, and the ruling classes of wealth and power.

The second half opens with the premiere of Emir Gamsız’s new piano transcription of Bach’s most famous work, the Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565). With this transcription, Gamsız joins the long line of musicians who have reimagined this organ work—whose authorship has been debated for centuries—for the piano.

From scandals and composer rivalries to myths, salon gossip and Parisian cafés; from stories of imprisonment and duels to portraits of defiant artistic independence, this programme moves between documented history and inherited narratives. And in reflecting on today’s music world, the Chatty Pianist does not shy away from becoming a subject of gossip himself.

This is neither a lecture nor a comedy.
This is stories unfolding through a classical piano recital.
This is a Chatty Pianist concert.

Presented by Jeux d’Art and Educante.

Clementine Douglas

Clementine Douglas

Birmingham born and Brighton based, Clementine Douglas is fast becoming one of the UK’s most distinctive voices in contemporary music. Emerging in 2019 as the front woman of Kudu Blue, she quickly carved out a reputation for her soulful tone and sharp songwriting, before stepping confidently into her solo career.

In just a few short years, Clementine has become a go-to collaborator for some of the biggest names in dance and electronic music. Her credits include work with Chase & Status, Sonny Fodera, MK, Dom Dolla, and The Blessed Madonna. She reached a career milestone last year by teaming up with Calvin Harris for the UK chart-topping single “Blessings” which was named as the “Song Of The Summer” 2025 and went on to be nominated for 2 x BRIT Awards in 2026.

Her rise has been marked not only by high-profile collaborations but also by industry recognition. In 2022, she was named Dance Vocalist of the Year at the BBC Radio 1 Dance Awards, followed by Breakthrough Vocalist of the Year at the DJ Mag Best of British Awards in 2024.

With her distinctive artistry, ability to move seamlessly between genres, and a growing catalogue of acclaimed releases, Clementine Douglas has established herself as one of the most exciting singers, songwriters, and producers of her generation. And with her career still in its early stages, her trajectory points only upward.

Offering to the Sun

Presented by Baluji Music Foundation

A Celebration of Summer with music from around the world by a quartet from the Inner Vision Orchestra which is the only professional ensemble in the UK of outstanding blind and partially sighted musicians. They have been brought together from many different musical traditions by sitar maestro Baluji Shrivastav OBE. Offering to the Sun will feature a quartet  presenting music from India, Sri Lanka the Middle East and the UK! They will conjure up the spirit of Summer with a moving celebration of musical brilliance. The line up includes Ustad Yusuf Ali Khan on tablas, Ghow Ratnarajah on kanjira and vocals, Uttara Joshi vocals and Ziad Sinno on oud and vocals.