London Exhibition Road Music Day 2010: London Uyghur Ensemble preforms

[Aziz Isa Elkun]

London Exhibition Road Music Day 2010: London Uyghur Ensemble preforms at 4pm Sunday 20 June

Music Day 2010 returns to London.

31 May 2010

Music Day, a spectacular free music festival, will return to London’s premier cultural quarter on Exhibition Road on Sunday 20 June.  Now in its sixth year, this one day event on midsummer’s eve showcases the latest international musical talent.

Throughout the day some of London’s best loved cultural institutions, including the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and Royal Albert Hall, will stage a wide range of live musical acts from folk to electronica, funk to grime, classical to world.

BBC Radio 2 favourite Emily Maguire will headline the Royal Geographical Society’s programme.  Australian-based English singer-songwriter Emily has recently released her third album and has toured with Don McLean, Eric Bibb and Blue Nile.  

Some of France’s hottest musical talent will be showcased at Institut français.  Folk duo Cocoon along with Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal and GaBlé will perform in the Ciné Lumière and Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains plus Bristol based Rozi Plain will be on the Institut’s terrace.

French vocalist Sophia Delila (pictured above) and the unique sounds of Adrian Gaspar’s Gypsy Jazz can be heard at the Natural History Museum along with folk rock from Martin Ledner.  World music will also be on offer at the Royal Albert Hall with the award-winning mix of jazz and flamenco from Ricardo Garcia’s Flamenco Flow and at the Science Museum with the London Uyghur Ensemble, playing music of the Central Asian Uyghurs.

The Royal College of Music will host a diverse classical music programme from gamelan taster sessions to the RCM String Octet playing Mendelssohn and Mediterranea Trio playing Shostakovich.  Classical music will also be on offer at Goethe-Institut London with internationally acclaimed conductor Peter Manning and The Manning Camerata.  The Institut will also host Public Receptors by Berlin-based conceptual artist/architect Gabi Schillig as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

Music Day 2010 will also include the first London stop of the BBC Blast tour, the BBC’s youth creativity service.  Hosted by the V&A and the Natural History Museum from 17-20 June, Blast offers an opportunity for young people to get inspired, discover new talents and sharpen their creative skills. Free showcases, Q&A and workshops for 13-19 year olds will be led by industry professionals and artists including; grime pioneers Manga and Target from Roll Deep; hotly tipped female artist of 2010 ROX plus BBC Radio 1 DJ Rob da Bank and Nihal.  

Interactive music workshops and activities suitable for all ages run alongside the dynamic performance programme.  Visitors to Music Day can sing like a West End star and watch rare extracts of musical films at the V&A or join in with capoeira and percussion club at Imperial College London.  

Throughout the day at the Science Museum families can make musical instruments and learn how to sing like a soprano or tenor with Streetwise Opera.  Would-be royals can dress up and explore the histories of the seven real-life princesses who resided at Kensington Palace through interactive story-telling and song-writing with musical director Julian Hinton and performances of key period pieces dating through the centuries.

“Exhibition Road is the cultural heartland of London” commented Exhibition Road Cultural Group chief executive Paul Cutts. “Music Day brings together the world’s leading arts, cultural, scientific and academic organisations for a fantastically diverse programme of music of all kinds and from all traditions. And, for the first time, we’ve commissioned some amazing new music too. There’s truly something for everyone.”

As part of Music Day the Exhibition Road Cultural Group has commissioned a number of internationally renowned artists to create new musical compositions inspired by some of the road’s collections, archives and buildings. This project has been generously supported by the PRS for Music Foundation.

Composer and installation artist Craig Vear will include recorded voices from the Ismaili Muslim community for four performances in the tranquillity of the Ismaili Centre roof garden.  English Acoustic Collective, recognised as the one of the most innovative ensembles working in folk music, has partnered with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).  The Collective will perform a new work inspired by the society’s archive, images of which will form a visual aspect to their performance.

Institutions participating in Music Day are: Austrian Cultural Forum London, Goethe-Institut London; Institut français; Imperial College London; The Ismaili Centre; Kensington Palace; Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall; Royal College of Music; Royal Geographical Society; Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum.

Music Day is an Exhibition Road Cultural Group (ERCG) project and part of the Fête de la Musique, the worldwide musical celebration on summer solstice. ERCG is a member of European Music Day


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