LIVE From London Spring

13 February - 22 April 2021

https://voces8.foundation/livefromlondon-spring

“Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again” (Mahler). As the world blossomed and stretched around us, LIVE From London Spring opened the metaphorical door to a cornucopia of concert treats celebrating love, new life and hope. Blossomed from Valentine’s Day through Passiontide, International Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, and culminated in a flourishing of creativity for Earth Day, the festival sowed the seeds for a summer of re-growth.

From the Passing of the Year with Jonathan Dove and VOCES8, Paul Smith’s family concert creation The Winter House with Stephen Fry and the Academy of Ancient Music, to I Fagiolini’s Re-Wilding The Waste Land narrated by Tamsin Greig, the festival featured a stunning line-up of ensembles and soloists opening vistas to fresh landscapes whilst also treading much-loved paths of works such as Bach B Minor Mass, Barber Dover Beach, Allegri Miserere and Fauré Requiem.

Including Stile Antico, Dame Emma Kirkby & friends, the English Chamber Orchestra, Jason Max Ferdinand introducing his new group, VOCES8, Apollo5, Academy of Ancient Music and I Fagiolini, additions to the festival family included star pianist Joanna MacGregor in her new programme Soul of a Woman, the Carducci Quartet, and a host of superb soloists including Carolyn Sampson, Iestyn Davies, Rachel Podger, Jonathan Dove, Helen Charlston, Jeremy Budd, Matthew Brook and Frederick Long.

LIVE From London Spring celebrated young talent, community and diversity and included the world premieres of new commissions by Joanna Marsh, Shruthi Rajasekar and Ben Rowarth, and new arrangements of Nina Simone, Eleanor Alberga and Mary Lou Williams by Joanna MacGregor. The festival was filmed live from VOCES8’s stunning church and from venues across the world.