Born out of the local garden concerts we organised after lockdown in the summer of 2020, the Islington Festival aims to recreate the community spirit that inspired us during that time and bring people together to experience high-quality live music and art, in different venues throughout the Borough of Islington.
The 5th Islington Festival of Music and Art will take place in July, a 10-day explosion of wonderful live music, from Friday the 11th until Sunday the 20th, in magical venues throughout the Borough. Adopting the theme of “Simple Gifts” from Copland’s Appalachian Spring, we will present lots of pieces that were written as dedications. From musical love letters to sounds of remembrance, passing through some commissions too, we will take you through some inspired musical gifts that celebrate friends, mentors and patrons. The Festival opens and closes with concerts highlighting American music: we start with one of the most famous pieces of music ever written – George Gershwin’s dazzling RHAPSODY IN BLUE, and in complete contrast, we finish with an almost entirely unknown work by the American female composer, Florence Price – her PIANO QUINTET, which includes a spectacular Juba, a Dance from the Deep South. We welcome back several Festival Favourites: Kati (baroque violin), Dmitrii (piano), Sol (jazz quartet), and are delighted to showcase many new and talented musicians who will play or sing throughout this celebration of wonderful live art and culture. In total, the Festival has 43 performers, 41 composers, and 15 concerts in 10 venues. 2 of Islington’s famous churches book-end the Festival: St. Mary’s in Upper Street, and Christ Church, Highbury. In between we will visit 3 new venues – Holy Trinity Church (in partnership with The Florence Trust), Old Sessions House (a former Court House) and After Noah – as well as returning to the intimate Little Angel Theatre for 2 Late Night concerts. The first weekend is dedicated to Angel Central, which will host events concerts in the Piazza. Starting with the walking concert on Saturday and continuing with a Swing Sunday - There will 2 Swing Dance classes with Tutors from SWING PATROL, which are FREE to attend, and this is followed by the Sol Grimshaw Jazz Quartet with “The Spirit of Swing,drawing influences from New Orleans” We celebrate London’s Theatreland, with “An Evening at the Musicals – fromthe West End to Broadway” featuring famous hits from Carousel, Phantom, South Pacific and many more. Due to popular demand, we decided to double the Coffee Morning concerts and the Yoga with Harp sessions. This year we will be visiting 2 Culpeper pubs – The Green, Clerkenwell, and The Duke Organic, where the sounds of Beethoven and Haydn will resonate, and we will be back at Arc Collective for the Yoga with Live Harp on both weekends. As well as Beethoven, you can enjoy Bach, Bernstein and Brahms, Debussy, Dowland and Dvořák. There are many more: Boulanger, Paquito, Takemitsu, Turina... We celebrate the Anniversaries of 2 French composers: Maurice Ravel and Georges Bizet, and you can hear music by 5 living composers too! Jazz, Folk, Musicals, Classical, Renaissance, Contemporary…the list is long and lovely! Islington awaits: come and join us for what promises to be a spectacular line-up of music and performers. See you there!
