April has been an incredibly busy month here at WildKat PR! Just in case you missed anything, here is a round-up of what we’ve been up to:
We were delighted to welcome Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival. It is the world’s largest festival of new opera and will return to King’s Cross from July for three weeks, with over 100 performances and 40 new works.
It seems we will have a very operatic summer as we welcome back composer Tim Benjamin. We worked with him last year on Madame X, an opera which was featured in the 2014 Grimeborn Festival at the Arcola Theatre. Tim is producing another opera this summer called ‘Life Stories’ at the Tête à Tête Festival and from there it will tour in the North of England.
We also started working with the Sacconi Quartet on their project HEARTFELT. They are quickly getting a name for themselves as the ‘digital string quartet’ with lots of interesting technology-focused projects happening on a regular basis. HEARTFELT is being performed at the Spitalfields Festival, the Bristol Proms and Lichfield Festival. But what exactly is so cool about the projects? The Sacconi Quartet is recognised for being a compelling ensemble, consistently communicating with a fresh and imaginative approach and so they know how to create exciting projects. HEARTFELT is an immersive, interactive performance that re-imagines a Beethoven quartet through robotics and audience responsive lighting design.
We are also very pleased to introduce you to Mahler Chamber Orchestra who have recently signed with us. They are due to play three times at the annual BBC Proms with their Artistic Partner and Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. Together they will perform all five of Beethoven’s piano concertos, which will represent the end of their wider project ‘The Beethoven Journey’ which has spanned four years.
We attended a lot of exciting events in April which included Ensemble BPM’s performance of Steve Reich and Beryl Korot’s Three Tales which achieve reviews in the Financial Times, The Times and The Arts Desk. This was the first ever opera performed live in an IMAX Theatre and took place at the Science Museum. The second of the two nights (22 and 24 April) was sold out! The Ensemble want their work to illuminate the sights and sounds of an increasingly complex world: they certainly delighted a big audience.
Turning our attention to New York, a real highlight as was Danielle Schwob‘s world premiere performance of her new work Three Self Portraits in Brooklyn NYC. Danielle Schwob and John Zorn were joined by Vicky Chow, Jennifer Choi, and Michael Nicolas.
Launches were clearly en vogue this month as we attended lot of them in the last few weeks such as the launch event of Musical Orbit. Shortly after, Tom Service at the Guardian wrote an article about it saying that Musical Orbit is a great idea for offering one-on-one tutorials with top professionals.
Of course, WildKat PR also attended an event hosted by the fabulous After Nyne Magazine. The Magazine combines culture, lifestyle, arts, style and music so it was great to meet the editorial team properly and celebrate the first print issue with some drinks in a lovely gallery.
On 23 April we celebrated our birthday but there was no time for partying too much as Ensemble Perpetuo gave a concert on 25 April at 47/49 Tanner Street. As an ensemble specialising in multi-art form collaborations, they give a new meaning to performances of both classical and contemporary music. They are known for taking music to unexpected venues and drawing in new audiences to share in their love for music as one experienced at Tanner Street. They played music inspired by cities, and the event included city-themed photography from the London Photo Festival, Art by Caroline Mackenzie and Tom Pearce and choreography by Lucia Sweigert. Read the review by LDN Card.
In times of so many brillant musicians it is not easy to find an individual voice and to get attention from a bigger audience. The virtuoso violinist Eric Silberger is one of these musicians combining both splendid technical skills and musicality which made his London debut with the Philharmonic Orchestra very special. Bachtrack and Classicalsource reported from the concert. Eric also released his video of Paganini’s 24th Caprice last month with all the variations layered on top of each other – it’s had almost 16,000 views on Youtube now!
Encouraging new audiences, especially in terms of classical music is not that easy. Orpheus Sinfonia‘s conductor Thomas Carroll spoke about their Beneath the Score Series on BBC Radio 3 In Tune ahead of their concert The People’s Politics on 28 April. The concert also received a 4 star review from LDN card. Orpheus Sinfonia’s second Networking for Young Professionals event also took place at this concert, continuing to encourage new audiences to engage with classical music. During April, Thomas was also interviewed by the Mayfair Times and it was great to have this support from a publication based in the same area that they are resident in.
As well as being busy in London and New York, in Berlin our team attended one of the brilliant Haydn nights with Radiale Nacht – Il filosofo at Radialsystem V on 8th May. As the project Haydn 2032 is a huge work in progress, these nights offer an opportunity to get to know the project: conductor Giovanni Antonini, Bernhard Lassahn and Christian Moritz-Bauer gave lectures, were interviewed and talked to the audience. On 8th May, Il Giardino armonico under Giovanni Antonini played symphonies by both Joseph Haydn and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach which were received with massive applause.
With all the fantastic new clients who have recently joined us, as well as the BBC Proms, Tête à Tête: The Opera Festival and other annual highlights, it looks like a busy summer for WildKat PR.
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