Midsummer Street Party – the main stage

A riotous collection of artists representing the variety of colourful cultures in and around the Spitalfields area will be gearing up to take to the main stage at our Midsummer Street Party.

The performances kick off with a veritable gaggle of schoolchildren from local schools showcasing their singing talents. Next up brass group is the Gold Digger’s Brass Band who’s musical arrangements are completely original and not necessarily of tunes you would expect a brass band to play. The band draws its influence from legendary pop and soul artists such as Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson, performing in the style of some of today’s outstanding ‘second line’ and ‘street’ brass bands such as Youngblood Brass Band, Rebirth Brass Band and The Hackney Colliery Band. Expect quirky pop and funk covers with a New Orleans infused brass band twist!

She’Koyokh then takes to the stage in a stampede of sound – hailed as “Britain’s best klezmer and Balkan music band” (Songlines) and winners of the Netherlands’ International Jewish Music Festival competition, the band’s evolution spans the humble origins of busking at East London’s Columbia Road flower market to performing in the famous concert halls of Europe. She’Koyokh is a Yiddish expression meaning “nice one!”

Spitalfields Music’s very own vocal group Spitalfields Singers will sing highlights from their repertoire – a busy day for them as you will also be able to see them perform later in the evening in our final event in Bishop’s Square. A huge event aptly named Fire involving 150 singers, fire artists and a new work by David Bruce – definitely an unusual spectacle not to be missed!

Just as you think you should be winding down Rhythms of the City blaze onto the stage in a riotous explosion of sound and energy. One of the UK’s premier samba percussion squads the group perform not only authentic carnival samba, but many other funky styles (salsa, soca, reggae, funk, hiphop…) with the same passion and energy. Rhythms of the City is the beating heart of London’s multi-award winning jazz community the F-IRE Collective. Drummers, singers, dancers, horns and guitars combine in a unique spectacle to get you up and moving!

Our final event of the day is Street Dance the Maypole, produced by East London Dance. It’s a swirling, twirling, funky maypole fusion – you’ll be able to learn a funky street dance routine, mix it with folkie maypole moves all to the sound of an English bagpipe player and a beatboxer. Sound intriguing? We look forward to seeing your fancy footwork!

Kate Kelly
Programme Director: Festivals 

A ‘Fire’ starter

If you passed by the Attlee Youth & Community Centre last week you may have wondered – as did the guys who turned up for their usually quiet Tuesday evening football match – what was going on as scores of people poured in through the door. This was the first gathering of the “Fire choir”, coming together for some fun singing, to meet the composer David Bruce, and to give a section of his new commission Fire a whirl.

Sam Chaplin and the 'Fire' singers

The 96 amateur singers in attendance were in fine voice and quickly built up into part singing under the direction of chorus leader, Sam Chaplin. After a break to catch up with faces old and new it was time to tackle Fire. This they did with admirable ease, the section worked on coming together quickly and sounding very fine – which bodes well for the performances in June and July!

The more experienced in the group ably supported those new to choral singing, including one young woman who’d turned up for something else but got gathered into the fold. Her parting remark was “I never thought music could be fun; but I’ll be back!”

If you’d like to join her in giving at a whirl there are still places available, especially for male voices. To find out how to get involved contact Natalie Ellis on 020 7377 0287 or send an email.

Cathy Birch
Programme Manager: Learning & Participation 

Fire – A Festival Finisher

200 singers, horn ensemble, fire-artists and pyrotechnics in the open air of Spitalfields – it’s our Festival Finale, Fire!

Sample design for the performance of Fire by Mandy Dike & The World Famous

Fire is an exciting new work by David Bruce, and is the second of our PRS for Music Foundation New Music 20×12 performances this Summer. The piece uses texts from Vikram Seth and Yannai to revel in the spiritual relationship we as human beings have with fire, and we’ll be working with The Opera Group to bring this celebration alive in Spitalfields’ market area.

It’s also a unique opportunity to get further involved in this summer’s Festival, as we are looking for enthusiastic singers to join the chorus. If you would like to find out more download our e-flyer, or contact our Programme Manager: Learning & Participation, Natalie Ellis via email or phone 020 7377 0287.

In the meantime, do check out this video from composer David Bruce and The Opera Group all about Fire:

2012 Celebrations this Summer

With the Olympics coming to London this summer, we’ve lined up some exciting musical celebrations as part of the Summer Festival.

We’re pleased to be hosting performances of two new works from the PRS for Music Foundation’s New Music 20×12 commissioning scheme, which will open and close the Festival.

Ringing from the tower of Christ Church Spitalfields on Friday 8 June (and again on Saturday 23 June) will be Howard Skempton‘s Five Rings Triples, a new work for church bells celebrating public gathering. The work was premiered at the very start of the year in Kingston-upon-Thames and you can hear a short clip from the piece on the BBC website here.

Our second New Music 20×12 work comes from David Bruce and is called Fire. We’ll be posting more details soon about this new piece and how you can get involved in the performance!