A song recital with a difference: words and music explode in an exploration of challenge and protest in art song, with an all-star line-up of pianist Allyson Devenish, soprano Nardus Williams, baritone Roderick Williams and poet Rommi Smith.
Protest songs by Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Richard Strauss, Benjamin Britten, Nadia Boulanger, Errollyn Wallen, Kit & The Widow and many more are contextualised by readings from poet and performance artist Rommi Smith, who will be our guide through the maelstrom of debate, dissent, dissemblance and decency.
The evening plays out in the ‘actors church’ of London’s Shakespearean theatreland, Shoreditch, itself a building with a history of protest: in 1574, entertainers gathered here and demonstrated against a ban on playhouses.
Nardus Williams soprano
Roderick Williams baritone
Allyson Devenish piano
Rommi Smith poet and narrator
Lladel Bryant narrator
Duration: 75 minutes
With the friendly support of
This concert is dedicated to the memory of John Critchley, a long-time friend to Spitalfields Music
