A year on from its 150th birthday, the Royal Albert Hall is looking to the future with the announcement of four ‘associate artists’, who will create ambitious projects across the worlds of classical music, dance and spoken word.
Choreographer and filmmaker Corey Baker, saxophone player and presenter Jess Gillam, organist and conductor Anna Lapwood, and spoken-word performer LionHeart will headline shows, present exclusive commissions and run initiatives for young audiences as part of the scheme.
The project is part of a wider push around innovation and diversity at the legendary London venue, and aims to increase young people’s engagement with more traditional artforms. Lapwood’s involvement will include a focus on commissioning young female composers, while Baker’s work will champion climate action and sustainability. LionHeart’s priority is promoting mental health through immersive spectacle and self-expression, while Gillam hopes to celebrate the potential for music and speech to connect, unify and create communities – particularly with young people.
Lucy Noble, Artistic Director at the Hall, said: “This programme is about shining a light on this historic space – enabling old friends and new audiences to see it in a different way. We’re opening up the stage to these four fantastic artists, making it a place where we can challenge preconceptions, spotlight crucial contemporary issues, and inspire the next generation of creatives.”
Major auditorium events will include a headline performance from Gillam, and a poetry symposium led by LionHeart in autumn 2023 that builds on the Hall’s status as the site of the legendary International Poetry Incarnation ‘hippy happening’ in 1965, and host of the national poetry slam finals since 2016. He said: “I love the idea of the cultural impact that I can have on the wider community – not just on my own community.”
Lapwood, who will appear as a guest soloist at the venue’s 150th anniversary organ gala next summer, said: “The Royal Albert Hall organ is literally the most iconic instrument in the country, and it’s been a privilege to play it – but it shouldn’t just be for the privileged few. This instrument, this space, and classical music itself, is for everyone. With the associate artists programme, I’d like to help make that a reality, reinventing the organ and opening up this world to as many people as possible.”
Commissions will include an organ fanfare – to be performed at the beginning of many upcoming shows at the Hall – and organ and saxophone concertos. Other planned initiatives include installations, themed ‘lates’, and podcasts fronted by Gillam, who will also present a live showcase featuring teenage talent unearthed by the Hall’s ‘Future Makers’ scheme.
The saxophonist first came to the Hall on a school trip from Cumbria as a child and believes that an early introduction to the arts is critical if people are to feel welcome in ‘the magical world of music’. “The RAH is a place filled with stories and memories and everyone should feel that they can be part of the community created by the Hall,” she said.
Baker, meanwhile, is planning a series of radical performances and collaborations. He said: “Dance can be a really stuffy world, somewhere that’s for the supposed ‘elite’, and the Royal Albert Hall can be seen in the same way. I respect the Hall, I love it, but I’m excited by the chance to bring in a younger audience – and to make the place a bit dirtier.”
The associate artists programme is supported by the Thompson Family Charitable Trust.
