Celebrate 50 years of City of London Sinfonia, and many more years to come.
Our big birthday concert celebrates our musicians, legacy, present and future, with the revival of John Tavener’s The Hidden Face and the world premiere of a new piece by British-Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova, as well as modern chamber works performed around the Cathedral.
Tavener’s hypnotic and contemplative prayer, The Hidden Face, was commissioned by our founder, Richard Hickox, in 1996 – one of over 55 commissions in Hickox and the Orchestra’s legacy. In writing the piece, Tavener was inspired by the playing of oboist Nicholas Daniel and the voice of countertenor Michael Chance.
Our collaboration with Dobrinka Tabakova, known for her deeply moving and meditative compositions, began with our 2019 Cathedrals Tour of Centuries of Meditations. We're delighted to commission a new piece by Tabakova for our birthday celebration, as well as feature her Frozen River Flows for oboe and percussion.
‘This is CLS’ above all celebrates the outstanding musicianship of City of London Sinfonia musicians, with chamber music for brass, wind and strings completing our programme, including Carter’s dramatic A Fantasy about Purcell’s ‘Fantasia on one note’, Edmund Finnis’s ethereal The Centre is Everywhere, Peteris Vasks’s hopeful Music for the fleeting birds, and Vaughan Williams’s beloved Tallis Fantasia.