Shades Lengthen in Hackney

On Thursday 10 December 2015, violinist Benjamin Beilman and the London Contemporary Orchestra give the premiere of Edmund Finnis' Shades Lengthen at the Church of St John at Hackney. The work has been commissioned by the music education charity, London Music Masters and will also be performed in a private free pre-concert for the London Music Masters children and some local primary school children from the Hackney area, when children will also be performing a response to Finnis' Shades Lengthen which they have composed themselves in a series of workshops with the London Contemporary Orchestra. The evening concert is woven around Edmund Finnis' piece with a programme of Saariaho, Pärt, Cage and plainchant.

Using the venue, the Church of St John at Hackney, the concert takes the themes of stillness, dusk, Compline and the closing of the day. Performed by the London Contemporary Orchestra and choir, the programme begins and ends with plainchant, then cellist Oliver Coates performs Kaija Saariaho's Sept Papillons. Also in the programme is Arvo Pärt's Annum per annum and John Cage's In a Landscape. At the centre will be Edmund Finnis' Shades Lengthen, played by Benjamin Beilman who is London Music Masters Award Holder. Finnis is Composer in Association with the London Contemporary Orchestra and has written a number of pieces for them.

Further information and tickets from the London Contemporary Orchestra's website.