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Nonclassical @ the MacBeth

Live performance from upcoming percussion quartet: Sankorfa
+ Guest DJ Christopher Mayo (Camberwell Composer's Collective)
Hosted by Resident DJ/Composer Gabriel Prokofiev

Wednesday 1st October 2008
8pm - 1am
£5/4

Facebook Event : http://www.new.facebook.com/event.php?eid=25768402861
Myspace : http://www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic

//////////////////////
The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
London N1 6LP
8pm - 1am [nearest tube Old St]
//////////////////////////////

//////////////// Presenting Cutting Edge Contemporary Music which Breaks
Convention and showcases London's most up and coming performers ///////////////


Sankorfa is led by four of the United Kingdom's most exciting young musicians. Formed whilst they were students at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Sankorfa has developed a reputation for innovation and sophistication in performance and education. They are equally at home performing in recital halls and night clubs, and have delivered masterclasses and workshops to students of all ages.

Sankorfa's initial repertoire was established through performances of the percussion ensemble music of John Cage, Steve Reich, Toru Takemitsu, and Iannis Xenakis. Whilst these composers remain central within Sankorfa's repertoire, the ensemble perform all of the major works of the percussion ensemble tradition and regularly commission and premiere new works. Furthermore, Sankorfa has forged a distinctive sound by incorporating their own compositions and improvisations into their performances. These compositions, many of which will soon be released on their new CD, constitute the majority of the repertoire which Sankorfa performs in night clubs.
MySpace – www.myspace.com/sankorfa
Website – www.sankorfa.com

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Christopher Mayo is a Canadian composer living and working in London. He was the recipient of the 2005 Royal Philharmonic Society Composition prize and a Serge Garant Award in the 2005 SOCAN Awards for Young Composers. Christopher was appointed as the first composer-in-residence at Tatton Park in 2006-2007. He is a member of the Camberwell Composers' Collective who will be New Music Associates at Kettle's Yard in Cambridge for the 2008-2009 season.

http://www.christophermayo.net/

http://www.camberwellcomposerscollective.com/



/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Be part of a new approach to classical music.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
nonclassical: music that is classical & not classical; taking
inspiration from baroque, techno, grime, classical, avante garde;
presenting it informal & relevant situations.
//////////////////////////////////////////////

Website : http://www.nonclassical.co.uk/
Myspace : http://www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic

//////////////////////

Available at all good record stores, for download, and on the night:

John Mathias & Nuck Ryan's 'Cortical Songs'.
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.1
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
GeNIA/John Richards Suite for Piano and Electronics.

| www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic | www.nonclassical.co.uk
|www.youtube.com/nonclassicalrecords

//////////////////////////////////////////

Nonclassical @ the MacBeth
Nonclassical Returns to the MacBeth to kick off its New 08/09 Series Featuring Max Baillie (Violin) and Surahata Susso (Kora)
Hosted by Resident DJ/Composer Gabriel Prokofiev
Support TBC
Wednesday 3rd September
8pm
£5/4

Facebook Event : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=71645450611

////////////////Presenting Cutting Edge Contemporary Music which Breaks
Convention and showcases London's most up and coming performers///////////////

Nonclassical returns to the MacBeth following an exciting summer which has seen the release of 'Cortical Songs', DJ set's in New York, and performances at Time out's on the up festival.


'A magical meeting of two string traditions that date back centuries, that of the West African Kora (harp/lute) and the violin, Max Baillie and Surahata Susso present a beautiful dialogue interweaving Mandinka spirituals with Baroque dance music. From the serene to the bouncy, these two virtuosos of both melody and rhythm have performed at some of the world's leading stages. Between them, these include Carnegie Hall, the Royal Albert Hall, and festival performances from WOMAD to Glastonbury, and internationally.'

www.myspace.com/maxbaillie
///////////////////////////////////////////////////

A new generation of performers, composers and promoters are starting to
emerge from the world of contemporary classical music who are keen to
redefine the rules of classical music and are determined that classical
music is no longer solely aired within the constraints of the concert
hall. Classical music can be part of everyone's lives and this night is
part of rediscovering of its relevance.

Nonclassical is a unique, innovative record label, releasing classical
music in an unexpected and very refreshing way, including genre-busting
Remixes along-side original contemporary classical works.

Please check out our new website at www.nonclassical.co.uk

/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Be part of a new approach to classical music.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
nonclassical: music that is classical & not classical; taking
inspiration from baroque, techno, grime, classical, avante garde;
presenting it informal & relevant situations.
//////////////////////////////////////////////

Website : http://www.nonclassical.co.uk/
Myspace : http://www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic

//////////////////////
The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
London N1 6LP
8pm - 1am [nearest tube Old St]
//////////////////////////////

Available at all good record stores, for download, and on the night:

The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.1
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
GeNIA/John Richards Suite for Piano and Electronics.

Current Releases: (April 2008) John Mathias & Nick Ryans 'Cortical Songs'
Featuring remixes by Tom Yorke (Radiohead), Simon Tong (TGTBATQ,
Gorillaz) John Maclean (The Beta Band, The Aliens) Simon Jones and Nick
MacCabe (The Verve) and Gabriel Prokofiev.


| www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic | www.nonclassical.co.uk
|www.youtube.com/nonclassicalrecords

Hi Folks,
Thank you to everyone who came down to the Vocal special in June. It was a very successful night, with some amazing performances from Juice, Kathleen Garner, Richard Lannoy and Mikhail Karikis. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

The night was part of a wonderful double page feature in the times last Friday by Femke Colborne. I have posted it on the nonclassical myspace blog.
(http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=99726796&blogID=406970919).

Please check out next week's event below, please email or confirm on facebook/myspace for concessions list. Its going to be a great night with a new contemporary quartet performing their take on both contemporary classical music and film music.

See you there!

Andy
nonclassical
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Nonclassical @ the MacBeth
Wedneday 2nd July
Featuring Guest DJ's Dead & Alive (Resonance FM)
With Live performances from the Raven Quartet
8pm – 1am (Live music from 9pm)
£5/4

////////////////


The Raven Quartet is fast gaining a reputation for their inventive interpretation of classical repertoire.

Raven's non-classical concert theme of modern film music incorporates work from composers such as Clint Mansell, Brian Eno and Jon Brion while reworking classic pieces of Vivaldi and Bartok. Viola player and resident composer Natalie Holt creates original arrangements of all their pieces.
(www.myspace.com/raven)

Dead & Alive Josh Meggit & Tim Winter bring their uncomprosing contemporary classical Dj set (plus laptop improv.) to nonclassical @ the MacBeth for the last time.

(http://www.dead-and-alive-radio.blogspot.com/)

//////////////////////
The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
London N1 6LP
8pm - 1am [nearest tube Old St]
/////////////////////////////////////////

| www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic | www.nonclassical.co.uk |
www.youtube.com/nonclassicalrecords

/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Be part of a new approach to classical music.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
nonclassical: music that is classical & not classical; taking
inspiration from baroque, techno, grime, classical, avante garde;
presenting it informal & relevant situations.
//////////////////////////////////////////////


Overview of the night / label

A new generation of performers, composers and promoters are starting to emerge from the world of contemporary classical music who are keen to redefine the rules of classical music and are determined that classical music is no longer solely aired within the constraints of the concert hall. Classical music can be part of everyone's lives and this night is part of rediscovering of its relevance.

Nonclassical is a unique, innovative record label, releasing classical
music in an unexpected and very refreshing way, including genre-busting Remixes along-side original contemporary classical works.

Available at all good record stores, for download, and on the night:

The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.1
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
GeNIA/John Richards Suite for Piano and Electronics.

Next Release: (July 2008) John Mathias & Nick Ryans 'Cortical Songs'
Featuring remixes by Tom Yorke (Radiohead), Simon Tong (TGTBATQ,
Gorillaz) John Maclean (The Beta Band, The Aliens) Simon Jones and Gabriel Prokofiev.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4121930.ece
From The Times
June 13, 2008
by Femke Colborne

Gabriel Prokofiev's Nonclassical club night breaks with tradition
Club nights are taking the starch out of live classical music

The girl taking tickets on the door is wearing odd stockings. It's the middle of June, but one of the bar staff is sporting a woolly hat, complete with a strategically draped bobble. It's 9.30pm on a Wednesday night at the Macbeth on Hoxton Street, and this is exactly the kind of crowd you'd expect to find in this terrifyingly trendy corner of East London. It's not what you'd expect at a classical music concert, though.

But this is no ordinary classical music concert. Nonclassical, run by Gabriel Prokofiev, DJ, producer, composer and grandson of the great Sergei, is a monthly classical club night that mixes live performances from instrumentalists and singers with sets from electronica DJs. Talking during the performances is not frowned upon – in fact, it's positively encouraged – and drinks are served at the bar throughout the night.

The event is just one of a host of classical club nights springing up in cities across the country, aimed at younger punters who are open to classical music but deterred by the formality of the traditional concert hall. According to Prokofiev, young people are put off going to formal concerts because they don't know what to wear or when to clap, and hate being forced to sit in silence throughout a performance.

He shunned the classical tradition after studying composition in Birmingham and York, turning instead to the underground electronica circuit. "I got very frustrated because I knew that at least 50 per cent of the people who came to hear my music had white hair and the other 50 per cent would all be composers or academics themselves," he says. "I wanted my friends to hear my music. Classical music has kept itself isolated in a lot of ways. It's time to loosen up and take a look around and stop being afraid to embrace other genres."

It's not the first time that classical music has migrated to a club. In 2001 there was the launch of the Siren Suite, mixing dance music with Satie, Stock-hausen or Cage. But attempts to bring classical music to new, younger audiences have often ended in ridicule. When This Isn't For You, a series of themed hour-long chamber music programmes at Shoreditch Town Hall, started in January 2006, Gramophone magazine neatly concluded: "It really wasn't for me." And when the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment started its "informal" Night Shift series last year, critics found it contrived, a self-conscious halfway house between the formal concert hall and an informal style that didn't really work.

Prokofiev's event feels much more natural. Most of the crowd at the Macbeth are not new to classical music; they are either students or working in the music industry. But they are almost all under 30. And apart from the odd icy glance towards the bar when there is a particularly loud crash of glasses, they seem very much at ease with this new format. This vocal night consists of short sets of around ten minutes each, incorporating everything from traditional classical songs to throat-singing and beatboxing.

Juice, a three-piece contemporary classical vocal ensemble, perform a number of works by composers in the audience, including one by Richard Barnard based on real and synthesized recordings of birdsong. A soprano, Kathleen Garner, serves up a helping of Stravinsky and Villa-Lobos, and an experimental vocalist and visual artist, Mikhail Karikis, performs some of his own works, including the strangely compelling Untitled in Cof Minor, which includes meditative droning alongside a bout of coughing. With the performances in full swing, the punters discuss the music, order drinks and even throw in the odd wolf-whistle. If I'd turned up at the last instalment, I'm told that I would have been rubbing shoulders with Björk.

Will Vollar Bell, a student at the London College of Music, with a swath of wild curly hair tucked lopsidedly under a black cap, says: "You feel closer to the music in this kind of environment. It's the same with any kind of music – if you go and see someone play at Wembley Stadium you're not going to get as much out of it as if you see them in a small club."

Now, more than two years since its slightly shaky start, This Isn't For You is about to move to a larger venue in the new arts complex at Kings Place when it opens in October. The Night Shift is still going strong. And there are similar nights springing up in pubs and clubs all over the UK. Juice had performed at an electronica gig the night before and as part of ElektroStatic in the bar of Colston Hall in Bristol the previous week. "We are doing more and more of the club stuff," says Kerry Andrew, of Juice. "There's a real demand for this stuff."

If I were a traditional concert promoter, I'd be rushing to the nearest board-room to try and work out how this kind of atmosphere can be recreated. Prokofiev points out that it takes time to build audiences for something new, but it looks as if he and his contemporaries may be laying the first bricks.

When Matt Fretton set up This Isn't For You, he realised he was in uncharted territory. "I felt it needed to be done," he says. "Someone had to take the initiative and look at the way classical music was being presented. I hated the fact that people were not allowed to clap or make any noise during concerts. And I don't like the ridiculous waiters' outfits. Musicians are not there to serve people; they are artists and should be respected."

Fretton wanted to strip away all the trappings associated with classical music so that only the bare essentials remained: "You've got an audience, performers and music, and that's it," he says. "We took out the seating and the interval, which is pointless anyway. Why should it be so awfully formalised? You throw down a terrible glass of wine and then you're ordered back to your seat."

The new series at Kings Place will be much the same format, only in a bigger space with proper ticketing – and, of course, a bar. "That's absolutely essential," Fretton says. "If people think, 'I can't stand any more of that Conlon Nancarrow,' they can just go and get a drink. In an art gallery, no one's going to force you to stand in front of a painting you don't like for half an hour. The respect between the audiences and the musicians has to be natural, not enforced."

The classical club approach lends itself particularly well to music that sits towards the avant-garde end of the classical scale. It feels very much at home against a backdrop of chinking glasses and psychedelic lampshades. Another popular night, Rational Rec, which started life in Bethnal Green Working Men's Club, blends contemporary composition with visual and performance art and literature.

But the classical club night is not limited to contemporary music. The Yorkshire Grey, a postwork waterhole in Holborn, has been hosting monthly chamber music performances since January. Here, the repertoire is much more traditional (a violinist and pianist play Bach and Schubert) and the crowd much better behaved, but this is still not your average chamber music performance. Two halves of 20 minutes each are separated by a 30-minute interval, and again, drinks are served throughout.

Harmonic at the Arts Club on Dover Street in Mayfair also sticks to a more traditional, core classical format. Begun this year by Steve Abbott, of the artist management agency Bedlam Management, it has attracted performers such as the violinist Nicola Benedetti, the soprano Danielle De Niese and Julian Lloyd Webber, and draws crowds of around 300 each month. It combines chamber music in one room with a classical music DJ in the bar next door.

"The fact that a lot of people are doing this is a reflection of the fact that a lot of young people are feeling very alienated by the traditional way in which classical music is presented," Abbott says.

As I leave the Macbeth to catch the last Tube home, Juice are on their third set of the night. People have started dancing. On the way out I pick up a beer-soaked flier advertising another classical night, Blank Canvas, at 93 Feet East on Brick Lane in July. The revolution marches on.

Next Nonclassical night, July 2 2008: www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic

We would like to thank eddy lawrence and jonathon lennie for their feature on nonclassical @ the macbeth...

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Nonclassical @ the MacBeth
Vocal Special
Wedneday 4th June
8pm
£5/4

////////////////Presenting Cutting Edge Songs & Vocal Works which Break
Convention and Celebrate The Versatility of the Human
Voice///////////////

//////////////////////
The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
London N1 6LP
8pm - 1am [nearest tube Old St]
/////////////////////////////////////////


Featuring/////////////The Juice Vocal Ensemble

Laura Moody////Solo Voice & Cello (The Elysain Quartet)////
Theatrical & Experimental Song////

The 'Three & Easy' Trio////Soprano Voice, Guitar &, Keyboard//////
Classical and Contemporary songs////

Richard Lannoy///
World Premier of New Work for Tenor & Guitar/////

Guest DJ//////Richard Lannoy, Bar-tok/////
Hosted by Resident DJ/Composer Gabriel Prokofiev

/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Be part of a new approach to classical music.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
nonclassical: music that is classical & not classical; taking
inspiration from baroque, techno, grime, classical, avante garde;
presenting it informal & relevant situations.
//////////////////////////////////////////////


Overview of the night / label

A new generation of performers, composers and promoters are starting to
emerge from the world of contemporary classical music who are keen to
redefine the rules of classical music and are determined that classical
music is no longer solely aired within the constraints of the concert
hall. Classical music can be part of everyone's lives and this night is
part of rediscovering of its relevance.

Nonclassical is a unique, innovative record label, releasing classical
music in an unexpected and very refreshing way, including genre-busting
Remixes along-side original contemporary classical works.

Available at all good record stores, for download, and on the night:

The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.1
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
GeNIA/John Richards Suite for Piano and Electronics.

Next Release: (April 2008) John Mathias & Nick Ryans 'Cortical Songs'
Featuring remixes by Tom Yorke (Radiohead), Simon Tong (TGTBATQ,
Gorillaz) John Maclean (The Beta Band, The Aliens) Simon Jones and Nick
MacCabe (The Verve) and Gabriel Prokofiev.


| www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic | www.nonclassical.co.uk |
www.youtube.com/nonclassicalrecords

Hosted By: nonclassical
When: 07 May 2008, 20:30
Where: The MacBeth
70 Hoxton Street
London, London and South East|66 N16LP
United Kingdom
Description:
nonclassical

Click Here To View Event

This month's Nonclassical night is not to be missed.... A preview of "Cortical Songs" by John Matthias and Nick Ryan
Forthcoming release on Nonclassical Records - released 23rd June 2008


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Wednesday 7th May
Nonclassical @ The MacBeth
LAUNCH of Nick Ryan and John Matthias' 'Cortical Songs'
Support by Harpist Tom Moth of 'Lunamoth'
With Guest DJ Adrian Corker
Hosted by resident DJ/Composer Gabriel Prokofiev.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The MacBeth
70 Hoxton St.
London N1 6LP
8pm - 1am [nearest tube Old St]
£5/4
////////////////////////////////////////////


Nonclassical's fourth release is something rather special indeed.

Cortical Songs is a work in four movements for string ensemble and solo violin written by John Matthias and Nick Ryan in which the orchestra is partially controlled by a tiny computer brain. Cortical Songs features the String Ensemble of Trinity College of Music, conducted by Nic Pendlebury with the solo violin played by John Matthias and live interactive programming by Nick Ryan.

Cortical Songs is remixed by Thom Yorke, Simon Tong (Gorillaz / The Good The Bad & The Queen), Simon Jones & Nick McCabe (The Verve), John Maclean (The Beta Band / The Aliens), Gabriel Prokofiev, and others.

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After a successful 2007/2008 nonclassical series at the MacBeth, with performances from artists such as The Elysian Quartet, John Richards and
'Dead & Alive' (Resonance FM), nonclassical will be returning to the MacBeth on May the 7th to preview the artists and a selection of music From its forthcoming release 'Cortical Songs'.

Hosted by resident DJ/Composer Gabriel Prokofiev, the night will see 'Cortical Songs' composers John Matthias and Nick Ryan utilizing their album concepts in a new live performance format.

The performance will include John Mathias on solo violin, supported by Nick Ryan and Andy Prior performing live interactive programming with a
live improvised double bass.

Lunamoth will be performing on solo harp with electronics and samples. A classically trained harpist, Lunamouth is a South-London based
collective fronted by harpist & songwriter, Tom Moth. Founded in 1999, Tom had previously been performing as part of the band Tearso but went
into self-imposed exile after the bands demise. Following two self-released albums (Mothmusic Vol.1 - 2000 & Scar Diaries - 2001),
Lunamoth's first single, "Squirrels...Yeah!" was released through Big Square records in Summer 2003 and was described by IDJ magazine as
"frankly bizzarre, but utterly ace". Lunamoth's cover version of Bjork's "Army Of Me" was chosen by Bjork herself to be featured on a charity
compilation of covers and re-mixes of that particular song.

A new generation of performers, composers and promoters are starting to emerge from the world of contemporary classical music who are keen to
redefine the rules of classical music and are determined that classical music is no longer solely aired within the constraints of the concert
hall. Classical music can be part of everyone's lives and this night is part of rediscovering of its relevance.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////
Be part of a new approach to classical music.
///////////////////////////////////////////////
nonclassical: music that is classical & not classical; taking inspiration from baroque, techno, grime, classical, avante garde; presenting it informal & relevant situations.
//////////////////////////////////////////////

Available at all good record stores, for download, and on the night:

The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.1
The Elysian Quartet/ Gabriel Prokofiev String Quartet No.2
GeNIA/John Richards Suite for Piano and Electronics.

Next Release: (July 2008) John Mathias & Nick Ryans 'Cortical Songs' Featuring remixes by Tom Yorke (Radiohead), Simon Tong (TGTBATQ,
Gorillaz) John Maclean (The Beta Band, The Aliens)
Simon Jones and Nick MacCabe (The Verve) Gabriel Prokofiev (nonclassical records)

| www.myspace.com/nonclassicalmusic | www.nonclassical.co.uk | www.youtube.com/nonclassicalrecords