A new festival will be enlivening the City of London in October. The rather awkwardly named City Festival of Music, Invention & Knowledge runs from 10 to 24 October 2024 with a series of evening events from classical and jazz musicians plus free, Before They Are Famous lunchtime recitals. Taking its inspiration from the current Lord Mayor of London, Michael Mainelli’s Ligurian heritage, the festival has an Italian theme with a link-up with the Municipality of Genoa (Comune di Genoa) to bring the music of Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) into the City.
The festival’s opening concert, at the Mansion House, features British jazz pianist Julian Joseph and band in a programme mixing new pieces with improvised versions of scores by Bach and Paganini. There is another take on Paganini at Milton Court when Elisa Tomellini and Alberto Casadei – AKA Eklectric Duo – present Electric Paganini with versions of Paganini’s music alongside Vivaldi, Daft Punk and Coldplay.
Guitarist Josè Spanu will play an historic 19th Century instrument at St James Garlickhythe with sonatas by Paganini plus arrangements of Verdi and Rossini. Still with the guitar, but moving to the 21st century, Max Baillie (violin), Francisco Correa (guitar) and friends will present a programme focusing on the music of Stephen Goss including The Flower of Cities inspired by London landmarks.
The final day of the festival includes Nigel Short conducting Vivaldi’s Gloria with a collective of workplace choirs at St Lawrence Jewry, and in the evening there is music performed by Tenebrae, conductor Nigel Short, and violinist Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (leader of the London Symphony Orchestra) in Bach, Paganini and Dufay.
Alongside these events there complementary talks and workshops exploring music and the City itself.
The festival is curated by Ian Ritchie, who was director of the City of London Festival from 2005 until its demise in 2013, and produced by Tessa Marchington of Music in Offices. Full details from the festival website.
