Planet Tree Music Festival, Hampstead
Grab a rug, flake out on the floor, and float on the music from the most comfortable place – flat on your back
Sandra and Jeroen Van Veen play to a relaxed audience on 19 October. Photo: Jan Van Gorselen
Out go the rows of seats, and in comes the most relaxing way to listen to music – flat out on the floor at the Planet Tree Music Festival.
Founder and composer Lawrence Ball aims to improve the experience of listening to live music by encouraging audiences to relax. It is hard, as many of us have discovered, to reach the higher plane that music often occupies when your bottom hurts and your ankles swell up. So for the six dates of the ninth festival, look out your cosiest blanket and bedsocks.
The festival opens (7 Oct) with the Italian pianist Carlo Grante, whose programme includes new pieces by Lawrence Ball, and by Keith Barnard. Like all but one of the concerts, it is in the Rosslyn Hill Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, Hampstead.
Barnard performs himself in a multimedia event the following Saturday (14 Oct), when he is joined by another Italian pianist and composer, Allessandra Celletti.
At All Hallows Church (15 Oct), in an afternoon concert, the Solem String Quartet with mezzo-soprano Catherine King and clarinettist Stephen Bennett play pieces by Celletti, Barnard and Bartok, and others.
Back at Rosslyn Hill Chapel (19 Oct), pianists Sandra and Jeroen Van Veen work for two pianos, four hands, including pieces by Jeroen himself, Ball and Max Richter.
The Trio D'Angelo play music by James D'Angelo in a programme that includes Arvo Paart's haunting Spiegel im Spiegel.
The festival ends (26 Oct) with Pataphysical Transmission, an Ambisonic Composers' Collective Surround relay. Maybe take a pillow too...
Tickets at £10 and £13 are sold on the door at each event. Book two events for £20.
Founder and composer Lawrence Ball aims to improve the experience of listening to live music by encouraging audiences to relax. It is hard, as many of us have discovered, to reach the higher plane that music often occupies when your bottom hurts and your ankles swell up. So for the six dates of the ninth festival, look out your cosiest blanket and bedsocks.
The festival opens (7 Oct) with the Italian pianist Carlo Grante, whose programme includes new pieces by Lawrence Ball, and by Keith Barnard. Like all but one of the concerts, it is in the Rosslyn Hill Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, Hampstead.
Barnard performs himself in a multimedia event the following Saturday (14 Oct), when he is joined by another Italian pianist and composer, Allessandra Celletti.
At All Hallows Church (15 Oct), in an afternoon concert, the Solem String Quartet with mezzo-soprano Catherine King and clarinettist Stephen Bennett play pieces by Celletti, Barnard and Bartok, and others.
Back at Rosslyn Hill Chapel (19 Oct), pianists Sandra and Jeroen Van Veen work for two pianos, four hands, including pieces by Jeroen himself, Ball and Max Richter.
The Trio D'Angelo play music by James D'Angelo in a programme that includes Arvo Paart's haunting Spiegel im Spiegel.
The festival ends (26 Oct) with Pataphysical Transmission, an Ambisonic Composers' Collective Surround relay. Maybe take a pillow too...
Tickets at £10 and £13 are sold on the door at each event. Book two events for £20.
TRY CULTURE WHISPER
Receive free tickets & insider tips to unlock the best of London — direct to your inbox
| What | Planet Tree Music Festival, Hampstead |
| Nearest tube | Hampstead (underground) |
| When |
06 Oct 17 – 26 Oct 17, times vary, six performances, two venues |
| Price | £10 - £13 |
| Website | http://lawrenceball.org/planet-tree-music-festival-no-9/ |