BBC Concert Orchestra: Streets of America
From West Side Story to Biden’s America: Kwamé Ryan shares the USA’s untold stories, including the UK premiere of a piece by Gabriel Kahane.
What brings you here? Have you ever been evicted? Have you ever been denied a lease or loan? The American composer Gabriel Kahane didn’t have any answers until he started talking to the homeless of contemporary America.
emergency shelter intake form is his response: a very modern oratorio, performed for the first time in the UK by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
The classical tradition collides with the voices – and the lived experience – of homeless people and the result is passionate, direct and startlingly sincere.
Conductor Kwamé Ryan opens with two more American cityscapes: West Side Story is as thrilling now as it was in 1957, but the tragedy at its heart is as raw, and as real, as ever.
Performers
- BBC Concert Orchestra
- Kwamé Ryan conductor
- Alicia Hall Moran soprano
- Gabriel Kahane singer
- Holland Andrews singer
- Holcombe Waller singer
- The Choir With No Name
Repertoire
- Jennifer Higdon: Skyline from City Scape
- Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story
- Interval
- Gabriel Kahane: emergency shelter intake form (UK premiere)
Need to know
For ages 7+
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Dates & times
Price
- Standard entryFrom £15*
- Concessions25%**
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
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** Limited availability. Read about concessions.
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Classical Music: Autumn/Winter 2023/24
As part of our classical music multi-buy offer, book multiple Autumn/Winter 2023/24 concerts in the same transaction to receive a discount:
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Discounts apply to selected events, September 2023 – January 24 inclusive. Offer can't be combined with the Spring/Summer 2023 multi-buy.
Venue
Queen Elizabeth Hall
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More information
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A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.
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