Please note, this event is now fully booked. Return tickets may be available on the door, shortly before the performance.
A concert dedicated to the piano works of composer Michael Parsons, performed by the composer alongside acclaimed new music interpreter Siwan Rhys (GBSR Duo).
For a digital version of the programme notes for this concert, please click here.
Parsons is a legendary figure in British music, co-founding (with Cornelius Cardew and Howard Skempton) the Scratch Orchestra, the collective who defined experimental music in the early 1970s, exploring text and graphic scores, an attitude of both playfulness and fervour, and an egalitarian approach to community music-making that still resonates today.
The music in evening's concert spans dates from the early 1960s right up to 2025, including examples of Parsons' Space/Time music, in which the exact coordination of the sounds are determined by the pianists' listening experience, and music in which the words of Samuel Beckett are translated into pitches on the piano keyboard. Tonight's concert precedes a second appearance by Michael Parsons and Siwan Rhys at the Rainy Days festival in Luxembourg, later in November.
Admission
General admission: £5 - please sign up to attend here.
Unwaged / concessions: Free admission - please sign up to attend here.
City Students / Staff: Free admission - please sign up to attend here.
Autumn Concerts at City
For details of other concerts this term, please see the event listings on the City St George's website.
Programme
Music by Michael Parsons:
- Piano Piece March 1968
- Space/Time Piano Piece September 2001
- Piano Piece 1962
- Oblique Piece 14 (2012)
- Piano Piece December 2000 for Philip Thomas
- Krapp Music (after Samuel Beckett) (version for 2 pianos, 2025):
- Prologue ('Thirty-nine today . . . ')
- Section 2 ('Just been listening ... ')
- Section 3 ('Her eyes closed . . . ')
- Epilogue ('Past midnight . . . ')
- Two Canons (1979, 2025)
- Oblique Pieces 2, 16, 21 (1996 - 2016)
- Jive, Jive 2 (1996)
- Space/Time February 2002 for Tania Chen and John Tilbury
About Michael Parsons
After taking a degree in Classics at St. John's College Oxford (1957-61), Michael Parsons studied composition at Royal College of Music with P. Racine Fricker (1961-2). Early music influenced by Schoenberg, Webern and European avant-garde of the 1950s. In 1969 he was co-founder with Cardew and Skempton of the Scratch Orchestra, collaborating with improvisors and performance artists from diverse backgrounds. Taught in art schools in London and Portsmouth (1970 - 90), formed a close association with the Systems group of visual artists. Renewed interest in indeterminacy and improvisation during the 1990s. Recent works include settings of Greek lyrics for the Finnish vocal ensemble Fiori, Saitenspiel for string orchestra (2020) and Levels for Orchestra ( BBC commission (2021-22).
About Siwan Rhys
Welsh pianist Siwan Rhys enjoys a varied career of solo, chamber, and ensemble work with a strong focus on contemporary music and collaboration with composers and other artists. Her work has taken her to venues including all the major London concert halls, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie de Paris, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, and Tokyo Opera City. She has appeared at the BBC Proms, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, MaerzMusik Berlin, Darmstadt Festival, Warsaw Autumn and many others. Her recordings include solo music by Barbara Monk Feldman, Ryoko Akama, James Weeks, and Mira Calix/John Cage, and chamber music by Lisa Illean, Oliver Leith, Alex Paxton, Stockhausen, Cassandra Miller, Eva-Maria Houben, Lawrence Dunn, and Steve Reich, featuring on labels such as NMC, Platoon, HCR, all that dust, Nonesuch, and Another Timbre. With percussionist George Barton, she makes up one half of award-winning piano-percussion duo GBSR Duo. She is also a member of new music groups Explore Ensemble and the Colin Currie Group, and works regularly with other ensembles including London Sinfonietta, London Symphony Orchestra, and Riot Ensemble.
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Performance Space
College Building
280 St John St
London EC1V 4PB
United Kingdom