KINGS PLACE ANNOUNCE 2027 SEASON, INCLUDING ORIGINS UNWRAPPED: THE STORIES BEHIND THE MUSIC
- Origins Unwrapped reveals the personal stories of heritage, identity, migration and cultural tradition behind the music artists create and champion today
- Artist-in-Residence Alice Zawadzki, Guest Curator Keval Shah and Composer-in-Focus Nico Muhly announced as key creative voices for Origins Unwrapped, with dedicated series throughout the year
- Beethoven by Heart, a Kings Place co-production with Sacconi Quartet and Tom Morris, brings audiences closer to Beethoven’s final string quartets through performances from memory in an intimate theatrical setting
- New long-term artistic partnerships announced with Phaedra Ensemble, Festival Voices and Kings Place Jazz Orchestra, and Venus Blazing Music Trust becomes Community Associate
- American music across centuries and genres forms major strand of the classical and jazz programmes, alongside a folk focus on Canada and Quebec
- Artists involved for 2027 season include Attacca Quartet, Aurora Orchestra, Alim Beisembayev, Breabach, Britten Sinfonia, Junyan Chen, Chineke!, Iestyn Davies, Fretwork, Le Vent du Nord, Mary Gauthier, Zubin Kanga, Amrit Kaur, Olivia Murphy, Pekka Kuusisto, Alexandra Ridout, Jasdeep Singh Degun, Giacomo Smith, The Tallis Scholars, Joe Webb and more
- Kings Place commissions first major solo piano work by Gavin Bryars, performed by Charles Owen – other commissions and premieres include new works from Macie Stewart and Alice Zawadzki
Tickets on sale from midday on Friday 25 September – kingsplace.co.uk
Kings Place today [25 September] announces its 2027 season, including the next instalment of its award-winning Unwrapped concertseries with Origins Unwrapped. Featuring new co-productions, commissions and premieres alongside beloved masterpieces across classical, jazz and folk, the 2027 season demonstrates Kings Place’s commitment to adventurous programming and presenting powerful artistic experiences across a wide range of genres.
Sam McShane, Artistic Director of Kings Place, said: “At the heart of Origins Unwrapped is a simple idea: that understanding the people, experiences and influences behind great artists and composers can deepen our experience of music itself. Throughout the season, world-class artists share the personal journeys, traditions and creative encounters that have shaped their work, offering audiences new ways to discover music spanning centuries, genres and continents.”
Origins Unwrapped
The latest in Kings Place’s award-winning series, Origins Unwrapped invites audiences to discover the stories, traditions and experiences that have shaped the artists they encounter on the venue’s stages. Throughout the season, artists reflect on heritage and identity, migration and belonging, folklore and cultural tradition, revealing how creativity is shaped by the movement of people, the exchange of ideas and the connections we form across generations and communities. Origins Unwrapped is generously supported by the Parabola Foundation.
Grammy-nominated American composer Nico Muhly features as Composer-in-Focus for 2027 and Origins Unwrapped. A prolific composer who has worked across stage, screen, classical, rock and pop, the programmes in his Kings Place residency trace the musical influences that have shaped his distinctive artistic voice from Renaissance polyphony, English sacred music and contemporary composition. Muhly performs in the opening weekend as pianist alongside countertenor Iestyn Davies and viol consort Fretwork for a programme that traces a thread through centuries of English music by Byrd, Ferrabosco, Purcell and Tavener alongside Muhly’s Four Traditional Songs, My Days and Slow (In Nomine in 5 Parts) [15 Jan]. Muhly continues his celebrated collaboration with the Tallis Scholars in a concert that blends Renaissance and contemporary music, with works by Phinot, Palestrina and Sheppard alongside Muhly’s A Glorious Creature written especially for the ensemble [30 Jan]. In the Autumn, Britten Sinfonia and violinist Pekka Kuusisto perform Muhly’s Shrink – written for Kuusisto – and his evocative Impossible Things alongside music by Bach in a programme that traces a creative lineage across centuries [2 Oct]. A further concert as part of Muhly’s residency will be announced in due course.
Jazz FM Vocalist of the Year 2025 Alice Zawadzki is Artist-in-Residence for Origins Unwrapped, with her residency exploring Slavic folklore, family history, storytelling and song. Her first concert presents a new version of her acclaimed work Bag of Bones, blending original music, storytelling and a curated programme that moves between classical, jazz and folk traditions in an immersive music theatre work [9 Apr]. Zawadzki also presents Replace Your Gods, a world premiere song cycle inspired by Światowid, the Slavic deity associated with vision, nature and the forests of Poland. Created for an intimate ensemble and joined by collaborators including Midori Jaeger and Yusuf Ahmed, the project draws together song, improvisation and folklore alongside handmade instruments crafted from wood, bone and water [26 Jun]. She concludes her residency in December with The Turning, drawing on pagan festivals and seasonal traditions that predate Christmas with original music, bright re-imaginings of old songs, storytelling and improvisation [12 Dec].
Internationally acclaimed pianist Keval Shah joins as Guest Curator, presenting his Re (Sounding) India series which explores the creativity and cultural inheritance of the British South Asian diaspora. He opens the series with a conversation exploring South Asian musical heritage in the British diaspora [17 Jan], before performing the UK premiere of piano music by acclaimed composer Reena Esmail, who draws together Hindustani and Western classical traditions [13 Feb]. Singer-songwriter, sarangi player and vocalist in the style of Punjabi folk, jazz and soul Amrit Kaur performs as part of the series, blending influences from across cultures and musical worlds; Shah joins her for a post-concert conversation [28 May]. The final concert in the series features RPS Award-winning sitarist Jasdeep Singh Degun who invites audiences into the sound world of Indian classical music [4 Nov].
Beethoven by Heart
As part of Origins Unwrapped Kings Place are co-producing an ambitious project with Sacconi Quartet and award-winning director Tom Morris, Beethoven by Heart, which will place audiences inside the world of some of Beethoven’s final string quartets Opuses 130, 131 and 132. Presented in the intimacy of Hall Two, the series transforms the traditional quartet experience by performing entirely from memory, dispensing with music stands and allowing for complete freedom of movement with audiences drawn into the heart of the ensemble. Enhanced by lighting and spoken introduction in a unique theatrical experience, each performance offers an opportunity to encounter these masterpieces that continue to challenge, move and inspire nearly two centuries after they were first written [16 Jan; 17 Jan; 22 May; 23 May; 6 Nov; 7 Nov].
New artistic partnerships
Collaborative partnerships with artists and ensembles have been central to Kings Place since opening in October 2008, and for 2027 the venue is announcing new long-term partnerships with three ensembles – acclaimed contemporary chamber ensemble Phaedra Ensemble, groundbreaking vocal collective Festival Voices and the trailblazing Kings Place Jazz Orchestra all become Resident Ensembles, joining the boundary-pushing Aurora Orchestra.
Phaedra Ensemble present four concerts as part of Origins Unwrapped: firstly, a programme centred on Meredith Monk’s award-winning film Ellis Island and the European premiere of Philip Glass’s piano quintet Annunciation, alongside works by Bryce Dessner, Shostakovich and Kurt Weill [22 Jan]; John Luther Adams’ Lines Made By Walking and Raven Chacon’s reflections on Indigenous histories Journey of the horizontal People in a concert that explores music shaped by landscape, movement and our connection to place [9 Apr]; and a concert that explores ambient music, reimagining works by Brian Eno, Hiroshi Yoshimora and Aphex Twin alongside a new Kings Place commission from Chicago-based composer Macie Stewart [24 Sep]. They also collaborate with Festival Voices for James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross, a work rooted in centuries of sacred tradition [26 Mar].
Building on their ongoing commitment to composer collaboration, Festival Voices will continue to work directly with composers through the venue’s Curated by series [date tbc]. Kings Place are also fundraising to present the UK Premiere of Ted Hearne’s acclaimed 2024 work farming, a powerful and large-scale exploration of colonialism, consumer culture and the machinery of modern marketing. Conceived as a flagship contemporary music project for the venue and performed by Festival Voices, the production reflects Kings Place’s commitment to artistic risk-taking and to championing work that challenges, provokes and inspires audiences [date tbc].
Kings Place Jazz Orchestra – formed in 2025 by Callum Au, Hannah Hutton and Sam McShane – present an exciting series of projects across 2027, including a special 70th anniversary celebration of legendary musical West Side Story, featuring Au’s West Side Story Suite for Big Band based on the most famous melodies from Bernstein’s beloved musical [21 Mar]. Later in the year KPJO presents Decades of Jazz, a vibrant celebration of jazz and it’s ever-evolving identity, celebrating the big-band brilliance of Ellington and Basie, the vocal prowess of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan to the modern-day greats [23 May].
Aurora Orchestra – who have been a Resident Ensemble at Kings Place since 2013 – reveal ‘Aurora at Kings Place’, a new series that showcases chamber music as it was intended: intimate, personal and up-close. Designed to bring audiences closer to the musicians and music, Aurora’s performers will introduce the works themselves and share the stories, ideas and inspirations behind the music before bringing it vividly to life. Concerts include Aurora’s Principal Players presenting an inside look at Beethoven’s Septet in Eb major, Op. 20 [23 Jan], an American-themed quartet programme including Dvořák’s ‘American’ quartet, works by Missy Mazzoli and Joan Tower and Barber’s String Quartet in B minor Op. 11 [14 May], and newly appointed Principal Trumpet Aaron Azunda Akugbo joins the Principal Players for an eclectic programme of music by Missy Mazzoli, Anna Meredith, Saint-Saëns, Bach and Ives [26 Sep]. Aurora’s performances for young children, Far, Far Away, also returns with ‘Mendelssohn and the Moving Machines’, featuring music by Fanny Mendelssohn (in chamber arrangements by Iain Farrington) and a story by poet Kate Wakeling [12, 13, 26 & 27 June]; grown-ups will also be able to enjoy the show in a special re-working just for adults, creating a unique space to enjoy this music in a completely different way [25 June].
Venus Blazing Music Trust – new Community Associate
Kings Place also welcome Venus Blazing Music Trust as their new Community Associate, deepening a partnership centred on inclusion, creativity and meaningful access to the arts. Based in Camden, Venus Blazing Music Trust creates innovative music and theatre projects with young people with Down’s syndrome and other cognitive challenges. Through collaborative, professionally led activity, the trust supports participants to express themselves, develop confidence and build connections through music and performance.
Venus Blazing and Kings Place have worked closely together since 2024. Building on this foundation with the new Community Associate role, the organisations will now scale their collaboration through an ambitious multi-year programme of residencies, performances, community days and shared learning on inclusion and access.
The partnership forms part of Kings Place: Belong, the venue’s new three-year community and education programme, which aims to take music beyond the concert hall and build lasting relationships with communities across Islington and Camden. The programme prioritises inclusive participation, creative learning, talent development and improved access to Kings Place for people who may face barriers to engaging with the arts.
American classical and jazz
A focus on American music runs throughout Kings Place’s classical and jazz programmes in 2027, exploring the richness, diversity and complexity of the country’s musical traditions.
In addition to the focus on Nico Muhly’s music, Aurora Orchestra’s American quartets and Phaedra Ensemble’s programmes, classical highlights include a new chamber series from Chineke! – firstly, Chineke! Voices and Principal Players performing Joel Thompson’s powerful Seven Last Words of the Unarmed alongside works by Florence Price and Marques L. A. Garrett [19 Mar], followed by a ‘Percussion of Sound’ programme curated by Sacha Livern Johnson that showcases the remarkable breadth of percussion in a programme centred on pioneering American voices including Steve Reich, Caroline Shaw, Philip Glass, Andy Akiho and more [20 May], and finally Chineke! Ten Cellos present Julius Eastman’s visionary The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc in a programme that spans four centuries[25 Nov]. Other classical highlights include Renaissance String Quartet performing Florence Prices’s first String Quartet and Gershwin’s Lullaby [8 Apr] and Grammy Award-winning Attacca Quartet in a genre-crossing programme that blends works by Caroline Shaw and John Adams with Radiohead and Couperin [15 May].
In the jazz programme, the James Allsop Quartet celebrate 100 years since the birth of master saxophonist Stan Getz [19 Feb], saxophonists Denys Baptiste and Tony Kofi reunite to honour the landmark partnership of Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley and John Coltrane [12 Mar], US based trumpeter Alexandra Ridout brings her NYC quartet to Kings Place [20 Mar] and virtuoso clarinettist Giacomo Smith presents hisRoutes in Ragtime, a suite of original music inspired by the pioneering generation that created jazz including Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith [9 May].
Canada and Quebec – Folk Focus
Kings Place presents a major focus on Canada and Quebec throughout the 2027 folk programme. Artists from Quebec, Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Vancouver and Cape Breton celebrate cultures shaped by language, landscape, migration and community. Through traditional and contemporary folk music, these concerts reveal how musical traditions are carried across generations whilst continually evolving. Highlights include a collaboration between Quebec’s Le Vent du Nord and Scotland’s Breabach celebrating the cultural connections between Scotland and Quebec [16 Jan], award-winning Québécois traditional music band Le Déferlance [31 Jan], Rachel Davis and Darren McMullen from Cape Breton supergroup Còig [11 Mar], Catherine MacLellan, whose songs reflect her deep connection to the land and her upbringing on Prince Edward Island [25 Mar], Vancouver artist Luke Wallace reuniting with the Fire Choir [7 May] and JUNO Award nominees Rum Ragged and their signature brand of Newfoundland folk [13 May]. The Canadian and Québécois Folk series is generously supported by the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom and the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation, with further support of selected Québécois events by the Québec Government Office in London.
Other 2027 season highlights
Outside of Origins Unwrapped, other highlights of the 2027 Kings Place season include Symphonic Piano, a new three-part series exploring some of the greatest works of orchestral music through the power of two pianos and four hands. Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva – Artistic Directors of the London Piano Festival – begin the series with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring in the composer’s original four-hand version [4 Feb]. Duo Pleyel – comprising of pianists Richard Egarr and Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya – pair Beethoven’s Symphonies No. 5 and No. 6 reimagined for a single piano and arranged for four hands by Carl Czerny [16 Apr] and Leeds International Piano Competition alumni Junyan Chen and Alim Beisembayev close the series with Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances [10 Jun].
Charles Owen returns later in the year to give the world premiere of Gavin Bryar’s first major work for solo piano, a Kings Place co-commission with Cheltenham Music Festival and Penny Wright [13 May]. Pianist and new-music pioneer Zubin Kanga presents four premieres from some of today’s most imaginative composers, including the world premieres of Nicole Lizée’s multimedia spectacle Sataniq Paniq // Satanipanicon, Mathis Saunier’s NOXIA_VOLIUM and a new work from Dai Fujikura, as well as the UK premiere of Jasmin Kent’s ORGANS [20 Feb].
Jazz highlights in 2027 include the continuation of ‘Edition Records and Kings Place presents’ series, celebrating the record label’s association with Kings Place; concerts include Snowpoet celebrating 15 years together in a special performance [5 Mar] and boundary-pushing musician and composer Daniel Herskedal [10 Mar]. Other highlights include Scottish duo Norman and Corrie melding traditional Shetland folk music with contemporary jazz [21 Mar], Olivia Murphy Jazz Orchestra celebrating the release of their sophomore album [18 Apr], Kolinga present their mix of contemporary music, jazz and Bantu music [29 May] and Marlon the Pannist, recognised as a leading voice in contemporary steelpan performance blending jazz, calypso and modern fusion [10 June].
The folk programme includes the second iteration of the venue’s Irish Folk Nights Series, celebrating the vibrant energy and evolving sound of Ireland’s folk scene. Artists include The Haar presenting material from their latest album The Lost Day [2 Apr], iconic Anglo-Irish quartet Flook [15 Apr], Barry Kerr performing Curlew’s Cry, the inaugural recipient of the Folk Album of the Year award [29 Apr] and a collaboration between Iarla Ó Lionáird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and Cormac McCarthy [12 Jun]. Other highlights include Alice Boyd celebrating the release of her debut album, a collection of songs and soundscapes exploring our relationship with the natural world [8 Apr] and Mànran, renowned for their bold fusion of traditional and contemporary sounds [24 Jun].
More information and tickets can be found on the Kings Place website. Further events will be announced in due course.