Southbank Centre Your culture fix
Music to fill weekends at home and new essays on Black performance.
What’s on Festivals & series Art & exhibitions
What else is new?
Seeking a bit of novelty this week? We’ve tried swapping around breakfast and lunch, going for our usual walk while facing backwards and giving ourselves a snazzy new nickname (even if nobody else knows about it yet). But if you don’t fancy any of the above, at least give your ears something new to enjoy with our upcoming broadcasts from musical innovators.
It’s been more than a decade since musical experimentalists Bell Orchestre released their last full-length album, but the wait is over with House Music. Meanwhile, the London Contemporary Orchestra puts their spin on the latest electronic masterpieces and the London Philharmonic Orchestra makes Dvořák’s New World Symphony feel like it was written yesterday.
find out more →This weekend
Bell Orchestre Presents House Music
SAT 13 MAR
Looking for something different to do on your nth weekend at home? Look no further than this Montreal six-piece, bringing you immersive new music in an online broadcast of a performance film created in the Canadian woodlands.
find out more →Reimagine that
London Contemporary Orchestra
FRI 19 MAR
Turning orchestral music on its head, the London Contemporary Orchestra takes a new look at electronic releases from Kelly Lee Owens and Duval Timothy. Vocal groups VOCES8 and Apollo5 also bring world premiere arrangements to the online performance.
find out more →Dream streams
Out-Spoken
SUN 28 MAR – SUN 4 APR
Host Joelle Taylor said Out-Spoken ‘fuses both page and performative poetry to electrifying effect’. So, get fired up at our resident poetry and music night’s first online edition, with poets Jay Bernard and Caleb Femi, and singer-songwriter Mysie.
Hanif Abdurraqib: A Little Devil in America
THU 25 MAR – THU 1 APR
Hanif Abdurraqib’s new collection of essays is a celebration of Black performance, from mid-century Paris to the moon, via dive bars and Broadway. He discusses A Little Devil in America in a broadcast conversation with poet Yomi Ṣode.
The New World
WED 24 – WED 31 MAR
As lockdown recedes and we emerge blinking back into the light, the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s providing the soundtrack. Dvořák’s passionate New World Symphony is just the thing for changing times, and to kick off the orchestra’s spring online season.
find out more →discover what’s onMan of many parts
All about House Music: Bell Orchestre’s Richard Reed Parry
This weekend, Bell Orchestre is performing new record House Music in an exclusive online broadcast for the Southbank Centre. We caught up with multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry, also a member of Arcade Fire, ahead of the show to ask what it’s like for the group to play together after so much time apart.
read now →Family matters
Philippa Perry on parenthood and parent-child relationships
We’re picking Philippa Perry’s guide to parenting (and being a child) back up off the shelf for Mother’s Day this year. She spoke to us about The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read (and Your Children Will Be Glad That You Did), her gently radical take on the inner workings of the family, back in September 2019.
read now →In focus
Boy stepping off the curb, N.Y.C. 1957–58, by Diane Arbus
Almost a century ago, Diane Arbus was born on 14 March 1923. In honour of her birthday, we’re looking back at her Hayward Gallery exhibition. This video investigates just why her work still resonates so deeply with audiences.
Image credit: Installation view of diane arbus: in the beginning at Hayward Gallery. Copyright the artist, courtesy Hayward Gallery 2019. Photo: Mark Blower.
watch now →see all storiesGame on
Win a vinyl copy of Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen
Ahead of our streamed London Contemporary Orchestra event, we’re giving you the chance to win a copy of Kjartan Sveinsson’s album Der Klang der Offenbarung des Göttlichen (‘The Explosive Sonics of Divinity’).
To enter the competition, send an email with ‘London Contemporary Orchestra’ as the subject line to competitions@southbankcentre.co.uk by 5pm GMT on Thursday 18 March 2021. T&Cs apply.*
find out more →Set and match
New essentials
We miss you, but you don’t have to miss us… Bring a little bit of the Southbank Centre into your home (and along on your daily walk) with the latest additions to our Net & Ball line: UK-made soaps and face coverings.
Inspired by the visual representation of sound, the Net & Ball design was originally created by Peter Moro and Leslie Martin for the Royal Festival Hall.
shop now →Name that tune
Plug in for toe-tapping music
Need a musical break? Try one of our playlists to discover new artists and shake it out with a dance around the room. We’ve got mixtapes hand-picked by Joan As Police Woman, Marius Neset and Susheela Raman, to name a few.
listen now →Support the Southbank Centre
Support us
2020 was a tough year, and 2021 has brought its own difficulties for us. If you feel that you can make a donation, no matter how small, you will be making a huge difference.
Text 70085 with the code SOUTHBANK 20 to donate £20, SOUTHBANK 10 to donate £10 or SOUTHBANK 5 to donate £5. Texts cost your donation amount plus one standard-rate message. Thank you.