Village Underground - Handel The Innovator

Inspired by the innovative spirit of Handel, Nonclassical and the London Handel Festival collaborate for the first time to present a curated evening of adventurous and experimental approaches to songwriting in the 21st century from artists creating boundary-defying work.

Bewildering, absurd and at times amusing, Jennifer Walshe is a celebrated composer and performer whose music is deeply rooted in the physical, theatrical and visual. As she puts it – “the ear, the eye and the brain are expected to be active and engaged.” Jennifer is joined by performer-composer Newton Armstrong in a brand new collaboration, combining their unique and experimental approaches to explore what it means to be a songwriter in the 21st-century.

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Laila Sakini’s textural approach to music builds dark and evocative soundscapes from found sound, flickering electronics and hazy vocals. Her unique practice has been heralded by The Wire Magazine as “An enigma with a purpose”. Described as “A hypnotic listen that takes you closer to the earth” (Gramophone Magazine), composer and electronic musician Jasmine Morris’ music is deeply original, bringing together new technology with sounds from the ancient world. Jasmine is joined by vocalist Mieko Shimizu for an arresting set of original music featuring music from her debut release Astrophilia (Nonclassical Records, 2022).