Rhapsody in Blue: Southbank Sinfonia 15th Birthday Concert

Music packed with innovation, that melds genres and defies borders, provides everything needed for an unforgettable birthday party. To celebrate 15 years of Southbank Sinfonia, we take to the iconic stage of the Royal Festival Hall with a super-sized orchestra – the biggest in our history – bringing together current and former players for a concert of boundary-breaking music.

Britain’s star pianist Benjamin Grosvenor takes to the keys for Gershwin’s Jazz Age Rhapsody in Blue, a piece that shot American orchestral music in a vibrant new direction. In a single work comes jazzy syncopation and verve, backed up by symphonic power that always keeps a feeling of off-the-cuff improvisation. The world was stunned, the Rhapsody liberating composers to use anything around them – both modern and traditional – to make music.

After meeting Gershwin, Walton also caught the jazz bug. Belshazzar’s Feast is an exhilarating fusion of extrovert symphonic tradition and swing-infused, punchy rhythms. From its colossal orchestra and chorus come breathtaking sonic combinations, painstakingly chosen by a composer expanding his horizons.

Mothership evolves this tradition for the 21st century, celebrating the limitless potential of the Internet to bring musicians and styles together. This thrilling electro-orchestral spaceship welcomes improvising soloists to ‘dock’ with it, allowing the individual their moment to shine – something that Southbank Sinfonia has always celebrated.