Gavin Bryars to appear at Capstone birthday concert

Liverpool’s Capstone Theatre will celebrate the 80th birthday of pioneering British composer Gavin Bryars with a special concert this December.

The Yorkshire-born counter-culture icon himself will appear in the December 1 event which will mark the UK debut of Serbia’s Ensemble for Different New Music.

And he will also speak about his life and career in a special Q&A.

Ensemble for Different New Music Celebrates Gavin Bryars’ 80th Birthday will see the Serbian piano virtuosos performing a selection of compositions written across more than 40 years from the 1970s onwards, shining a spotlight on the incredible versatility and enduring quality of Bryars’ piano works.

It will include a performance for four keyboards of a new arrangement of the 1977 piece White’s SS and a new four keyboard arrangement of My First Homage.

Meanwhile Bryars himself will join members of the ensemble in a performance of his 1977 composition Out of Zaleski’s Gazebo.

Above: Ensemble for Different New Music. Top: Composer Gavin Bryars.

The Capstone Theatre’s creative director, Neil Campbell, said: “To have someone of Bryars’ stature appearing at our theatre for his 80th birthday is a great honour, and it’s also wonderful to host Ensemble for Different New Music for their first ever UK performance.

“It will be a very special evening of music indeed and once to savour.”

Bryars, who turned 80 earlier this year, started his career as a jazz bassist and pioneer of free improvisation, and went on to work with John Cage in the US. Two of his most famous works remain The Sinking of the Titanic, and Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

In March he was at the Philharmonic Hall to see Mahan Esfahani and the RLPO give the world premiere of his new harpsichord concerto.

Ensemble for Different New Music Celebrates Gavin Bryars’ 80th Birthday is at the Capstone Theatre in Shaw Street on December 1. Tickets HERE