On Sat Mar 4, London’s Village Underground will be set alight with the sounds of experimental composition, electronics, and vocal performance, all inspired by the innovative spirit of Handel. In anticipation of the return of our classical club-night – this time in partnership with the London Handel Festival – read on to meet the artists involved.

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JASMINE MORRIS + MIEKO SHIMIZU

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’s debut album, Astrophilia, was released on the Nonclassical label in April 2022 to critical acclaim, with Gramophone Magazine describing the album as “a hypnotic listen that takes you closer to the earth”.

Mieko Shimizu’s vocals feature on Astrophilia, with Gramophone describing her vocals on the “striking, open-throated first track” as “seem[ing] to reference joiking and throat singing.”

Mieko and Jasmine will perform a selection of pieces featuring voices, electronics and accordion, including excerpts from Jasmine’s album Astrophilia.

LAILA SAKINI

Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and producer Laila Sakini has been described as “producing some of the most vital and brittle music of our time” (Boomkat). Her 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.”

Laila will perform a selection of works for voice and electronics.

Jennifer Walshe (image c/o Dmitri Djuric) + Jon Leidecker (aka Wobbly)

JENNIFER WALSHE + WOBBLY

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.”

Performer-composer Wobbly (aka Jon Leidecker) improvises with recordings to produce music which inherently questions the act of being captured.

Jennifer Walshe and Wobbly perform the latest chapter of their epic 21st century song cycle MOREOVER, a continually-evolving work made through, with, about, in, for and against machine learning. MOREOVER surfs the detritus of contemporary life, ranging from synthetic datasets to our doomed efforts to get yoga arms or successfully rotate PDFs. Previously having drawn on the work of Schubert, for this performance Handel is brought into the mix, his traces sought in our contemporary landscape.

Gabriel Prokofiev

Nonclassical’s founder and Artistic Director, Gabriel Prokofiev has a varied career as a composer, performer and DJ. His curated selection of glitchy beats and classical remixes will bookend the evening, featuring new takes on Handel and other classical works alongside left-field electronics and 21st-century classical pieces.