Student journalists Charlie West and Zuzanna Wawrzkiewicz reflect on their experiences at our Barbican Conservatory concert, the greenhouse effect, earlier this month.
We are very grateful to the team at UK Music for connecting us with these students. The students are a part of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership.
Charlie West
I am a freelance journalist and events promoter based in Brighton, currently studying at BIMM Brighton.
Perched atop London’s Barbican Centre, barely glancing over the city’s skyline, is the Conservatory. Plants sprawl from the speckled concrete, diminishing the rooms iconic brutalist interior to something negligible behind its mass of greenery. Given the city’s seemingly never-ending span of industrial greys and browns, such nature as is displayed in the Conservatory feels uniquely singular in its beauty. Knowing this, it is hard to imagine a more perfectly suited venue for label Nonclassical’s latest event ‘the greenhouse effect’. the 2-hour concert encouraged listeners to ruminate on their relationship with nature, bringing together a collection of some of the country’s most creative contemporary musicians to perform compositions written in response to the climate crisis.
Upon entering, the subtle tapping of triangles acted as a guiding light through the otherwise labyrinthian walkways of the conservatory. These instruments were designed by Nonclassical founder Gabriel Prokofiev using re-bar, a type of steel rod used in construction to reinforce concrete buildings, including The Barbican.
Opening the concert was sculptor and musician Marcus Vergette performing his latest composition Tintinnabulation. The performance was split into three sections, the first entitled ‘World Without Birds’; its dystopian message enforced through the industrial clang of Vergette’s handcrafted bells encircling the audience. The piano, performed by Matthew Bourne, did little to relieve the tension, adorning Vergette’s violent double bass plucks with a sea of haunting dissonance. It wasn’t until the final section ‘Hope’ that any semblance of conventional rhythm is revealed, backed by a chorus of bird song from hand-made whistles provided to the audience.
To follow came a programme of fierce creativity, including performances from percussion ensemble Abstruckt. Their reworks of compositions from Steve Reich, Andy Akiho and David Lang performed on pots, pans and flowerpots was met with rapturous applause from the marvelled audience.
The highlight of the afternoon came from Claudia Molitor’s Polymer Hauntings. At the centre of the stage stood a piano laden with bubble wrap; polystyrene food boxes and rubber gloves dangling from its gaping mouth, with pianists Katherine Tinker and Yshani Perinpanayagam sat pensively beside. Single-use plastic bowls had been strategically placed upon the piano’s lower strings, displacing any of the instrument’s natural resonance with a guttural clatter of distortion. As the piece progressed, plastic-wrapped performers waded through the seated crowd handing out discarded bottles, providing a wave of percussive crunches as Tinker leaned into the piano to pluck the strings.
Glancing past the dangling violins hung from the spotlights and the swarm of surrounding Monstera leaves reveals the peering of London office blocks, a constant reminder of the destructive nature of industrialisation. With the greenhouse effect, Nonclassical have proven themselves not only to be a catalyst of innovation in modern classical music, but a progressively creative force in environmental awareness.
Charlie West
Zuzanna Wawrzkiewicz
I am a big fan of music in every form - from recorded to live. Currently I am finishing my last year of Audio and Music Production course at Buckinghamshire New University. I am planning to start career in live music as I really like the experiencing it myself or being able to see other people enjoy it.
Nonclassical, since the beginning of their activity, are famous for choosing unusual places for their performances, which this March led them to perform in the Barbican Conservatory. They prepared a unique program, which was supposed to raise awareness about the natural climate crisis, creating an immersive sound experience in between various exotic plants. I was lucky to attend the evening session which created an even more astonishing atmosphere - a greenhouse plunged into darkness, illuminated only by few lights, provided a very mysterious and intimate atmosphere.
From the very beginning of the night everything was just fascinating. The first performance of pieces written by Marcus Vergette captivated the audiences’ attention by using huge bells.
Those massive bells were spaced out around the audience creating an unique, immersive experience while they accompanied piano and double bass located at the front. Before the performance Marcus Vergette explained that just like at weddings - it was not about the bells but the intention they were used for. He also encouraged the audience to join him and other musicians using small bird-shaped whistles he made.
Subsequent performances only got more and more interesting. Groups of string players were placed in a different part of the greenhouse with denser vegetation. This meant that audience members were unable to directly see the artists, in many cases they were obscured by leaves or branches, which gave the performance a unique atmosphere. The dark environment with subtle lighting almost made it feel like the show was in the middle of a real rainforest. What added even more character to this performance was aeolian harp, which was making almost wind-like sounds through the whole performance.
Two performances by Abstruckt percussion quartet to me seemed to impress the audience the most, if taking the ovation after both of them into account. Both used nontypical elements as instruments. Their first piece, Andy Akiho’s Pillar No. 4, included many different types of bottles, metal and wooden objects that were played among cymbals and kick drum in a very fast, mesmerising performance. Their last piece, Mátyas Wettl’s Nocturne, used different types of lamps, which were alternatively switched off and on creating a very rhythmical piece which was visualised with the use of lamps in a dark environment. Both performances were very impressive, enchanting the audience, who with almost bated breath listened intently until the last note.
Another memorable event was the performance of pianists Yshani Perinpanayagam and Katherine Tinker. They performed Claudia Molitor’s Polymer Hauntings with a varied tempo, using the keys as well as directly the strings of the instrument, which, according to the theme of the concert, was covered in plastic sheet as well as filled with various types of disposable plastic waste. The End of the performance again included audience members, who were given different plastic wrappers and joined the musicians crushing and rustling them in a way that felt appropriate.
The solo violin performance by Linda Jankowska was also something exceptional. The violinist played along to the recording of different bird calls, mimicking them with unbelievable accuracy. Many parts of the performance sounded almost like the real bird talk you would hear in the morning.
It was my first time seeing Nonclassical live and I was very impressed with each performance. The concert exceeded all my expectations, being something completely different from what I expected in the most positive sense possible. Combined with the incredible location of the Barbican Conservatory and the intention to raise awareness for the very important issue of the climate crisis, it was an unique experience.
Zuzanna Wawrzkiewicz
Machine dreams
fri 21 apr | rich mix london
Nonclassical return to the Barbican Centre in March 2023 with a curated event in the brutalist complex’s Conservatory.
Student journalists Charlie West and Zuzanna Wawrzkiewicz reflect on their experiences at our the greenhouse effect concerts in the Barbican Conservatory.