An illustrated talk by Joanna MacGregor exploring the music of Birtwistle, Satie and The Firebird, linked to the BPO concert Spring Awakening.
Joanna MacGregor is taking over the Brighton Unitarian Church on Thursday 11 March 2027 for a session of the BPO Listening Club. It's an illustrated talk rather than a concert, and the focus is on three very different pieces: Birtwistle, Satie, and The Firebird.
If you're not familiar with the Listening Club, it's a series of one-hour, informal talks led by MacGregor. The whole point is to get under the bonnet of the music before you actually hear it live. She works through the composers' intentions, the social context they were writing in, and the specific musical motifs to listen out for — the kind of things that usually only make sense once you've been told what they are. It's an illustrated session, so there's more to look at than just a talking head.
This particular talk is tied to the BPO's March concert, Spring Awakening, so it's designed as a companion to that. If you're planning on going to the concert, this is the bit that fills in the gaps and gives you a way into the programme. Birtwistle, Satie, and Stravinsky's The Firebird don't exactly share a common thread on the surface, and that's part of the draw — seeing how they sit together in one evening.
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It's a one-hour session, so it doesn't take up your whole night. It starts at 18:00 at the Brighton Unitarian Church on New Road, BN1 1UF, and tickets are £10.00 guide price.
