Music and culture from Australasia are celebrated throughout this year’s City of London Festival as part of Festival Director Ian Ritchie’s annual Trading Places theme.

The Festival will present an unprecedented array of music from Australia and New Zealand with over 30 living composers represented.

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New Zealand highlights include:

New Zealand-born organist Dame Gillian Weir and soprano Anna Leese perform with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young at St Paul’s (12 July).
Maori instrumentalist Richard Nunns performs with The New Zealand String Quartet at Haberdashers’ Hall (13 July) and the NZ Trio at Butchers’ Hall (14 July).

Peerless venues give the City of London Festival its very particular flavour. Concerts and events take place in some of the City’s most ancient and beautiful spaces including Wren churches, the two great cathedrals of St Paul’s and Southwark, the medieval Guildhall and Gresham College as well as the squares, parks and gardens of the Square Mile. Unique to the Festival is the opportunity to visit the City’s often exquisite livery halls, usually closed to the public. New to the Festival this year are Girdlers’ Hall and Butchers’ Hall, with their historical connections to Australia and New Zealand.

The Festival’s relationship with the Barbican continues as the venue plays host to the first-ever London New Zealand Film Festival (1 to 3 July) and the Royal New Zealand Ballet with the London première of a triple bill by home-grown talent Andrew Simmons, Finnish-born Jorma Elo and the UK’s Javier de Frutos (14 to 16 July).

The Festival’s programme of free outdoor events include Waka on the Thames, an ornate Maori war canoe crewed by 16 Maoris from New Zealand’s Toi Maori and London’s Ngati Ranana communities (1 July), and the Origins Family Day on Hampstead Heath (3 July).

BNY Mellon is sponsoring the City of the London Festival for the second year running. Woody Kerr, vice-chairman of Europe, comments, “We are very keen to support creativity and cultural diversity in the arts, and this festival ensures that the City of London continues to be at the forefront of delivering interesting and inspiring artistic talent to a global audience in London. BNY Mellon has a significant presence in Australia and New Zealand, and so is particularly pleased to be able to support bringing some of the leading artists from those countries to the City.”

The Festival has worked very closely with both the Australian and New Zealand Governments through their High Commissions this year. "These partnerships have taken on a new meaning in light of the floods in Queensland, and the devastating earthquake in Christchurch. The Festival is an ideal means of celebrating the enormous cultural riches, creativity and great determination of these countries, and reinforces the message that they are very much open for business." says Ian Ritchie, Festival Director.
 

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Box Office : Phone 0845 120 7502 / www.colf.org