Synopsis

The ‘roaring 20s’ of Tin Pan Alley New York; the rise of the Nazis and their violent repression of cabaret and jazz in 1930s Berlin; and Scott Joplin’s musical mission to end segregation across the American South – these world-changing musical events meet in a swinging, toe-tapping tour of jazz piano from 1890 – 1942 by the pianist Matthew Shiel and his acclaimed jazz band. Tonight’s musical programme includes the most iconic jazz pieces ever composed: Joplin’s rags The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag, Schulhoff’s Charleston and Gershwin’s showstoppers Rhapsody in Blue – by intimate candlelight and alongside a digital art exhibition and lightshow designed by acclaimed Chinese artist and Disney illustrator Emma Yitong Shen – to create an immersive musical experience which cannot fail to cure the ‘blues,’ take you back in time and have you clapping along!

Please note: Tonight’s performance is in memory of the Jewish composer Erwin Schulhoff (1894 – 1942) – who for the ‘crime’ of composing avant-garde jazz music was executed by the Third Reich.