Smorgaschord
The noun 'Smorgaschord' denotes a cultural feast with numerous concerts in one day. The format of a Smorgaschord goes like this: guests may gorge on music, poetry and art till fully satiated...
We founded Smorgaschord Festival straight after the pandemic in 2021, with the view to presenting concerts in a way that was more relaxed and varied than before. Since then, in the three editions of the festival we have presented, events have included Mark Padmore singing Harrison Birtwistle, a concert of Messiaen and Hindustani vocal music, a concert exploring the work of artist Eva Frankfurther, a Ligeti focus with Danny Driver, a collaboration between Kurtág Jr and Kleio String Quartet on Zwiegespräch (which Kurtág Jr composed with his father, Kurtág Sr), premieres from Laurence Osborn, Deidre McKay, Thomas Adès and Martin Suckling, various informal pop-up coffee concerts, and a feature on the Nigerian composer Joshua Uzoigwe.
To complement Smorgaschord Festival, we also established Smorgaschord Collective, a flexible group of musicians who can come together to present smorgaschordic events around the country. So far, we’ve played Thorvaldsdottir and Mozart in Essex, and are looking forward to Janáček, Xenakis and Schumann in Manchester in 2024. Smorgaschord Collective is Associate Emerging Artists at Stoller Hall.