In Conversation With The London Sinfonietta: Karin Rehnqvist & Michael Jarrell

Karin Rehnqvist discusses the inspirations behind Embrace Me, premiered by the London Sinfonietta at 7.30pm, and Michael Jarrell talks about his work for solo double bass, live electronics and ensemble.

Weaving together ancient texts in Swedish and English, the world premiere of Karin Rehnqvist's Embrace Me is part of a programme that revisits the past to inform the present, creating an 'invented folk music' for the 21st century.

Karin Rehnqvist (born 1957) is one of Sweden's best known and widely performed composers. From chamber music to orchestral, stage and vocal works, she has blazed a unique cross-genre trail, exploring the rich hinterland between art and folk music, and evolving a highly distinctive compositional and performance style. One of her signature motifs is the extraordinary vocal technique of Kulning, the ancient call of Nordic herding girls to drive in their flocks. A restless innovator, her repertoire is marked by an uncompromising zeal for personal freedom, raw emotional power and the icy shock of the new.

Michael Jarrell is a Swiss composer. Born in Geneva, he studied at the Conservatoire there. Since 1993 he has taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna. He is considered the most important contemporary Swiss composer and he works span many genres.

The event is taking place on Wednesday April 16th at The Front Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall at 6.40pm. Admission is free

Click here to find out more about this event and others taking place at the Southbank Centre.

How to get there

Rail - Waterloo, Waterloo East or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Charing Cross.

Underground - The closest tube stations are Waterloo (on the Northern, Bakerloo & Jubilee lines), Southwark (on the Jubilee line) or walk over the Hungerford Bridge from Embankment (on the Northern, Bakerloo, District and Circle lines).

Buses - All the following buses stop on Waterloo Bridge and you can take the steps down to Southbank on either side of the bridge or use the pavements that slope down away from the river and then double back to take you to Upper Ground, which runs behind the Southbank Centre: 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 76, 139, 168, 171, 172, 176, 188, 243, 341, 521, X68, Riverside Bus (RV1 - which also stops on Upper Ground which runs by the back of the Southbank Centre). 77 (Upper Ground near the Festival Hall), 211 & 507 (Waterloo Road near the main station), 381 (Stamford Street). 45, 63 & 100 all stop at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, and there is a 10 minute walk along the riverside to the Southbank Centre.