The London Song Festival:

Small Performing Arts Event of the Year 2023.

(seventh annual Greater London Awards)

The LSF's mission is to "fly the flag" for the wonderful art-form of song, collating recitals with repertoire ranging from Schubert to Britten and beyond.  It is a unique joining together of music and poetry that is capable of expressing great beauty and emotional depth in ways that can equal or even surpass any other genre.

The 2024 London Song Festival Summer Season:

“A Feast of English Song”
6th – 29th June 2024

LSF Director Nigel Foster writes:

The five concerts of the 2024 Summer Season of the London Song Festival focus on the wonderful world of English Song. We begin with a concert of Comedy songs that is guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles with songs by Flanders and Swann, Tom Lehrer, Jeremy Nicholas, Victoria Wood, Tim Minchin, Dillie Keane and many more. This is followed by a celebration of the centenary of Madeleine Dring, featuring both her beautiful art-songs and the songs she wrote for West End revues, and a concert on the subject of ships and the sea, celebrating the centenary of the first Shipping Forecast to be broadcast on British radio (I like to celebrate weird anniversaries...) The series also includes two prize-winners’ concerts, given by the winners of the 2022 LSF British Art Song Competition, which had to be postponed from last year, and the winners of the 2023 LSF Schubert Song Competition.

I am thrilled to be joined by some outstanding singers  for these concerts: including Michael Gibson, currently on the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme of the Royal Opera House, Kate Royal, who has sung leading roles for Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, ENO, Teatro Real Madrid and the Met in New York, Lotte Betts-Dean, recently announced as the winner of the 2024 Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award, Jess Dandy, who has been called “the foremost British contralto of her generation”, and Gareth Brynmor John, a favourite at Wigmore Hall, Oxford International Song Festival, Ryedale Festival and Leeds Lieder.

All the concerts are at the LSF’s usual venue of Hinde Street church in the heart of London’s West End. Tickets are now available to buy on the Concerts Page of this website, where you will find details of the eight concerts. Tickets are priced at £20, £15 (usual concessions*) and a special price for students at £5.

*Ticket concessions are available to those under 18, students, over 65, registered unemployed or registered disabled.

Testimonies from past attendees:

"Superbly organised and executed. World class singers – Thank you"

Our Founder:

Nigel Foster was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Graham Johnson, and also privately with Roger Vignoles. At both the Academy and the Guildhall he won every prize and award available for piano accompaniment, and has been appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music. 

Nigel enjoys a busy schedule performing on the concert platform. He has played for artists including the late Philip Langridge, Sarah Walker, Ian Partridge, Roderick Williams, Neil Jenkins, Yvonne Kenny, Jeremy Huw Williams, Maire Flavin, Anna Devin, Ruby Hughes, Gillian Keith, Nicky Spence, Jane Manning, Marcus Farnsworth, Benedict Nelson and violinist Madeleine Mitchell, as well as many of Britain's leading young singers. He performs at major venues including the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre, St John Smith Square and Royal Opera House (Crush Room) in London, and St David's Hall in Cardiff. 

In his formative years Nigel played for Graham Johnson's Songmakers Almanac, the Park Lane Group and several opera companies including Glyndebourne. Nigel has worked with John Eliot Gardiner CBE, and he has happy memories of his time as a rehearsal pianist for the late Georg Solti, playing for singers including Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. Nigel worked closely with Sarah Walker in the Vocal Department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 

Nigel's CD recordings include several discs of contemporary music and anthologies of songs of Alun Hoddinott and Mansel Thomas with baritone Jeremy Huw Williams for the Sain label. He features on the soundtrack of the French film L'Homme est une Femme Comme les Autres. 

Nigel performs extensively abroad. He has played all over Europe, Asia (Japan, Malaysia), New Zealand and the Americas (USA, Canada, Colombia) and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and on French, Welsh and Greek television. 

About the London Song Festival

A song recital is nothing without the singers. The London Song Festival gives audiences the opportunity to hear both young up-and-coming singers and prize-winners and internationally established artists. Singers who have appeared in the Festival include Yvonne Kenny, Elizabeth Watts, Ashley Riches, Gillian Keith, Jennifer Johnston, Sergei Leiferkus, Roderick Williams, Louise Winter, James Gilchrist, Anna Devin, Nicky Spence, Elizabeth Llewellyn, Robin Tritschler and Ruby Hughes to name but a few.

Education

The educational and outreach part of the London Song Festival takes the form of master classes and workshops in schools. Master classes have been given by Ian Partridge CBE (2014), Roger Vignoles (2013), Sarah Walker CBE (2013), Simon Keenlyside (2012), Dame Ann Murray (2011)  and Louise Winter (2010), who have worked on the Song repertoire with students and young professional singers. These masterclasses are open to all singers under the age of 30.
 
The London Song Festival's Education project, launched in 2015, presents a programme of workshops in schools across London. This is often the childrens' first opportunity to hear a live classical singer and pianist, as well as their first exposure to the great master-works of the Song repertoire, a genre which, with its unintimidating and approachable format of singer and pianist, is a fantastic way of opening children's minds to classical music. In our workshops we explore how Song tells stories and paints pictures in words and music, and how a singer and a pianist can evoke so many emotions through what the composer and poet have given us. Interaction with the children is central to our workshops, which are tailored for all ages from primary right through to A-level. It is wonderful to see how a foreign language is no barrier to children's appreciation and enjoyment of Song. I will always remember how a particularly rowdy group of over thirty 10 and 11 year-old children in Princess May Primary in Hackney, none of whom had any previous experience of classical music, and none of whom spoke French, listened in absolute silence and with rapt attention to a performance of Faure's Clair de Lune. Staff members told us later that the children's concentration levels for the rest of that day were noticeably higher than normal. Given the correct approach, even the most esoteric and subtlest music can speak very powerfully and directly to children and teenagers!

This awareness of music is so important for children and young people. Exposure to the Arts is decreasing in so many schools, and these workshops will play a vital and necessary part in children’s development, not only in music, but in all other areas of their education and growth too. To quote from the website of Stamford Hill Primary School (one of the schools we've visited), the Arts enable children to:
 
"actively develop a deeper understanding of both the arts and curriculum subjects. [we] believe that that learning through the arts greatly enhances the children’s experience of School, enabling learners to develop many areas of their education such as: creative thinking and problem solving, knowledge and understanding, speaking and listening, language skills and vocabulary, confidence and teamwork, powers of self-expression, as well as performing arts skills”.

These words sum up the London Song Festival's philosophy perfectly. Stamford Hill is a rare instance of a school which actively encourages the Arts, but there are many in London that sadly do not, either through lack of resources or lack of interest from the staff. The London Song Festival workshops prove that classical music is a truly inspiring and enjoyable experience for children from all backgrounds, cultures and religions.

Any school wishing to book a workshop should contact the London Song Festival on info@londonsongfestival.org .


Nigel is also Musical Director of Opera and More. This is a year-long part-time course aimed at talented singers of Undergraduate and Post-Graduate level. A maximum of 12 participants, selected by audition, work on style and interpretation, audition preparation, presentation and communication techniques, stagecraft and acting skills, programming and preparing a recital, diction, text work and improvisation with an exciting team of conductors, directors and pianists. The course will cover every area of vocal repertoire including opera, art-song, concert repertoire and oratorio.  Full details on operaandmore.org

The London Song Festival is maintained by the generous support of many patrons & donors.  We would like to gratefully acknowledge the support of the following:

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Thank you for supporting the London Song Festival.  It is the generous donations from all of you song supporters that allow us to keep creating the high quality concerts we have each year.  

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