The Hermes Experiment

Tonight we heard the premiere of RPS Composer Fergus Hall’s piece we commissioned for The Hermes Experiment at Dalston’s buzzing Cafe Oto. ‘Look what I found’ is an atmospheric, watery and beautiful shoreline exploration for soprano, harp, clarinet and double bass that we can’t wait to hear again.

Huge thanks to our programme partners The Hermes Experiment and Cafe Oto for the warm welcome. To discover more of Fergus’s work, visit: https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/composers/rps-composers-programme/current-composers/fergus-hall

Tonight at Café OTO!

A beautiful night at Kettle's Yard sharing music by beautiful people!

Some Hermes dates coming up:
30/05 at Kettle's Yard
10/06 at Café OTO
All info & tickets via: www.thehermesexperiment.com

Can’t wait for 10 June at Café OTO when we’ll premiere Fergus Hall’s new piece, commissioned by Royal Philharmonic Society

Be among the first to hear new music we have commissioned from 2024 RPS Composers Anjelica Cleaver, Fergus Hall, Sun Keting and Sarah Frances Jenkins, all coming up in the next couple of months:

31 May: Anjelica Cleaver will join the Asaka Quartet giving the premiere of a new work for string quartet and guitar at Wigmore Hall.

10 June: RPS Award-winning ensemble The Hermes Experiment give the premiere of Fergus Hall's new work for soprano, clarinet, harp and double bass at Cafe Oto.

13 July: pianist Clare Hammond will premiere Sun Keting's new work at Cheltenham Music Festival.

24 July: The Marian Consort give the premiere of Sarah Frances Jenkins' choral work at Ryedale Festival, inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite paintings in the chapel of Castle Howard.

The RPS Composers programme has supported over 100 composers since 2000 with commissions, professional development and mentoring, helping new music to flourish. To discover more and join us at one of our upcoming events, visit: https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/whats-on

We’re looking forward to returning to Wigmore Hall next season & performing with the amazing Abel Selaocoe - Artist Page for the first time! Featuring 2 new commissions by Shruthi Rajasekar & Abel, a new arrangement by Misha Mullov-Abbado & Kerry Andrew’s Fruit Songs🍎

The Hermes Experiment; Abel Selaocoe cello ArtistsShruthi RajasekarcomposerThe Hermes ExperimentHéloïse WernersopranoAnne DenholmharpOliver PashleyclarinetMarianne Schofielddouble bassAbel Selaocoecello

4 happy campers after a lovely few days in Normandy on a creative residency - exciting things are afoot!

Some news ! We’re very excited about this new chapter 🥳

Intermusica - News The Hermes Experiment join Intermusica for worldwide general management - find out more:

So nice to have Hannah Peel in the audience last night for our Music in the Round concert, which included Oli’s arrangement of her beautiful song 'The Almond Tree' 🌳🧡💫 Thanks to everyone else who joined us too & Music in the Round for having us, we had such a lovely time!

A lovely day at Royal Holloway, University of London yesterday working with 7 MMus student composers on new Hermes trio pieces ~ thank you Nina & Sam for having us!

This was really fun last night - thank you to the RPS & everyone who joined us !

Thank you to the charismatic The Hermes Experiment for sharing unique insights into their rehearsal process at our event 'Inside the Music' last night. It was a joy to see them prepare for their upcoming concert and hear what they had to say about the music they were rehearsing.

RPS Members will be able to watch a film of the event in the Backstage area of our website. Join us for more musical discoveries: https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/support-our-work/membership

You can hear The Hermes Experiment again in concert on Saturday 2 December at 8pm with our friends Music in the Round at the Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield.

https://musicintheround.co.uk/events/sounds-of-now-3/

Tonight!

Royal Philharmonic Society: revealing the creative process The Royal Philharmonic Society invites you to step inside a facet of classical music usually off-limits to public eyes and ears…

We’re heading to Sheffield on 2nd December for a concert at Music in the Round, join us if you are in the area!

SOUNDS OF NOW: THE HERMES EXPERIMENT - Music in the Round SOUNDS OF NOW: THE HERMES EXPERIMENTThe Hermes Experiment Crucible Playhouse, Sheffield Saturday 2 December 2023, 8.00pm Tickets: £16 £10 UC, PIP & DLA £5 Students & Under 35s Book Tickets Home› What's on› SOUNDS OF NOW: THE HERMES EXPERIMENT ELISABETH JACQUET DE LA GUERRE Les rossignols, dè...

Excited to announce that we’ll be returning to Café OTO on 10 June 2024 to premiere two new works by Nwando Ebizie (supported by The Marchus Trust) & Fergus Hall (supported by the Royal Philharmonic Society ) - the programme will also feature works by Sylvia Lim - Composer, Josephine Stephenson, Elaine Mitchener, Meredith Monk & Mira Calix 💙 Tickets are now available here: https://www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/the-hermes-experiment-2024/

Some good news: we’re very grateful to The Marchus Trust for supporting 4 major Hermes projects over the next 3 seasons, and we’re very happy to announce some of the wonderful collaborators & composers who will be part of these projects:
Nwando Ebizie (Spring 2024)
Abel Selaocoe - Artist Page (Autumn 2024)
Sofia Jernberg & Kit Downes (Autumn 2025)
More details on these collaborations soon + more artists to be announced.

Congrats to all the selected composers and we’re delighted to be a partner for the 2024 programme - we’ll be working with Fergus Hall and look forward to sharing more performance details soon!

Announcing the seven composers who will be participating in the 2024 RPS Composers programme! We are so excited to be working with them and our valued programme partners over the next year, and we look forward to sharing more of their work with you.

The composers we are proud to support this year are: Aileen Sweeney, Anjelica Cleaver, Fergus Hall, James Albany Hoyle, Jasper Dommett, Sun Keting, and Sarah Frances Jenkins.

Over the course of the programme, composers will take part in professional development sessions with us and guest speakers from across the music profession. Composers also receive a commission to write a new work for one of our partner organisations: Cheltenham Music Festival, Hebrides Ensemble, Music in the Round and Ensemble 360, Presteigne Festival, The Hermes Experiment, The Marian Consort, and Wigmore Hall Learning.

We are so grateful to RPS Members, the Delius Trust, the Fidelio Charitable Trust, Presteigne Festival, PRS Foundation's The Open Fund, the Radcliffe Trust, the Susan Bradshaw Composers' Fund, the Vaughan Williams Foundation, and several anonymous donors for their support.

We'll be shining a spotlight on each of these outstanding composers over on X/Twitter throughout the day, and we invite you to look out for them, find out more about their work and listen to their music.

https://royalphilharmonicsociety.org.uk/rps_today/news/2024-rps-composers

Coming up in November!

Inside the Music: The Hermes Experiment We’re all remarkably good at hiding how classical music is made, with most rehearsals off limits from public eyes and ears. We invite you to take a ringside seat as the trailblazing The Hermes Experiment – recipients of the RPS Young Artist Award in 2021 – prepares for high-profile upcoming co...

A wonderful night at Southbank Centre last weekend - thanks to everyone who joined us!
Photos by Pete Woodhead

Brilliant to have Elaine Mitchener join us for rehearsals this morning ahead of the premiere of her new work 'th/e s/ou/nd be/t/ween' at the Southbank Centre this Sunday 6pm💥 Some tickets still available here: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music/hermes-experiment

A great article from Anne & Marianne for Classical Music UK ahead of our concert at Southbank Centre on 24th Sept:

The Hermes Experiment: redefining the chamber ensemble The Hermes Experiment’s Anne Denholm and Marianne Schofield set out the ethos of the group and, ahead of presenting the world premiere of a new work by Elaine Mitchener, discuss the huge impact composer collaborations have had on the growth of the ensemble

A great piece from our clarinettist Oli ahead of our show at Southbank Centre on 24th September:

The Hermes Experiment: 6 things… I love about contemporary classical music | Southbank Centre The Hermes Experiment’s clarinettist Oliver Pashley shares his enthusiasm for contemporary classical music ahead of a September 2023 Southbank Centre concert

We’re thrilled to be working with Elaine Mitchener next season 💫 Elaine is writing us a new work which we’ll premiere at Southbank Centre on 24/09 as part of their opening season weekend. More details & tickets: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/classical-music/hermes-experiment
📸 by Dimitri Djuric

A lovely weekend by the sea in sunny Devon performing at Budleigh Music Festival last night - thanks so much to the whole festival team for the warm welcome and to everyone who came to share the music with us, you were such a lovely audience!

This Saturday in Budleigh!

Festival Prelude - Hermes Experiment - Budleigh Music Festival The fun loving and uber cool Hermes Experiment really are the talk of the town with a cabinet full of awards. Their experimental programmes fall somewhere between a classical concert and a club night. Featuring the unconventional combination of Harp, Clarinet, Double Bass and Soprano their programme...

Happy Hermes after our concert at de Doelen last night! Thanks to everyone who joined us in the audience & big thank you to Robin & Masa for having us, we enjoyed it so much! 🙏🏻🌸

Rehearsing at de Doelen ahead of our concert in this beautiful hall tonight! Performing music by Anna Meredith, Misha Mullov-Abbado, Olivia Chaney, Laura Moody, Sylvia Lim - Composer & Oliver Leith ⚡️

We’re thrilled to return to Southbank Centre next season for a concert as part of their Season Opening Weekend on 24 Sept - featuring a new commission by Elaine Mitchener + works by Philip Venables, Laura Moody, Jethro Cooke & us, and Meredith Monk - full details below & tickets go on sale on 2 May 💫

The Hermes Experiment The dynamic ensemble returns with works that blur the boundaries between music, theatre and improvisation, featuring pieces by Elaine Mitchener and Meredith Monk.

If you're a friend of our festival, today is the day that you are able to buy tickets to see and hear the incredible Hermes Experiment, live in Budleigh. This ground-breaking chamber quartet will be performing at this year's festival and we can't wait to witness them in action.

‘Britain’s music scene offers numerous dynamic small-sized groups, but The Hermes Experiment so spellbinding, so imaginative, continue to stand alone’
★★★★ The Times

Become a friend today, and you'll be the first to get your tickets to this unmissable event. Tickets for this particular event only will go on sale to the general public from 14 April.

🔗 www.budleighmusicfestival.co.uk

🇳🇱 29 April at de Doelen in Rotterdam, we perform music by Anna Meredith, Misha Mullov-Abbado, Sylvia Lim - Composer, Olivia Chaney, Laura Moody & Oliver Leith ✨

Red Sofa Young: klassiek? van nu — The Hermes Experiment / Two Envelopes / Kluster5 klassiek met een vraagteken

It was brilliant to spend the last 2 days at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama: last night giving a concert in their beautiful concert hall & today working with their fantastic composition students on brand new Hermes pieces (pictured below)- thanks to everyone at the college for the warm welcome 🌟