About
A new music scene is currently emerging in London… Over the last few years ‘classical club-nights’
have started to become a rare but growing feature in the night-life of London. This has been fueled by
the new generation of classical performers, composers and promoters who are redefining the rules, and
breaking out of the constraints of the traditional classical concert hall.
At the forefront of this new movement is NONCLASSICAL. Founded by composer Gabriel Prokofiev in 2003,
NONCLASSICAL is a club-night, UK based record label, and possibly a new genre of music (according to
Rough Trade records). The club-night is at The Horse & Groom (an old, live-music pub in Shoreditch, East
London), and the audience is never the typical white-haired classical crowd, but that young-generation
of music lovers who are searching for the latest exciting developments in music. Each month innovative
and virtuosic young classical musicians from the UK blow away audiences with their incredible
musicianship & new compositions. The success of the night partly stems from the fact that it presents
Classical as if it were Rock music. Bands play through the pub’s PA, everyone has a pint in their hand
and perhaps most importantly there are DJs playing throughout the night. Even the most skeptical
visitors to the club can’t help but be stimulated by being so close to the high-quality musicianship
presented at NONCLASSICAL.
Classical music can be part of everyone’s lives and this night is part of rediscovering its relevance. The NONCLASSICAL record label has released 5 groundbreaking albums to date, with 12 more due to release in 2010 from artists GéNIA (G. Prokofiev’s Piano No.1), Joby Burgess (Import / Export), Tansy Davies, Mercury Quartet, Olly Coates, Juice and House of Bedlam. The idea behind the releases is to record forward-thinking, contemporary “classical” music and then invite musicians and producers who usually work in different genres of music to remix them. Artists such as Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Hot Chip, Simon Tong (The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Gorillaz & The Verve) John Maclean (The Beta Band & The Aliens), and Gabriel Prokofiev have remixed pieces for the label to stunning effect.
