Southbank Centre reopens Purcell Rooms with a major new artistic strand Purcell Sessions

After 18 months, the Southbank Centre has reopened the Purcell Room at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with a major new artistic strand, Purcell Sessions.

Featuring a year-long programme of more than 100 events, Purcell Room will be the ‘room for the curious’ and include a line-up of UK and international artists across music, dance, visual art, literature, spoken word and multimedia.

Championing artistic expression across genres, Purcell Sessions will present some of today’s most sought-after creatives who are setting the pace for the future of their form.

Since Purcell Room opened in 1967, named after the 17th century innovator Henry Purcell, the venue has been a crucible of international names, including a young David Bowie who played at the iconic space in November 1969 shortly after the release of Space Oddity.

The new sessions will build on the rich history of the Purcell Room as a crucible for major international names, which also included Patti Smith in 2005 and Nick Cave in 2009.

The new series is set to feature some of next year’s most talked about cultural moments, from audio-visual installations from the likes of Nabihah Iqbal and Libby Heaney, FAUZIA, Iglooghost and yuele to exclusive album workshops and launches from Lyra Pramuk and Jamie Isaac, as well as new collaborations, commissions, and cross-genre concept pieces with Keisha the Sket, Neil Cowley, Ruth Ozeki, BISHI, Robert Ames and more.

Long-term artistic partners across contemporary and classical music will also feature, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Pekka Kuusisto.

Gillian Moore, director of music and performing arts at the Southbank Centre, said: “The Southbank Centre brings artists and audiences together for unique cultural experiences and we can’t wait to take this one step further with Purcell Sessions, bringing its namesake’s legacy right up to date with some of today’s most daring creative talents.

“The legacy of the Purcell Room is woven deep into the fabric of this space, from the artists who’ve played to packed out audiences to the composers who’ve challenged with bold new work.

As it reopens this September, Purcell Sessions will launch us into our next chapter, as this most intimate space becomes our nexus of creativity and innovation.”