what are noisenights?

noisenights are our vision for the future of classical music: crowdfunded gigs taking world-leading musicians to iconic independent venues.

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At the centre of every noisenight is a one-hour classical set. We platform international soloists and ensembles while also giving opportunities to outstanding new artists. All noisenights take place in gig venues where you get to experience classical music up close.

Live music needs your backing more than ever. Backing a noisenight means getting tickets to hear the world's best performers in grassroots venues and being part of a community working for a positive future for live music. Putting it simply, you giving your backing will make this gig happen and secure you a ticket.

After a noisenight reaches its funding target, we'll e-mail all backers to confirm it and a small amount of extra tickets will be made available. Tickets are released in four stages, which increase in price the closer to the event they're purchased. Book early to get the best price.

Please note that due to the venue's license, this noisenight is strictly 16+ (all under 18s must be accompanied by an adult).

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the music:

One of the rising stars of the global opera world, James Newby will be joined by leading pianist Joseph Middleton for a rare solo performance. Taking inspiration from folk influences in classical song, James will perform arrangements of traditional English folk tunes, as well as compositions by Maurice Ravel, Thomas Traill, and Gustav Mahler.

james newby:

James Newby is a former BBC New Generation Artist and Rising Star for the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He was nominated by the Barbican Hall for the European Concert Hall Organisation Rising Star scheme and will be presented by them in recitals throughout Europe in the 2022-23 season.

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A recipient of the Richard Tauber Prize for best interpretation of a Schubert Lied at the 2015 Wigmore Hall/Kohn International Song Competition, James has since enjoyed a close relationship with the Hall, a recent highlight being a performance of Die schöne Müllerin with Simon Lepper.

Most recently, he has been awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, in recognition and support of his emerging status as one of the most outstanding young musicians of his generation, and this summer he will take part in their twentieth anniversary celebrations at Wigmore Hall singing Mahler with Mitsuko Uchida.

The release of his debut solo CD I Wonder as I Wander on BIS Records in 2020 with pianist Joseph Middleton was the winner of the Diapason d’Or Découverte and described in Gramophone Magazine as “a performance that sets the tone, announcing Newby as an impressive artist”.

In September 2019 James joined the Ensemble of the Staatsoper Hannover where in 2021 he garnered particular praise for his debut as Eddy in Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek. Other important role debuts in Hannover include Guglielmo Così fan tutte and the title role in Eugene Onegin.

In the forthcoming season he will make his French opera debut as Der Junker in Schreker Der Schatzgräber at Opéra National du Rhin; his debut at the Komische Oper Berlin as Guglielmo; will sing Aeneas in Purcell Dido and Aeneas at The Grange Festival and further ahead will make his debuts at Garsington Opera, Theater an der Wien and Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona.

Concert performances this season include Haydn The Creation with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bart Van Reyn and Handel’s Messiah with Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. Past concert appearances include Berlioz with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Mozart with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Handel with the Britten Sinfonia. He has also appeared in other baroque repertoire with conductors David Bates, Jonathan Cohen and John Butt, toured in Europe with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century singing Bach and made his US debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Juanjo Mena.

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joseph middleton:

Pianist Joseph Middleton specializes in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and has been internationally acclaimed as one of the finest musicians in this field. Described in Opera Magazine as ‘the rightful heir to legendary accompanist Gerald Moore’, by BBC Music Magazine as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’, he has also been labelled ‘the cream of the new generation’ by The Times.

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He is a passionate advocate for the transformative power of music, and as well as performing and recording world-wide, he is a festival director and sought-after pedagogue. Named ‘the absolute King of programming’ by Gramophone Magazine, Joseph frequently devises series for BBC Radio 3, Wigmore Hall and the University of Cambridge. He is Musician in Residence at, and Bye-Fellow of Pembroke College Cambridge where he curates a series of song recitals and directs the University’s Lieder Scheme. He is a Fellow of his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music, where he is also a Professor of Ensemble Piano. For the past 9 years he has also been Director of Leeds Lieder, a Festival recently praised in the Guardian for its ‘World-class’ programming and lauded in The Times for bringing: ‘musical riches to Yorkshire through star performers, engaging new commissions and bold educational projects….a Northern powerhouse of song.’

Joseph is a frequent guest at major music centres including London’s Wigmore Hall, Royal Opera House, Barbican and Royal Festival Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Park Avenue Armory, Het Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus and Musikverein Vienna, Zürich Tonhalle, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Berlin BoulezSaal and Philharmonic, Kölner Philharmonie, Teatro de la Zarzuela Madrid, Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Lille and Gothenburg Opera Houses, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Musée d’Orsay Paris, Oji Hall Tokyo and Festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Barcelona, Schloss Elmau, Edinburgh, Heidelberger Frühling, Munich, Ravinia, San Francisco, Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, deSingel, Soeul, Stuttgart, Toronto and Vancouver. He made his BBC Proms debut in 2016 alongside Iestyn Davies and Carolyn Sampson and returned in 2018 alongside Dame Sarah Connolly where they premiered recently discovered songs by Benjamin Britten.

Joseph enjoys recitals with internationally established singers including Sir Thomas Allen, Louise Alder, Mary Bevan, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Dame Sarah Connolly, Marianne Crebassa, Iestyn Davies, Fatma Said, Samuel Hasselhorn, Christiane Karg, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager, Katharina Konradi, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, John Mark Ainsley, Ann Murray DBE, James Newby, Mark Padmore, Mauro Peter, Miah Persson, Sophie Rennert, Ashley Riches, Dorothea Röschmann, Kate Royal, Carolyn Sampson, Nicky Spence and Roderick Williams.

He has a special relationship with BBC Radio 3, frequently curating his own series and performing alongside the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. His critically acclaimed and fast-growing discography has seen him awarded a Diapason D’or, Edison Award and Priz Caecilia as well as receiving numerous nominations for ECHO, Opus-Klassik, Gramophone, BBC Music Magazines and International Classical Music Awards. His interest in the furthering of the song repertoire has led him to commission and give the premieres of major new works by important voices including: Thomas Adès, Nico Muhly, Hannah Kendall, Cheryl Frances Hoad, Daniel Kidane, Mark Anthony Turnage, Errollyn Wallen, Helen Grime, Huw Watkins, Brian Elias, Judith Bingham, Ed Nesbitt, Deborah Pritchard, Kate Whitley, Robin Holloway, Michael Berkeley and Sally Beamish among others.

Joseph Middleton was the first, and to date only accompanist to win the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award, the UKs most prestigious award to be bestowed upon a musician.

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