Avison Live
Published on 09th March, 2009
Avison Live will be a major public event celebrating the tercentenary of 18th Century North East composer Charles Avison and his musical heritage, bringing together classical music and contemporary electronic art. At the heart of the project will be the premiere of a new audio visual artwork commissioned by a leading contemporary artist and a series of live concerts by the world famous Avison Ensemble, culminating in a high profile city centre event.
The new commission will respond to Avison's music, his groundbreaking music criticism and the rich historical context in which his music was performed three hundred years ago. In the 1700's Charles Avison started the Bigg Market's reputation as a centre of entertainment. His fortnightly concerts held in the Groat Market Assembly Rooms were the peaks of Newcastle's social calendar; raucous affairs held in rooms above drinking dens, which started at 6pm and finished at 2am. At the peak of the Industrial Revolution, with entrepreneurs, factory owners and engineers in the city hungry for culture and entertainment, Avison made Newcastle into England's greatest provincial music centre of the day outside of London.
The commissioning process for the new artwork is now underway and details will be announced as the project manifests over the coming months.
Avison Live is produced by AV Festival and Avison Ensemble, in partnership with culture10. Avison Live forms part of NewcastleGateshead's world-class programme of festivals and events developed by culture10.
This is the first major public event that AV Festival has developed outside of a festival year. The next AV Festival will be in March 2010.