Long Player Live in London

LONGPLAYER  LIVE
THE LIVE DEBUT OF THE LONGEST PIECE OF MUSIC EVER WRITTEN

Lasting 1000 years, Jem Finer’s Longplayer has been playing without interruption, since the first moments of the year 2000, at listening posts around the world. Originally commissioned by Artangel, for almost 10 years it has been performed by computer. Now, for the first time, a tiny fragment of its millennial expanse receives its live debut.

On September 12th 2009, Finer will direct Longplayer’s spectacular first-ever live performance – 1000 minutes from its vast continuum, performed by a 26-strong orchestra, on a purpose-built 20-meter wide instrument, effectively a giant synthesizer built of bronze-age technology, with highly resonant bells for tone generators and humans for power.

Much more than a piece of music, Longplayer is a conceptual artwork, a social institution and a profound work of imagination. A unique historical moment, Longplayer Live will be an opportunity to contemplate time past, present and future, and be part of something momentous, lasting and beautiful.

 

Longplayer Musicians
Douglas Benford • Steve Beresford • Gina Birch • John Bisset • Ansuman Biswas • Tom Chant • Richard Cripps • Peter Cusack • Rhodri Davis • Ben Drew • Roger Eno • Jem Finer • Iris Garrelfs • Darryl Hunt • Ivor Kallin • Andrew Kotting • Kaffe Matthews • Graeme Miller • J. Maizlish Mole • Hayley Newman • Michael Ormiston • Spider Stacy • Emma Stow • David Toop • Candida Valentino • Laura Williams

•      •      •

THE ARTANGEL LONGPLAYER CONVERSATION

An epic relay of one-to-one conversations, inspired by the philosophical implications of long-term thinking and related issues, will take place simultaneously in the Roundhouse Studio. Jeanette Winterson will begin the 12-hour conversation featuring leading writers, filmmakers, scientists, academics and technology activists.

Long Conversationalists
Charles Arsene-Henry • Cory Doctorow • Marcus du Sautoy • Sophie Fiennes • Daniel Glaser • Bonnie Greer • Mark Haddon • Lisa Jardine • Andrew Kötting • Mark Miodownik • Susie Orbach • Ruth Padel • Robert Preston • Bigna Pfenninger • Steve Rose • David Toop • Vincent Walsh • Jeanette Winterson • Lewis Wolpert • And more…

•      •      •

TICKETS & INFORMATION

Tickets £15 (£12.50 concessions)
Buy tickets online at: www.roundhouse.org.uk
To book by telephone, call: 0844 482 8008

More information about Longplayer & Jem Finer is available at www.longplayer.org.
Listen to Longplayer’s live stream here.

The Longplayer Live Experience
The live performance begins at 8.20am on Saturday 12 September and ends at 1.00am the following morning, while the Artangel Longplayer Conversations begin at 10am and run until 10pm. Ticket holders will be free to come and go as they please, and move between the parallel worlds of the music and the conversation.

Food & Drink
The Roundhouse has a café which will be open for the duration of the event, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the day. Bars will be open all day. For a change of scenery, there is the bustle of Camden in one direction and the green spaces of Primrose Hill in the other.

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What is the long now?

The Long Now Foundation is a nonprofit established in 01996 to foster long-term thinking. Our work encourages imagination at the timescale of civilization — the next and last 10,000 years — a timespan we call the long now.

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