YouTube will live stream a free open-air concert by Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra in Trafalgar Square on July 1.
BMW Classics marks the renewal of a continuing partnership between BMW and the LSO, bringing access to music in one of the world’s most iconic public spaces.
As well an audience in the square of up to 10,000 people, the summer concert will be live streamed for the first time exclusively on YouTube.
Becky Lees, head of LSO Live, London Symphony Orchestra, said: “The LSO has successfully streamed concerts on YouTube from the Barbican seven times since we began this new initiative in September 2016. By the time this concert occurs on July 1, there will have been nine Barbican concerts streamed. YouTube offers the perfect solution as a live streaming platform – both practically and in their approach to exploration – that allows free access to all to an already vast base of viewers, and it is a music discovery platform where people can encounter classical music for the first time in a risk-free environment."
The programme will feature music on a theme of dance and ballet by Dvorák, Massenet, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky and includes a world premiere by composer and pianist Kate Whitley, founder of Peckham Car Park’s Multi-Story Orchestra. The unticketed show begins at 5pm.
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “This summer Trafalgar Square will be transformed into the capital’s biggest concert hall so that visitors, Londoners and people viewing online can enjoy an incredible free performance by Sir Simon Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. They’ll also be able to enjoy the world premiere of Kate Whitley’s Sky Dances – a new work by an emerging composer.
“I’m delighted that 50 outstanding young London musicians will join the professional ranks of the LSO for this special performance which will showcase the next generation of musical talent in the capital and firmly reiterate London’s position as a global capital of music.”
Sir Simon Rattle said: “This is a dream concert for me on a stage like no other. I hope that the excitement of the musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra playing beside these brilliant young musicians in such an extraordinary public space will fire people’s imaginations. And prove that, inside or outside the walls of a concert hall, the experience of great music is for everyone. I am truly grateful to BMW and the Mayor for London for making this possible.”
Candice Morrissey, head of music partnerships, EMEA at YouTube, said: “We echo the sentiment of Sir Simon Rattle that great music is for everyone; giving people access to incredible and engaging content no matter where they are is core to our mission at YouTube. It’s wonderful to see a world class cultural institution like the LSO using the YouTube platform to broaden its audience, and we are thrilled to partner on live streaming their ‘people’s concert’ in Trafalgar Square to people all around the world.”
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