Ligeti Quartet to perform works by award-winning contemporary composers for online concert

Featuring compositions by Shiva Feshareki, Ben Gaunt, Robin Haigh, Laura Jurd, Anna Meredith MBE and Ayanna Witter-Johnson

PRS for Music, in collaboration with the Ligeti Quartet, has announced a special free online concert for its latest virtual event. Filmed at Goldsmiths, University of London’s George Wood Theatre, the concert will premiere on Tuesday 27 April at 7.30pm on PRS for Music’s website and YouTube channel, and will be available to watch on-demand for 14 days after broadcast.

PRS for Music represents the rights of over 155,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers in the UK and around the world. The concert programme will celebrate contemporary works by PRS for Music members including, Ivors Composer Award winning British-Iranian experimental composer, Shiva Feshareki; British Composer Award nominee, Ben Gaunt; Ivors Composer Award winner, Robin Haigh; Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers recipient and lead for the Mercury Prize-nominated band Dinosaur, Laura Jurd; Scottish Album of the Year Award and Mercury Prize nominee, Anna Meredith MBE and MOBO nominated, PRS Foundation Composers’ Fund recipient, Ayanna Witter-Johnson.

Originally due to take place in 2020, during a year of celebration for the Ligeti Quartet, who have been at the forefront of contemporary music for over a decade since their formation in 2010, the concert has been re-designed for the current climate to deliver an inspiring and memorable evening for those watching from home.

Showcasing music from this diverse range of composers, known for bringing a range of musical influences to their work, inspired by jazz, mento, the Windrush generation, improvisation, electronics, and the natural world, the online concert will also include introductions from the Ligeti Quartet and the composers themselves.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, PRS for Music has re-imagined its in-person music events in order to continue celebrating the diversity of the organisation’s membership. The free-to-watch Ligeti Quartet virtual concert follows special editions of PRS Presents LCKDWN that took place in April 2020, PRS Presents LGBTQ+ that took place in August 2020 and PRS Presents celebrating Black History Month in October 2020.

We are immensely proud to have collaborated with the Ligeti Quartet for this online concert, which will highlight the music of six exceptional contemporary composers. We worked closely with the Ligeti Quartet to choose works that complemented each other, creating an engaging programme that we hope will inspire all those who tune in.

Thanks so much to the Ligeti Quartet for putting this wonderful online concert together in partnership with PRS for Music. Whilst live events are still restricted, it is great that live music-making is still in action. The Ligeti Quartet originally commissioned VENUS/ZOHREH in 2018 and since then it has grown to be my most frequently performed composition; it is great that they will perform it now, a few years on, for this event.

About PRS for Music

PRS for Music is a world-leading music collective management organisation representing the rights of more than 165,000 talented songwriters, composers and music publishers around the globe. Headquartered in the UK, it works diligently on behalf of its members to grow and protect the value of their rights. With a focus on innovation and integrity, PRS for Music is redefining the global standard for music royalties to ensure creators are paid whenever their musical compositions and songs are streamed, downloaded, broadcast, performed and played in public. In 2022, PRS for Music collected £964m and paid out £836.2m in royalties. prsformusic.com