Adrian Dunbar presents T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land
Music by Nick Roth with Guildhall Session Orchestra

For four voices, jazz quintet, orchestra and film

Conceived and Directed by Adrian Dunbar

T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land is widely regarded as one of the most important poems of the 20th century. Loosely following the myths of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King, it alludes riverine to a vast range of world literature, music and popular culture, leaving contemporary poetry in its wake.

Directed by Adrian Dunbar, with score by Nick Roth, the Unreal Cities setting of the poem is composed for four actors, film and jazz quintet and is expanded for this performance with a full orchestral treatment in collaboration with the Guildhall Session Orchestra. The piece was commissioned by the Happy Days Enniskillen International Beckett Festival 2015, supported by Faber & Faber, and created with the permission of the T. S. Eliot Estate, becoming the first authorised setting of the poem in its 100-year history.

This Unreal Cities performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall marks the first occasion that an Irish ensemble has headlined the EFG London Jazz Festival.

Joining for this performance is Guildhall Session Orchestra, a dynamic ensemble of talented alumni from Guildhall School of Music & Drama which has recently been making waves in the music world, collaborating with celebrated artists and pushing creative boundaries.

Voices:

Anna Nygh

Orla Charlton

Frank McCusker

Stanley Townsend

Musicians:

Alex Bonney trumpet / electronics

Nick Roth saxophones / objects

Alexander Hawkins piano

Oli Hayhurst bass

Simon Roth  drums