Talks
I’ve given many talks and hosted study events over the years on opera, art song, orchestral works, and film music (see below for a recent selection). I have worked with Britten Pears Arts, Leeds Lieder, New Paths Music, Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, St John’s Smith Square, and London Symphony Orchestra among many others. In recent years, my talks have been in person or via zoom. My main expertise is music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
From the ‘Britten Opus Number Project’ on Twitter during the first lockdown in 2020
This is a stunning work, + much more to learn about it, from the visionary poem by Christopher Smart, to its wartime premiere, to a lovely version for orch by Imogen Holst (also on Spotify), to the fact that @OSoden has written a biography of Smart's cat coming out this year..🐱 https://t.co/3y2kqfIe10
— Lucy Walker (@LucyBWalker) June 22, 2020
Aaaaaaah, this is a lovely #BBOpus. Sit back and enjoy 😎 https://t.co/3G49ZYon1l
— Lucy Walker (@LucyBWalker) August 14, 2020
Selected Talks 2019-2023
2023
8 April: Hosting and speaking at a study morning on Bach’s St Matthew Passion for Britten Pears Arts, with Joseph McHardy and Madeleine Holmes.
11 April: Discovery Session on Anna Thorvaldsdottir for Britten Pears Arts
4 May: Discovery Session on Cassandra Miller for Britten Pears Arts
14 May: Talk on Britten’s Canticles for SongEasel at St Laurence Church, Catford
14 October: Hosting and speaking at a Study Morning on Britten’s Serenade for Britten Pears Arts, with Professor Adrian Poole and Stuart Jackson.
6 December: Discovery Session on Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols for Britten Pears Arts
2022
Jan-Mar: ‘Film Forum’ for Aldeburgh Library Foundation. A series of talks on directors and stars, including Tilda Swinton, Tom Cruise, and Amma Asante.
12 June: Pre-concert talk on Britten’s Phaedra for Britten Pears Arts
10 August: Discovery Session on Elizabeth Maconchy’s music for Britten Pears Arts
29 September: In conversation with composer David Matthews for New Paths Music at the Beverley Chamber Music Festival
5 October: Fundraiser talk on ‘La belle epoque’ for St John’s Smith Square
12 October: Discovery Session on Elisabeth Lutyens for Britten Pears Arts
15 October: Talk on Britten’s Saint Nicolas for St Andrew’s Church, Bedford
29 October: Talk on Britten and Song, and hosting Study Day for Britten Pears Arts
3 November: Insight event on Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia for The Royal Opera House
9 November: Talk on Britten’s Billy Budd for the Centre for Maritime Historical Studies, University of Exeter
16 November: In conversation about Priaulx Rainier with Oliver Soden for Britten Pears Arts
26 November: The Belle Epoque Festival Talk for St John’s Smith Square
7 December: Discovery Session on Judith Weir (and in conversation with the composer) for Britten Pears Arts
Oct-Dec: ‘Film Forum’ for Aldeburgh Library Foundation, studying a variety of film genres over 6 sessions.
2021
Feb-June: ‘Live from the Archive’ talks (via zoom) for Britten Pears Arts: Britten at Home, Britten’s Works, Peter Pears, and Britten & Women
13 March: Britten’s String Quartet No. 2 (via zoom) for Club Raz (Razumovsky Quartet)
18 June: Britten’s Canticles for Leeds Lieder
25 August: Britten in America (via zoom) for Westminster Libraries
29 October: Britten and Ghosts at The Red House, Aldeburgh for Britten Pears Arts
21 November: Study day on Britten and British Music at Snape Maltings for Britten Pears Arts
14 December: The Turn of the Screw: A Question of Ghosts (via zoom) for Westminster Libraries
2020
27 March 2020: Britten’s Contemporaries: Stravinsky (YouTube) for Aldeburgh Library Foundation
April-August: Britten Opus Number project (via Twitter) for Britten Pears Arts
7 May: La Voix humaine: Such an Artist to Write for (YouTube) for Britten Pears Arts
13 May: NMC Listening Club on Britten on Film (via zoom) for NMC
24 September: hosting an event launching The Poet’s Cat by Oliver Soden, in association with Wild Plum Arts
2019
March-December: Discovery Sessions on Landmarks of British Music, including talks on Vaughan Williams, Holst, Elgar, Walton, Britten, and Birtwistle. For Britten Pears Arts
March: Hosting a Study Day on Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, with Oliver Soden. For Britten Pears Arts
March: on Britten’s ‘Causes’, for 100th Anniversary of Save the Children, Aldeburgh.
May: Insight event on Billy Budd with Chloe Miller Smith for Royal Opera House
September: pre-concert talk at London Symphony Orchestra for Isle of Noises season,
September: talk at launch of I and Silence CD, featuring Lana Bode and Marta Fontalans-Simmons
October: hosting Study Day on Britten & Russia for Britten Pears Arts