Two weeks until Longplayer Live: book your tickets now!
LONGPLAYER LIVE
Roundhouse, 5th April, 7.20am-midnight
TICKETS: £25 standard, £5 UNDER 30s (go to booking and essential information).
There are just over two weeks to go until Longplayer returns to the Roundhouse for the first live performance of the work in over a decade. On the 5th of April, an ensemble of 36 musicians, playing what the composer, Jem Finer, calls a “bronze age synthesiser”, will perform a 1000 minute excerpt of Longplayer’s 1000 year score, from 07.20am – midnight.
Audiences are invited to spend as long as they like with Longplayer Live, leaving and returning throughout its duration. There will also be a series of fantastic events running across the day that contemplate the philosophical, technological and social resonances of Longplayer. Read on to learn more!
LONGPLAYER: LONGPOEM with CALEB FEMI
The Dorfman Hub, Roundhouse
12pm, 2.30pm
Tickets to Longplayer Live will also provide access to Longplayer: Longpoem by Caleb Femi, an immersive 100-minute poetry event which explores time, inheritance, survival, and the unknown.
Taking place at 12pm and 2.30pm, Longplayer: Longpoem reflects on the past, present, and future within Longplayer’s 1000 year continuum, weaving powerful storytelling and poetic expression.
JEM FINER in conversation with TRANSMISSION ROUNDHOUSE
The Roundhouse Bar and Café (ground floor)
4.30pm
Jem Finer, Longplayer’s composer, will be in conversation with the resident youth-led podcast, Transmission Roundhouse at 4.30pm. Join us to hear the talk being recorded live, and learn more about the ideas behind Longplayer!
Please be aware there is limited space in this area and we may reach capacity.
BY A LONG CHALK: a guided walk in conjunction with Longplayer Live
Meet at the Roundhouse
11am, 2.30pm, 6pm.
A guided walk exploring the environs and history of Chalk Farm and Primrose Hill will be running three times during the day of the Longplayer Live performance on Saturday 5 April 2025, starting and ending at the Roundhouse.
By A Long Chalk is a walk specially written for the occasion by Robert Kingham, in collaboration with Long Now London, a community of practice for long-term thinking. It will explore the area through the lens of ‘pace layers’, Stewart Brand’s model for the ever-interacting layers of civilisation.
It is a way of hearing the signal amidst the noise of London: and in this small quarter, making sense of steam trains and secret vaults, geology and gin, duels and druids, tunnels, taverns and towpaths.
Your guide is Robert Kingham from Minimum Labyrinth, creators of tours, books, films and audio dramas. You can watch Robert’s ‘Primrose Hill’ episode of Pagan London, and the whole series here.
The walk is not included in the Longplayer Live ticket price and you will need to buy a separate ticket here. Each walk will be limited to 25 people so please book soon if you would like to attend.
A meeting of present and future custodians
Last week, Jem, alongside Ansuman Biswas, a musician, artist and longstanding custodian of Longplayer, led a workshop at the Roundhouse guiding 18-25 year olds in the performance of Longplayer on its live instrument. As part of Longplayer’s 25th anniversary celebrations, these young creatives, born around or just after the millenium, when Longplayer began playing, have been invited to perform alongside professional musicians in the monumental live performance on the 5th.
It will be a meeting of present and future custodians who will shape Longplayer’s next 25 years, and we hope you’ll join us then!
Book your tickets for Longplayer Live and the wider programme on the 5th April here. A limited number of tickets for under 30s are available for only £5: head to the Longplayer Live booking page and you’ll find the link and discount code under ‘booking and essential information’.
