Open House 2026 and a Special Live Performance
In September, Longplayer took part in Open House 2026, the annual festival that invites visitors to explore some of London’s most remarkable buildings and cultural spaces. Nestled within London’s only lighthouse at Trinity Buoy Wharf, Longplayer welcomed guests to experience both the unique history of the site and a moment within its 1,000-year musical composition.
Throughout the weekends, artist Kitty Finer led participatory workshops based on a composition written by Jem Finer for six tuned bells. The workshops offered visitors an engaging introduction to the principles behind Longplayer and Longplayer Live, revealing how the composition is performed and maintained across time. Kitty also invited young visitors to create and compose their own experimental scores for the tuned bells, giving them the opportunity to conduct and perform their own compositions and experience the creative process first-hand.
Elsewhere in the lighthouse, visitors were encouraged to step back from digital communication and revisit the art of letter writing. Inspired by the Longplayer Letters series, typewriters were set up for guests to compose messages to future visitors, using words engraved on the Longplayer singing bowls as creative prompts.
Annie Spencer of Lighthouse Explorers delivered a series of heritage talks, sharing the rich history of Trinity Buoy Wharf’s lighthouse. Visitors learned about its role as an experimental station and training centre for future lighthouse keepers and light vessel crews, as well as the wider maritime heritage of the site.
The programme continued on 20 October with a special and impromptu live performance by Jem Finer and John Matthias, celebrating the release of their new album Almost Starlight. Performing within Ingrid Hu’s installation of the Longplayer singing bowls, the duo filled the lighthouse with the sounds of violin and hurdy-gurdy. In a unique first, they performed alongside the live stream of Longplayer itself, 26 years and 262 days into its 1,000-year cycle.
