LIFEM: London International Festival of Exploratory Music

03 – 07 November 2010

Building on last year’s inaugural festival, the London International Festival of Exploratory Music (LIFEM) continues its musical journey with exciting exploratory sounds from all over the world. It begins by celebrating the 75th birthday of composer Terry Riley, the father of American minimalism. Terry takes the stage with Mercury Music award-winning tabla player and multi-instrumentist Talvin Singh and progressive saxophonist George Brooks, on what is a rare visit to Europe. The festival ends with the oldest active early music group in Europe, Hortus Musicus, from Estonia. They celebrate two more 75th birthdays: those of Estonian Arvo Pärt and Georgian Giya Kancheli. In between comes the UK premiere of Flemish Belgium minimalist composer Wim Mertens, a rare UK performance by French Catalan musician Pascal Comelade, the only UK performance of UK composer Gavin Bryars, the UK premiere of Estonian power folk band Svjata Vatra and the UK premiere of Brazilian singer Fernanda Takai, best known as the vocalist of Brazilian super group Pato Fu.