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Tuesday 3 Oct 2017

London Bridge turns concert hall as top classical pianist plays for passengers

Region & Route:

| Southern

Passengers at one of Britain’s busiest railway stations will get a very different soundtrack to their commute on Thursday as one of Britain’s leading classical pianists plays at London Bridge.

Julian Jacobson, piano professor at the Royal College of Music and one of the country’s most creative and distinctive classical musicians, will be playing to keep people entertained on their way to and from work at the country’s fourth busiest station. Commuters will also get the chance to play the Yamaha grand piano themselves.

As part of the Thameslink Programme, London Bridge is undergoing a complete transformation and will soon be home to the nation’s largest station concourse and a modern, vibrant space.

Network Rail, which owns and operates the station, is working with a variety of cultural groups to make the most of its new concourse and improve the journeys of the 55 million people who use the station each year.

Network Rail station manager Denis Kirk said: “More than 140,000 people use our station every weekday and we’re always looking for ways to make their journeys more enjoyable and make a difference to their day. This is a fantastic space to hear music and I’m looking forward to more pianists who commute through our station playing here.”

Performing without amplification, Julian will take advantage of the superb acoustics inside the new concourse by playing the outstanding Yamaha C5X Grand Piano supplied by Yamaha Music London, their European Flagship store. Colin Smithers, piano department manager at Yamaha Music London, said:  “In between the sets, anyone who feels they have a bit of talent to display will be able to take a turn on the piano – a great opportunity to play on one of our finest instruments.”

Julian Jacobson’s performance, organised by Beyond Platform 7, is part of a season of artistic events at London Bridge station including George Orwell readings, exhibitions, poetry, photography workshops, architecture talks, and other live performances.

This event is a prelude to Julian’s major concert series marking his 70^th birthday – Masterpieces of Beethoven, Schubert, Prokofiev and Gershwin – at St John’s Smith Square, Westminster on Sunday 22nd October.