The Night Shift: Changing Perceptions of Classical Music

Do you wish you could brush up on your Beethoven or get hyped on Handel but find yourself all too intimidated by the inaccessible pretentiousness of traditional classical music concerts? Or maybe you just wish classical could just find its way into the mainstream, dreaming of the day when it is once again de rigueur to take in some Mozart after a fine meal.

Well, then have we got a well-kept secret for you.

The Night Shift takes the best of London’s classical music scene and combines it with a casual atmosphere in which you may come and go with your drinks and – gasp – even applaud the musicians.

What’s even better (no, not BETTER!) is that tickets are only four quid for students, but 12-15 for the rest of society.

Students also reap the benefits of a free beer and some chocolates before the gig.

And just when you thought it couldn’t get ANY better, we can reveal that there is a performance coming up this Friday (13 August) so you can see what the fuss is for yourself.

Kicking off at 8pm, at Wilton’s Music Hall (the oldest music hall in the world) Nathan ‘Flutebox’ Lee – the flute-playing beat-boxer – will take the stage. Afterward, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment will begin playing the best of Handel and Purcell, MCd by the BBC’s Alistair Appleton, at 9pm. Afterward, DJ Nick Luscombe will spin some mad bad beats until midnight. Get the full details here.

See you Friday at the show!