The iconic Camden, London venue Roundhouse has today announced the return of its flagship event series, In the Round (ITR), from 18 – 27 April 2024. The 2024 festival series, now in its seventh year, will again feature incredibly special performances from a diverse and wide scope of exciting emerging and established artists across an array of genres.
In the Round Festival has become a renowned annual concert series that sees an eclectic mix of artists perform incredibly special, intimate gigs on the arts venue’s famed circular stage. It’s the venue like you’ve never seen it before: spectacular while offering a singular kind of closeness. Artists often perform bespoke shows, one-off collaborations and other special projects tailored to the space, all designed to create a uniquely immersive experience
On Joni Mitchell’s 80th birthday, today, Roundhouse has announced The Songs of Joni Mitchell as the opening event on 18 April 2024. Artists including Emeli Sandé (appearing at In The Round for the second time), Kate Stables (This Is The Kit), Vashti Bunyan, Lail Arad, Sam Amidon, Eska and the Roundhouse Vocal Ensemble + more TBA will all appear on the circular stage for intimate, stripped back performances, with vocals and lyrics boldly at the forefront, showcasing the magnitude of Joni’s repertoire and the musical diversity of the artists she continues to inspire.
Roundhouse Vocal Ensemble is part of the venue’s creative programme, offering the chance to young singers to attend workshops and rehearsals, culminating in a performance on the Roundhouse stage, following a nationwide callout. Co-produced and curated by Lail Arad, and hosted by Cerys Matthews, the unmissable night will be a celebration of Joni Mitchell in her 80th year. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Tirzah will headline the Friday night, 19 April, performing songs from her three albums, Devotion, Colourgrade and the recent, trip9love…???. Tirzah’s music is the sound of contemporary contemplation: morning-after party rhythms, hazy melodies, hands-on instruments and the private space between them, and amid these post-Grime beats are hallucinatory songs from the emotional interior.
Saturday 20th April sees the iconic English songwriter Vashti Bunyan take to the stage for a headline performance. Now based in Edinburgh, Vashti’s story tells of the thwarted promise of early fame, disenchantment, long-term exile and eventual rediscovery. The show follows the release of her first book, Wayward: Just Another Life to Live, last year and will also mark ten years since the release of her third studio album, Heartleap.
Death Songbook: Brett Anderson + Special Guests with Paraorchestra will perform on 24 April 2024. This rich set – amplified by the diversity and virtuosity of Paraorchestra musicians, features delicate new versions of songs about death, the death of love, of loss, and ultimately of transcendence. It reminds us that music is our greatest friend in bleak times; inviting us to crouch around a candle and meet our sorrow head-on, comforting, nourishing, and uplifting. Reinventing the orchestra for the 21st century, Paraorchestra features an ensemble of disabled and non-disabled professional musicians who blend artforms, genres, and technology to create large-scale music projects that challenge ideas of what an orchestra can and should be. Brett Anderson, along with more guests TBC, will perform alongside them.
The lauded English singer-songwriter Lucy Rose will headline on 25 April 2024, following the release of her latest single, “Could You Help Me”. Musically, the track is a marked change from the candid, stark intimacy of her fourth album, No Words Left, released in 2019. There’s a musical experimentalism present here, with skittering, atmospheric beats, unexpectedly gnarly violin solos, and Lucy found stabbing beautifully at a piano creating this almost free-form, jazz-imbued sonic space, a world away from her previous work.
The US artist, art educator, and musician Lonnie Holley will take to the circular stage on 26 April 2024, for a co-headline with Matana Roberts. Lonnie Holley‘s biography is a radically forced version of the American Dream. Born in 1950 as the seventh of 27 children in Birmingham, Alabama, Holley experienced poverty and abuse in his childhood and struggled along as a day labourer until he “accidentally” found his way to art. As a sculptor, photographer, draughtsman or performance artist, the self-taught artist found recognition in the international art scene. Holley released his debut album, Just Before Music, at the age of 62. Like an exemplary blues singer, he transforms the pain and suffering of his biography into something positive and life-affirming.
Lonnie Holley released his sixth album, Oh Me Oh My, this year via Jagjaguwar, featuring guest appearances from Michael Stipe and Bon Iver. The New York City-based sound experimentalist, visual artist, jazz saxophonist, clarinettist, composer, bandleader and improviser, Matana Roberts, co-headlines on Friday 26th April. Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the garden… is the latest instalment in the artist’s visionary project exploring American history through ancestry, archive and place. Weaving together elements of jazz, avant-garde composition, folk and spoken word, Roberts’ album was produced by TV On The Radio’s Kyp Malone and was described by Uncut as “a patchwork quilt: a stitching together of spirited free jazz, harmony singing, simmering electronics and raucous fife-and-drum blues that feels both artfully constructed and loaded with personal significance.”
The festival’s closing night on 27 April 2024 will feature the double Grammy Award-winning US jazz vocalist, Samara Joy. Her voice – rich and velvety yet precociously refined – has already earned her appearances on the TODAY Show and millions of likes on TikTok, cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star. Samara picked up the award for Best New Artist at the 2023 Grammy Awards, and her second album, Linger Awhile, released last year and showcasing her timeless, irresistible sound, won the Grammy award for Best Jazz Vocal Album. More events will be announced soon.
The full 2024 line-up so far is as follows:
APRIL
18: The Songs of Joni Mitchell featuring Emeli Sandé, Eska, Kate Stables (This Is The Kit), Lail Arad, Sam Amidon, Vashti Bunyan + more TBA, hosted by Cerys Matthews
19: Tirzah
20: Vashti Bunyan
24: Death Songbook: Brett Anderson + Special Guests with Paraorchestra
25: Lucy Rose
26:Lonnie Holley and Matana Roberts
27:- Samara Joy
– + More TBA
Ticket links:
-The Songs of Joni Mitchell – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-songs-of-joni-mitchell
-Tirzah – Tirzah | Roundhouse
-Vashti Bunyan – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-vashti-bunyan
-Death Songbook: Brett Anderson + Special Guests with Paraorchestra – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-death-songbook
-Lucy Rose – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-lucy-rose
-Lonnie Holley and Matana Roberts – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-lonnie-matana
-Samara Joy – https://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/itr-samara-joy