The Hermes Experiment: Familiar Objects
The award-winning ensemble performs a programme of music celebrating the everyday, including works by Mira Calix, Matthew Grouse and Kerry Andrew.
Familiar Objects is the result of composers taking familiar objects and treating them musically.
The title is based on a poem from Ali Lewis’ poetry cycle about everyday objects including tea, bathrooms and buses, around the reading of which The Hermes Experiment improvises.
This programme brings together humorous and performative responses to moments of the day-to-day, including a score made out of a dirty tea towel (Andy Ingamells), a graphic score made out of Instagram DMs (Mira Calix) and a song cycle on fruit (Kerry Andrew).
Familiar Objects showcases not only the versatility of the ensemble, made up of harp, clarinet, soprano and double bass, and the range of compositional styles within contemporary art music, but also shows how much inspiration there is to be found in the everyday.
Performers
- The Hermes Experiment
- Anne Denholm harp
- Oliver Pashley clarinet
- Mariane Schofield double bass
- Héloïse Werner soprano
Repertoire
- Timothy Cape: Favourite Bits
- Mira Calix: DMe
- The Hermes Experiment: Familiar Objects (on poems by Ali Lewis)
- Andy Ingamells: Tea Towel
- Matthew Grouse: Daily Rituals
- Kerry Andrew: Fruit Songs arr. Anne Denholm
Need to know
For ages 7+
Dates & times
Price
- Standard entryFrom £20*
- Concessions25%**
* Excludes £3.50 booking fee.
Book as early as you can to ensure the best choice of tickets. Ticket prices may be adjusted without notice to reflect demand.
** Limited availability. Read about concessions.
Tickets can only be sold through the Southbank Centre and our authorised agents, and can't be resold. You can return your tickets to the Southbank Centre for a credit voucher up to 48 hours before the event. Tickets resold on any third-party platforms will become invalid.
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Multi-buy discount
Classical Music: Autumn/Winter 2022/23
As part of our classical music multi-buy offer, book multiple Autumn/Winter concerts in the same transaction to receive a discount:
- 3 – 4 events: 10% discount
- 5 – 7 events: 15% discount
- 8 – 10 events: 20% discount
- 11 – 14 events: 25% discount
- 15+ events: 30% discount
Discounts apply to selected events from September 2022 until January 2023 inclusive. Offer can't be combined with Spring/Summer multi-buy.
Venue
Purcell Room
Our number one priority is the health and wellbeing of our visitors and staff.
Open 90 minutes before an event until the end of the event. Closed at all other times.
Our address is: Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX. The nearest tube and train stations within 5-7 minutes walk are Waterloo (Northern, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Waterloo & City lines) and Embankment (District & Circle lines). There are also lots of bus routes with stops 2-5 minutes from our venues. For more information on getting here by road, rail or river.
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More information
Find out all you need to know about tickets, including concessions, group bookings, returns, credit vouchers and more, via the link below.
Get an overview of the seating layout of the Purcell Room by downloading our seating plan.
Toilets
An accessible toilet is located in the foyer.
A Changing Places toilet is located on Level 1 Royal Festival Hall next to the JCB Glass Lift, for the exclusive use of disabled people who need personal assistance to use the toilet.
The facility includes a height-adjustable bench, tracking hoist system, a centrally-placed toilet, a height-adjustable basin and a shower. Please visit the Welcome Desk on Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, where a member of staff can provide you with the key. You can also use the phone next to the Changing Places toilet to speak to a member of staff. The facility is open daily 10am – 11pm.
Cloakroom
The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room cloakroom is closed. You won’t be able to bring any bags over 40 x 25 x 25cm into the venues, so please leave large bags at home.
We're cash-free
Please note that we're unable to accept cash payments across our site.
Purcell Room is located in Queen Elizabeth Hall. For step-free access please use Royal Festival Hall JCB glass lift to Level 2 and enter via Riverside Terrace.
Talk to a member of staff at the auditorium entrance if you have a disability that means you can’t queue, or you need extra time to take your seat. They can arrange priority entry for you as soon as the doors open.
Please bear with us while we update our access map to reflect the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall’s Level 2 foyer spaces. The step-free routes remain the same.