Opening Night: Carnaval meets The Seasons
Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva
London Piano Festival
| Cheryl Frances-Hoad | Stones of the Sky (world premiere) |
|---|---|
| Schumann | Carnaval, Op. 9 |
| INTERVAL | 20 minutes |
| Tchaikovsky | The Seasons, Op. 37a |
| Elena Langer | Seasons (world premiere) |
| Charles Owen | piano |
|---|---|
| Katya Apekisheva | piano |
London Piano Festival curators, Charles Owen and Katya Apekisheva open the 2025 festival with Tchaikovsky’s The Seasons and Schumann’s Carnaval. Alongside these programmatic gems, for the 10th Anniversary, we present two world premieres by British composers Cheryl Francis-Hoad and Elena Langer.
Robert Schumann conjures up an array of characters, both real and imaginary in his effervescent Carnaval. The music is filled with dance-like revelry, lyricism and sheer ‘joie de vivre’.
By contrast, Tchaikovsky’s imaginative series of twelve pieces describes the year’s journey in vivid sound pictures. Inspired by nature, scenes of country life and the ever-turning circle of the seasons.
Leading UK composers Cheryl Francis-Hoad and Elena Langer have responded to these iconic nineteenth century works with their own fresh take. Stones of the Sky by Francis-Hoad, draws joint inspiration from the gemstones found in the Austrian Alps and the Gem Poems by Pablo Neruda. Langer takes the poetry of Philip Larkin as a point of departure. Her newly created Seasons will be woven into Tchaikovsky’s original cycle.
This event will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.
Concessions & Under 30s tickets
Kings Place Concessions Tickets
We want to ensure that people who may be struggling financially to purchase a ticket can still enjoy visiting Kings Place. A limited number of tickets are allocated for certain events (if the ticket type does not show in the booking pathway, it means they are not available for this event or have all been sold). Concessions tickets are accessible for people on the following criteria (for more information visit our FAQs)
- Pension Credit
- Universal Credit
- Disability Benefit
- Income Support or Job Seekers allowance
- Students
£10 ‘Under 30s’ tickets
A limited number of £10 tickets for attendees aged under 30 are available for certain shows. To purchase an ‘Under 30s’ ticket, please choose the ‘Under 30s’ price type when selecting your ticket(s). If the option does not appear, this means all ‘Under 30s’ tickets have sold out or are not available for this performance. Please note that proof of age may be requested at the venue. The £10 offer does not apply to premium price categories.
Plan your visit
Getting here
Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe.
Our address is:
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
The Venue
Our performance spaces are situated on the lower ground floor. Hall One, Hall Two and St Pancras are located in level -2, reached by stairs, escalator and lift from the ground floor entrance level.
Event Times
Door times indicate auditorium entrance times only. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the Kings Place seating areas, gallery-level art, canal-side terrace, café, restaurant and bar throughout the day and evening.
- Our events begin promptly at the advertised start time. Typically, there is no support unless otherwise stated.
- We recommend arriving in good time before the performance. The Hall doors will open 30 minutes before the performance to allow time to take your seats, or to choose a space for standing shows.
- Latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance where possible
Access
We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. For more information about the accessibility of Kings Place, including details about our Access Scheme, please visit this page.
If you would like to discuss your access requirements with a member of our team, please get in touch with the Box Office team at info@kingsplace.co.uk.
Food & Drink
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant
Rotunda, situated on the ground floor of Kings Place, offers a unique dining and drinking experience alongside Regent’s Canal. The concert bar in the venue foyer will also be open for select events.
Green & Fortune Café
Recently re-furbished and now open with a new look, the Green & Fortune Café is open for selected concerts. Serving hot and cold food and drinks, including sandwiches, salads, soup, stew and a pie of the day, alongside a choice of cakes made by the on-site bakery team. See here for selected concert dates and standard opening hours.
Purchase tickets to 3 or more London Piano Festival events when booking and earn a 15% discount.
Reviews
‘Owen’s pellucid, unforced sound, fidelity to the most minute details of the score, and uncluttered, objective interpretations are commons to all these Schumann performances’ Gramaphone
‘Katya Apekisheva offered a spectacularly well-programmed solo recital that revealed a chameleon-like ability to play absolutely in style for each composer….this recital offered fabulous playing, but more than that, interpretations of the utmost integrity’ Seen and Heard International
