An intimate house party full of musical surprises, inspired by the tales of Schubert’s Vienna but rebooted for the modern world.

In the early 1800s, Schubert’s house parties were legendary in Vienna. The composer would sit at a piano and - surrounded by friends and patrons - share his latest compositions, along with other new musical discoveries. These were relaxed, intimate and fun encounters, fuelled by the sharing and discovery of new music.

House of Music takes this ethos and brings the audience on a century-hopping adventure: a playlist of diverse, bite-sized chamber music, nominated by the musicians as pieces they’ve loved discovering, jump between stages dotted around a concert hall-turned-living room.

Each piece is introduced by the player to whom it means something special, sharing the journey they’ve had with it and building a connection with the audience.

The evening starts and ends with Schubert, but in between features a dazzling variety of chamber works both familiar and new. In the first iteration, this included works by Madeleine Dring, Louise Farrenc, Cecilia McDowall, Erwin Schulhoff, William Grant Still, Grace Williams, Valerie Coleman as well as Haydn and Shostakovich.

The finale emerged from around the room, as musicians improvised a musical ‘bridge’ which they played while moving into formation for a movement of Schubert Symphony.

You can read a blog post written by Andrew Taheny, one of the Sinfonia Smith Square musicians who participated in the project, here.