Catch The Next Big Thing At Goldsmiths' PureGold

Chris Lockie
By Chris Lockie Last edited 119 months ago
Catch The Next Big Thing At Goldsmiths' PureGold

puregold

It seems implausible that you haven't been following Londonist's series on New London Music, but for the two or three of you in that unseaworthy boat Goldsmiths has a handy festival to help shore up your knowledge of the future of music. Next week (5 May) the New Cross-based university launches PureGold, billed as a 'celebration of eclectic, innovative and exciting music', though we'll be the judge of that thank you very much.

PureGold has been taking place every year since its debut in 2008, and now stretches to over two months of concerts and other music-based events at the Southbank Centre and various other venues around London. Following next Monday's launch, the opening event is Music Learning and Performance in London's Tamil Diaspora (Richard Hoggart Building, Goldsmiths, 7 May), an opportunity to learn about South Indian music within London's Sri Lankan and South Indian communities, backed by a special performance of South Indian classical music at Deptford Town Hall the following evening (8 May).

Other highlights of the PureGold festival include an exploration of the Digital Score project on 17 May, a concert to celebrate composer Dmitri Smirnov's 65th birthday on 23 May ("Come and celebrate with a drop of Smirnoff" — oh go on then), and a series of half-hour concerts by Goldsmiths students completing their Popular Music degrees (4-12 June).

That latter selection will be preceded by a longer celebration of Goldsmiths' own music in Sound Shout on 3 June, with performances and pieces by students past and present including Sammi El-Nany, Mercedes Maresca and Dilara Aydin-Corbett. To be fair, Goldsmiths' more famous alumni include last year's Mercury Prize winner James Blake, Peckham's very own dance and dubstep success story Katy B, and the composer of the score to the National Theatre of War Horse, Adrian Sutton, so maybe they do know what they're doing over there.

For a taste of what to expect, here's a performance from ANINA at the 2012 edition of PureGold.

Goldsmiths are still adding events to the festival schedule, due to continue into July. See the full calendar of PureGold events announced so far.

PureGold runs from May to July across various London venues. Full details on the Goldsmiths website.

Image from PureGold 2012 by viks2 via the Londonist Flickr pool.

Last Updated 28 April 2014