ALADDIN SANE LIVE - ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, FRIDAY 21 APRIL

Tickets On General Sale on Wednesday 1 March, 10:00am HERE

Tomorrow’s Warriors announced today that Nu Civilisation Orchestra will lead Aladdin Sane Live – an ambitious concert reimagining Bowie’s masterpiece ‘Aladdin Sane’ on the album’s 50th anniversary year, as part of Southbank Centre’s Aladdin Sane: 50 Years.

Coinciding with the release of the album fifty years ago, music artists will pay tribute to Aladdin Sane in the Royal Festival Hall on Friday 21 April. Hosted by the Nu Civilisation Orchestra (NCO), Mercury Prize nominee Anna Calvi, Scissor Sisters’ Jake Shears, R&B singer Tawiah, Roxanne Tataei, who has collaborated with the likes of Nitin Sawhney and Shabaka Hutchings, and masked pop maverick Lynks will all perform Bowie’s album in full, which includes hits such as ‘The Jean Genie’, ‘Drive in Saturday’ and ‘Lady Grinning Soul’.

Award-winning pianist, composer and musical director Peter Edwards will once again arrange and lead the diverse, innovative and shapeshifting orchestra, following Nu Civilisation Orchestra’s recent triumphant tours celebrating 50 years of Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’, Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Mingus, and a special performance of Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite, performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall, as part of Southbank Centre’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year.

Aladdin Sane: 50 Years will be a raft of events at Southbank Centre marking the 50th anniversary of David Bowie’s iconic 1973 album, Aladdin Sane. Featuring a two-month long exhibition (6 April - 28 May) exploring the creation of the album’s iconic artwork, including the legendary lightning flash portrait by photographer Brian Duffy, as well as a stellar line-up of live music and talks inspired by the album. 

Gary Crosby OBE, Founder and Artistic Director of Nu Civilisation Orchestra and Tomorrow’s Warriors, said “We are honoured and thrilled to have Nu Civilisation Orchestra lead Aladdin Sane Live, for what is shaping up to be an exhilarating show, honouring Bowie’s rock n’ roll masterpiece. Nu Civilisation Orchestra is Tomorrow’s Warriors’ professional ensemble consisting of generations of diverse, Warrior musicians that have come through our free talent development programme. We are incredibly proud of NCO, going from strength to strength, playing on international stages and performing an exciting array of innovative repertoire.”

The brainchild of Tomorrow’s Warriors co-founder and Artistic Director, Gary Crosby OBE, Nu Civilisation Orchestra (NCO) is ever shifting in size and scale, from a quintet to a 24-piece orchestra, and everything in between. With a vision of bringing genre fluid, socially aware artistic expression to classic repertoire across jazz and popular music, NCO is committed to increasing diverse representation in the orchestra setting, while showcasing exciting, cutting edge and eclectic new arrangements and compositions from some of the most exciting young musicians in the UK today. Peter Edwards is the Musical Director and leader of NCO, which comprises several members, including Edwards himself, who have come through the award-winning Tomorrow’s Warriors Talent Development Programme, which has a focus on supporting musicians from the black community and girls into successful, professional careers in music.

https://nucivilisation.com/