TOP YOUNG COMPOSERS RESPOND TO SAATCHI GALLERY'S LATEST GERMAN EXHIBITION IN LIVE PERFORMANCE ON 22 FEBRUARY, 7PM

The Saatchi Gallery’s current Gesamtkunstwerk Exhibition is the inspiration for a new and innovative collaboration with The Purcell School and neighbouring Queenswood School. The Purcell School, one of the world's leading music institutions, has selected outstandingly talented young composers from five different countries to compose music inspired by the Exhibition's art works. They will be joined by five composition students from Queenswood School. The new music will be performed live at the Gallery next to the art works chosen by the composers on Wednesday 22 February at 7pm, following the Saatchi Sculpture at School Prize awards.

The students have had complete freedom on their choice of art work, and how to respond to it. They have been encouraged to go far beyond immediate notions of representation, and to produce music that may reflect, comment on or even react against the selected art works. The idea, pioneered by British conductor James Ross and former Saatchi Education Director Dyala Nusseibeh, is to bring the Gesamtkunstwerk concept full circle, returning it to music, and to show the limitless possibilities it could inspire.

James Ross comments: 'The composers have succeeded in taking radically different approaches to their chosen art works, in a huge range of styles and instrumental combinations. What unites them is how strongly the art works have stimulated the composers' imaginations. The Saatchi Gallery’s Gesamtkunstwerk Exhibition shows the rich and diverse range of contemporary German art; the composers' responses are an equally fascinating tribute to the creativity of today's leading young musicians.'

Background note:
The music will be performed by leading young musicians and alumni from the Purcell and Queenswood School, alongside experienced professionals. It promises to be a high profile event, to which the national and specialist press will be invited. The collaboration was instigated by Dyala Nusseibeh, formerly Saatchi Gallery Education Director, and British conductor James Ross, who works with orchestras in fifteen countries in Europe, Asia and North America, with a vision to develop the Gallery's potential as a performing space for innovative contemporary creative collaborations. The project is managed by Alison Cox, Head of Composition, The Purcell School; Christos Kokkinos, Assistant Director of Music, Queenswood School; James Ross and current Saatchi Education Director Francesca Wilson.