Background

Classical Music

Creating Unforgettable
Experiences

We entice and establish new audiences that include people who might not necessarily engage with concert music, through its format, combining classical music with vibrant storytelling.

We use theatre and spectacle to
make live music feel essential.

Believing stories are essential for the future of concert music, CTW tours theatrical elements to orchestras and small ensembles to mount game-changing spectacles in few rehearsals.

Believing stories are essential for the future of concert music, CTW tours theatrical elements to orchestras and small ensembles to mount game-changing spectacles in few rehearsals.

History

What is ‘Concert-Theatre?’

  • Believing stories are essential for the future of concert music, CTW tours theatrical elements to orchestras and small ensembles to mount game-changing spectacles in few rehearsals.
  • Humans are inherently interdisciplinary. Concertgoers are usually theatre audiences too, and we all possess finely attuned ears from a lifetime of listening to a broad range of musics. Our productions collapse the illusion of distance between the performing arts by revealing the incredible stories lurking just behind the standard repertoire. This makes musicians more visible, advocating for the survival of your local orchestra, and the preservation of music education. The resulting close collaborations allow artists to grow and appreciate their peers in new ways. Our financial model of touring allows several orchestras to benefit from the expensive commissioning of new work. An average year involves some 40 performances of six different shows touring internationally to 30 cities.
  • We believe that our framework for an even balance of music and story, in the service of universal themes of our shared experience, is vital to the future of concert music. We therefore employ actors, projections, lights, sound, illusions, juggling, architecture, and even food to serve an iconic piece of music in a dynamic, original way. We focus on marginalised stories to make the case for the performing arts as an urgent, political act.
  • Partners include The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Silkroad Ensemble, Shakespeare’s Globe, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Gesualdo Six, Fretwork, City of London Sinfonia, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, The English Concert, The United Strings of Europe, and many others ensembles and festivals.
  • Venues include The Kennedy Center, The Hollywood Bowl, Buckingham Palace, Washington National Cathedral, Tanglewood Music Center, The Barbican, Chicago Symphony Center, Southbank Centre, Southwark Cathedral, Wilton’s Music Hall, NYC’s United Palace, and Chautauqua. Conductors include Andris Nelsons, Dame Jane Glover, Charles Dutoit, Bramwell Tovey, Louis Langree, Sakari Oramo, JoAnn Falletta, Trevor Pinnock, Hans Graf and Ken-David Masur. Soloists include Pekka Kuusisto, Alison Balsom, Camilla Tilling, Amanda Forsythe, Amy Dickson, and Soumik Datta. New collaborations include the puppetry masters Gyre & Gimble, composers Max Richter and Joanna Marsh, Gandini Juggling, and Iranian shadow puppeteer Hamid Rahmanian.

The Board

Meet the passionate individuals behind our productions.

Charles Schwager

Chairperson

Patti Whaley

Treasurer

Caroline Lawton

Secretary

Margaret Casely

Hayford CBE

Dominic Dowley

Secretary

Joanie Speers

Secretary

Dr. Lisa Wong

Secretary

Staff

Bill Barclay
Artistic Director

Carlos Diaz Stoop
Executive Producer

Hannah Yates
Graphic Designer

Justin Seward
Resident Designer

Charles Schoonmaker
Resident Designer

Joy Burton
Associate Producer

Justin Seward
Production Manager

Cristina Todesco
Resident Designer

Arthur Oliver
Resident Designer

Board of Advisors

Dame Jane Glover
Board of Advisor

Victoria Robey CBE
Board of Advisor

JoAnne Falletta
Board of Advisor

Important Note

All contributions are fully tax-deductible as provided by law. Our productions are supported, in part, by private donations and from the Richenthal Family Foundation and the Shirley and Al Evenitsky Fund for Social Justice.

Concert Theatre Works is committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information that we process, and to provide a compliant and consistent approach to data protection. If you have any questions related to our GDPR compliance, please contact enquiries@concerttheatreworks.com

Explore our productions to find out more about our singular approach, and how concert theatre can bring something unexpected and exciting into your upcoming season.

Partners

Discover Our Early Music Partners

We entice and establish new audiences that include people who might not necessarily engage with concert music, through its format, combining classical music with vibrant storytelling.

  • Music of the Baroque
  • Handel & Haydn Society
  • The English Concert
  • Portland Baroque Orchestra
  • The Aldeburgh Festival
  • Canterbury Festival
  • The Gesualdo Six
  • Fretwork
  • Tesserae Baroque
  • The Sebastians
  • Festival Partners
  • Oxford Festival of the Arts
  • Oregon Bach Festival
  • Barokksolistene
  • The Dunedin Consort
  • Apollo’s Cabinet
  • The Tanglewood Music Festival
  • Lammermuir Festival