Viola player Lawrence Power is commissioning ten short pieces for his instrument, and filming them in London venues currently vacated as a result of the Coronavirus crisis.

In his first film he performs a new piece, Power, by Huw Watkins, recorded on the roof of St John’s Smith Square – which you can watch below, as well as on his Instagram and YouTube channels.

Other commissioned composers will include Cassandra Miller, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Garth Knox and William Marsey, and each performance will be filmed by director Jessie Rodger. The next one will be by Garth Knox, entitled 'Quartet for One', and filmed on the roof of the Royal Festival Hall.

 ‘The big question facing every artist at the moment – which is challenging but exciting – is how can we be creative?’ said Power. ‘I find myself drawn to commissioning new music. That is the idea behind this project – commissioning ten short solo viola works and presenting them beautifully on film in various iconic London venues that are locked down. It seems a natural direction to create something new out of this particular time. It’s a time to be free and creative, and to try new things. Concerts will start again, but we don’t know when, so if we forget about that it opens up the idea of other things we can do.’

‘I’ve always been fascinated with how folk and jazz music have been presented on film in very interesting ways, and I think classical music can be presented like that, too. With these miniatures, which have been written for me, I’m excited to explore the relationship between the silence of these venues and the music. These wonderful composers represent a wide spectrum of music and it will be exciting to explore their work within the silent spaces around London.’

The funding for the for works comes from Power’s Viola Commissioning Circle, which he founded in 2018 to support the composing of ten new viola concertos.