Nina Simone celebration for new Montreux Jazz Festival/Southbank Centre 2025 collaboration

The Southbank Centre has announced a raft of new programming highlights for the year ahead, stating they reflect the vision of Artistic Director Mark Ball and the venue’s role “as leading creator of culture within the international artistic landscape”. 

Among these is a new three-year creative programming partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival exploring the theme of ‘What Is Jazz Today?’. This will begin in the spring of 2025, with the first collaboration exploring the music of legendary jazz singer and cultural icon Nina Simone, who gave memorable performances both at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1976 and later at Southbank Centre as part of Nick Cave’s Meltdown in 1999. Alongside the creative programming the partnership also includes a new artist exchange programme.

Commenting on the partnership, Montreux Jazz Festival CEO Mathieu Jaton said: "We are thrilled to embark on this extraordinary artistic partnership with the Southbank Centre, uniting two cultural institutions with a shared passion and values for music and creative freedom. The Montreux Jazz Festival has always been a platform for innovation, and this collaboration allows us to extend that spirit of discovery to new audiences in London. Together, we aim to not only celebrate the rich legacy of jazz but also explore the meaning of jazz today in order to inspire future generations of musicians and music lovers through cross-cultural exchanges and talent development."

Also among the jazz related news, saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi is among several names announced as SBC Associated Artists, these also include Ivan Blackstock, Julia Cheng, Conor Mitchell, Max Porter and Love Ssega.

Further programming highlights include the opening of a landmark Gilbert & George exhibition at the Hayward Gallery;  the London premiere of film All Of This Unreal Time from a stellar creative team of Cillian Murphy, Aoife McArdle, Max Porter, Bryce and Aaron Dessner and Jon Hopkins; the New Multitudes festival that “reimagines the concert hall experience”, in partnership with Southbank Centre Resident Orchestras; ‘Open Doors’ a new public programme that brings host of new free events to the venue across the year; a new experimental sound system ‘Concrete Voids’ that will transform the Queen Elizabeth Hall into an instrument and launches with a 2025 commissioning programme.

For full details visit www.southbankcentre.co.uk/seasons-festivals-series