King Place’s London Unwrapped delves into the sonic story of Britain’s most cosmopolitan city and celebrates its unique musical diversity from Handel and Haydn to Joe Harriot, JC Bach to Theon Cross, Mendelssohn to Anna Meredith. The first European city where anyone regardless of origin or rank could present a concert, sell songs, build instruments, write, publish, teach, or start a music business, London became an early magnet for foreign musicians whose entrepreneurial spirit drove, disrupted, shaped and inspired the capital’s musical story.

Performances by Cassie Kinoshi and Iestyn Davies, London Unwrapped’s two Artists in Residence, head a plethora of music and spoken words events that illustrate the diversity of a capital with a musical history that is a combination of enlightenment and exploitation.

The first concert in London Unwrapped will be performed by principal players from Aurora Orchestra and streamed live from Kings Place on Friday 26 February. It features music by Vaughan Williams, Thea Musgrave, Anna Meredith and Mendelssohn, one of many immigrant musicians who shaped the capital’s musical trajectory.