The Glasshouse

• The Friday Night Club with The Unthanks kicks off on Friday 26 September at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music: a new quarterly night curated and hosted by The Unthanks bringing together music, storytelling, and surprise guests.
• The first show features Clara Mann, Fiona Mozley, Tim Dalling and musicians from Royal Northern Sinfonia.
• Created through The Unthanks’ Artistic Partnership with The Glasshouse, the club makes space for collaboration across genres, artforms and ideas.

Folk pioneers and Artistic Partners of The Glasshouse, The Unthanks have announced an eclectic new event: The Friday Night Club.

Curated and hosted by the band, the quarterly show launches on Friday 26 September, featuring singer-songwriter Clara Mann, author Fiona Mozley, musician Tim Dalling and members of Royal Northern Sinfonia – the home orchestra of The Glasshouse.

The Friday Night Club with The Unthanks in Sage Two will present musicians, poets, comedians, classical and jazz ensembles, short films, local legends and touring artists. Pop-up surprises are promised, with The Unthanks opening and closing the show. The trio also invites audiences to make an evening of it with food before the show and a drink in the bar afterwards.

For its debut, Franco-British ‘almost-folk’ newcomer Clara Mann will present her first album, Rift. Possessing the prickly intensity of Aldous Harding, she’s described by The Independent as already having “gone from one-to-watch to one of the best songwriters in the country”.

Yorkshire author Fiona Mozley will reveal how her Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, Elmet, is being transformed into a site-specific theatre piece for Bradford City of Culture this Autumn, featuring music and performed by The Unthanks.

Tim Dalling will mix clever storytelling and poetry with the wild fun of old-time variety shows. His songs, often about serious matters like death and gratitude, can make audiences laugh one moment and cry the next.

The Unthanks and fellow Artistic Partner, violinist Maria Włoszczowska, collaborated to select the music that members of Royal Northern Sinfonia will perform. For the launch night, they’ll share music by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. Writing his String Quartet No. 1 at just 23, during his neo-classical phase, there are hints of Stravinsky mixed with Finnish folk music in the first and final movements. The Slavic romance of the middle Andante hints at the freer, tonal beauty of his later work.

Last autumn, The Unthanks, Maria Włoszczowska and Corinne Bailey Rae were announced as Artistic Partners, working with The Glasshouse and Royal Northern Sinfonia over three years. Supporting the creative ambitions of these artists, The Glasshouse is helping them to curate and create new work, collaborating with musicians who are part of the venue’s vibrant community and visiting programme.

The Friday Night Club stems from The Unthanks’ role as Artistic Partners at The Glasshouse, reflecting the venue’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading spaces where artists and music lovers come together.

The Unthanks’ musical director Adrian McNally said,

“We firmly believe in the cultural intelligence of modern audiences and healthy mischief. If a folk singer is followed by a cello sonata, followed by a stop-motion film, followed by a comedian, followed by a jazz ensemble, it might be a surprise, but surely not a problem.

“We doubt the majority of concert goers will bat an eyelid and, hopefully for the artists involved, it will be enriching to find their work bookended differently, reaching new ears and not relying exclusively on their fanbases”.

Lucy Scott, Senior Producer at The Glasshouse said:

“Our Artistic Partnerships are about artists shaping new ideas for music and connection. With The Friday Night Club, The Unthanks are turning Sage Two into a welcoming place where creativity can take unexpected turns, bringing together different artforms and ideas into the room. Sage Two is the perfect setting for it: great sound, an intimate atmosphere, and a space where artists can take risks, try things out, and surprise us.”

ENDSFor more information, images or interview requests please contact Beverely Knight: beverely.knight@theglasshouseicm.org 0191 443 4583

IMAGES

The Friday Night Club with The Unthanks poster image
Maria Włoszczowska credit TyneSight Photographic Services
Royal Northern Sinfonia credit Tynesight Photographic Services
Clara Mann credit Indigo Blake
Fiona Mozley
Tim Dalling

LISTING

Friday 26 September | 8pm

The Friday Night Club with The Unthanks

https://theglasshouseicm.org/whats-on/friday-night-club-the-unthanks/

About The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

The Glasshouse International Centre for Music is a home for live music lovers.

It’s a place where you can hear rock legends or pop icons on the same night as folk trios or string quartets. Where new musicians are nurtured and showcased on the same stages as platinum-selling performers. And where youth choirs and tambourine-shaking toddlers practise in the same spaces as its acclaimed orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia.

Because as an international centre for music they’re focused on creating and celebrating outstanding music – whether that’s unearthing or growing talent from the region or bringing the world’s best artists to their stages. And as a charity they’re focused on making sure all of that is available to anyone – no matter where you’re from, how old you are, how much money you have, or what challenges you face.

Which is why every year more than 2 million people are able to join for top-notch gigs, concerts, and classes – in their venue at Gateshead Quays, out in communities across the North East, and through livestreamed performances and digital lessons.

Whether you’re making it up or taking it in, you’ll find music lives and grows there.

More about The Glasshouse International Centre for Music

• Since opening in 2004, The Glasshouse has hosted over 10,000 performances, welcoming nearly 5 million audience members. It would take more than 27 years to see every show if you attended one every day.
• Over two decades, the charity has delivered around 230,000 music lessons, reaching young people and adults 2.7 million times across its education programmes.
• As its resident orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia has toured globally, performing across four continents and livestreaming to audiences across five.
• The Glasshouse has supported the careers of thousands of artists like Ward Thomas who have worked their way from free stages to headline shows in its main hall, achieving national and global recognition.
• Since 2004, The Glasshouse has welcomed over 400,000 delegates for conferences and events, hosting organisations such as Greggs, NHS, and British Engines.
• Over the past two decades, The Glasshouse has generated £500 million in economic impact for the North East.
• The iconic building, designed by Foster + Partners, has 630 panes of glass and stands 40 metres tall. In its opening year, it was exhibited at the Venice Biennale and won the RIBA Inclusive Design Award in 2005.
• Celebrating 20 years – In December 2024, The Glasshouse marked its 20th birthday. Over the next year, the charity will reflect on two decades of achievements and look ahead to its third decade, with major initiatives like the Music Academy and Music Pass for newborns, making music accessible to all.

About Royal Northern Sinfonia
Internationally renowned, calling Gateshead home.

37 musicians at the top of their game. Electrifying music, old and new. All the talent, determination and creativity of the North East on a worldwide stage. From their home at The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Royal Northern Sinfonia share the joy and wonder of orchestral music with thousands of people across the North of England – and beyond – every year.

From symphonies to string quartets, film soundtracks to choral masses, and original performances with awesome artists from Sheku Kanneh-Mason to Self Esteem, the orchestra’s members have got one of the most varied jobs there is. They’re always looking for fresh new sounds from up-and-coming composers, inviting local communities to share a stage, and doing everything they can to inspire and prepare the musicians of tomorrow to one day take their place.

They’re also working hard to smash the barriers that can stop brilliant people getting into classical music. They’ve teamed up with national partners to support women conductors to develop their careers, to help global majority musicians get vital experience in the orchestra world, and to celebrate disabled and non-disabled musicians breaking new ground together in RNS Moves. And they bring new musical opportunities to the region, headlining the first-ever BBC Proms weekend outside London.

Because they whole-heartedly believe orchestral music is for anyone – big cities and tiny villages, brand-new babies and life-long listeners, die-hard fans and curious minds – they travel far and wide to make sure there’s top-notch classical music on offer for anyone ready to say, “I’ll give that a go”. You’ll find them in churches, castles, and community venues across the North, as well as spearheading concert seasons in Carlisle, Kendal, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland.

With 65 years of success to build on, they’ve signed a dynamic young artistic leadership – Music Director Dinis Sousa, Artistic Partner Maria Włoszczowska, Principal Guest Conductor Nil Venditti and Associate Conductor Ellie Slorach – to lead the way into a bold, bright future. They’re joined by Conductor Laureate Thomas Zehetmair.

Wherever the orchestra play and whoever they share a stage with, every performance is a chance to see, hear and feel the music.

About The Unthanks

The Unthanks have been described as “a take on tradition that flips so effortlessly between jazz, classical, ambient and post-rock, it makes any attempt to put a label on them a waste of time”.

Their 15th record, Sorrows Away, has been described as “a masterpiece of nuanced drama” (9/10 Uncut Albums of the Year), “a landmark album by an extraordinary band that will resonate for generations to come.” (Album Of The Month – Record Collector) and “a comfort blanket in daunting times” (Folk Folk’s Sake).

Using the traditional music of the North East of England as a starting point, the influence of Miles Davis, Steve Reich, Sufjan Stevens, Robert Wyatt, Antony & The Johnsons, King Crimson and Tom Waits makes The Unthanks a unique band, earning them a Mercury Music Prize nomination and international acclaim along the way.

This Christmas sees the release and tour of The Unthanks In Winter – a dream-like winter fantasia, embracing both the dark and the light in the most ritualistic of seasons. Moving in and out of focus, like a memory, In Winter is a bittersweet hymnal to our shared winter experience.

About Maria Włoszczowska

Polish violinist Maria Włoszczowska is recognised for her versatile musicianship, performing as a soloist, director and chamber musician, in addition to her roles as Artistic Partner of the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Director and Leader of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

In her inaugural season as Artistic Partner of The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, she will direct such different repertoire as Schubert’s Symphony No. 5, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht and Pierrot Lunaire, Britten’s Les Illuminations, as well as an all-Bach evening including the Violin Concertos No. 1 and 2, to name a few. In addition, she features as soloist in Schumann’s Violin Concerto, conducted by Dinis Sousa.

About Corinne Bailey Rae

British singer/songwriter/musician Corinne Bailey Rae shot to stardom with her self-titled #1 U.K. debut album in 2006, featuring the global hits ‘Put Your Records On’ and ‘Like A Star’.

Over the course of her career she has released four critically acclaimed studio albums—Corinne Bailey Rae, The Sea, The Heart Speaks in Whispers and 2023’s Black Rainbows —and earned two Grammy Awards, two MOBOS, and been nominated for multiple awards including the BRIT Awards, Mercury Music Prize (twice) and BET Awards. Her work for film and television includes the theme to Stan Lee’s Lucky Man (SKY1), ‘The Scientist’ for Universal Pictures’ Fifty Shades Darker opening title and soundtrack which charted globally, and in 2020 her song ‘New to Me’ was performed in the film The High Note by Tracee Ellis Ross. Bailey Rae has collaborated with a wide range of artists including Mary J. Blige, Al Green, Herbie Hancock, KING, Paul McCartney, Kele Okereke (Bloc Party), Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Questlove, Salaam Rami, RZA, Tyler The Creator, Paul Weller, Richard Hawley, Stevie Wonder, Tracey Thorn, Pharrell, Logic, Mick Jenkins, Miles Kane and many more.