In the heart of winter, on January 22 and 23, 2025, Bristol’s Beacon Hall and London’s Barbican Hall will resonate with an unprecedented musical collaboration. Jacob Collier, the Grammy-winning musician celebrated for his genre-defying artistry, is set to perform with a UK orchestra for the first time, joining forces with the 50-piece Britten Sinfonia.

Sharing the stage is Chris Thile, a virtuoso mandolinist whose prowess spans bluegrass to classical, and whose collaborations range from Yo-Yo Ma to Brad Mehldau.

Adding a familial touch, the ensemble will be conducted by Suzie Collier, Jacob’s mother and an esteemed violinist, conductor, and professor at the Royal Academy of Music. 

The evening’s repertoire promises a symphonic journey through Collier and Thile’s eclectic compositions, interwoven with orchestral works by Anna Meredith and Arturo Márquez. Highlights include Meredith’s electro-classical piece ‘Nautilus’ and Márquez’s ‘Danzón No. 2,’ alongside solo Bach from Thile and Piazzolla’s ‘Spring’ from ‘Four Seasons of Buenos Aires.’

Collier’s signature audience choir experience, which has entranced crowds from Glastonbury to the BBC Proms, will also feature, inviting attendees to become active participants in the musical tapestry.

What makes these audience choirs so remarkable is Collier’s ability to coax beauty out of collective participation. It doesn’t matter whether someone is a trained vocalist or a self-described bad singer; under his direction, the sheer weight of the crowd’s voices transforms into something cohesive, pure, and transcendent. There’s also an alchemy at work here—Collier is not just creating music; he’s fostering a sense of connection. For those few minutes, the divisions of the crowd—by geography, age, or ability—disappear. They are no longer individuals but one voice, one collective sound. 

This approach has been a staple of Collier’s live shows, from intimate venues to massive festival crowds and hallowed stages like the BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Most recently he executed his audience choir at the O2 to a surprise appearance from Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay – a longtime friend and collaborator – where the crowd united to harmonise to ‘Fix You.’ 

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A post shared by Jacob Collier (@jacobcollier)

Videos of these moments have gone viral, not only because of their sonic beauty but because they capture something rare in modern live performance: an experience that is completely unrepeatable. The audience becomes part of the art itself, co-creators in a musical tapestry that will only ever exist for that one, singular moment in time.

In a Jacob Collier concert, the audience doesn’t merely witness a performance—they become the performance — and in that fleeting moment of harmony, they are reminded of music’s ability to unite, uplift, and transcend. It is an art form that speaks not just to the ears, but to the very core of what it means to be human.

These concerts in Bristol and London not only mark a milestone in Collier’s career but also embody a convergence of family, friendship, and multi-genre music, promising an evening that transcends traditional concert experiences. 

Tickets for this singular event are available through Bristol Beacon’s and Barbican’s official websites. 

#TimsTwitterListeningParty pic.twitter.com/8O0GkRf0Se

— Tim’s Listening Party (@LlSTENlNG_PARTY) August 28, 2020

#TimsTwitterListeningParties have only gained in popularity throughout the duration of lockdown. Tim Burgess initially brought them back at the height of isolation, and they proved to be one of the best ways that social media could be used as a force for good. There have been at least 400 Listening Parties – at least one almost every night since March 23 2020, when they kicked off with the Charlatans’ Some Friendly. 

The premise is that everyone puts an album on at the same time and then a commentary is produced by a number of people who were responsible for putting the album together. These range from the informative to the hilarious, and Bonehead always cries when he comes to the end of hosting a Listening Party. At the same time, you can ask questions or share opinions in real time.

It’s also worth noting that there is a degree of excitement that you get when you know that all over the world people are listening to the same album at the same time. In the absence of live music, knowing that everyone is going to put on a great song at the same time feels like a unifying event. Each Listening Party is then available forever at https://timstwitterlisteningparty.com/, where the tweets are archived in the order that they were sent out.

Digging even deeper into archive for this one — original demos, all sorts https://t.co/u9AJYCAbgz

— Sports Team (@SportsTeam_) August 28, 2020

The 2020 Mercury Prize nominees were announced earlier this month. Other than the ones listed above, they are Charli XCX, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka, Dua Lipa and Stormzy. This year, for the first time ever, there are more female solo artist nominees than male.

This is Laura Marling’s fourth Mercury Prize nomination, so she comes in at joint second for the most nominations ever, alongside PJ Harvey and Arctic Monkeys. The group who have been nominated most in the Prize’s 29-year history are Radiohead, who have had five albums up for the Prize. Stormzy’s Heavy Is the Head, on the other hand, is the grime star’s first ever nomination. Everything you need to know about the 2020 Prize is here.

Like everything, the Mercury Prize has had to do a little adapting this year. What you can expect on the day of the awards is a whole lot of great TV and radio coverage from the Mercury Prize partner BBC Music, in place of a live event. This isn’t completely confirmed yet, but in the meantime, you can get involved in the Listening Parties to get excited! Times and dates are below.

Wednesday 2 September 2020
8pm – Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter
9pm – Moses Boyd – Dark Matter

Thursday 3 September
7pm – Georgia – Seeking Thrills
8pm – Anna Meredith – Fibs
9pm – Porridge Radio – Every Bad

Wednesday 9 September
8pm – Lanterns on the Lake – Spook the Herd

Thursday 10 September
9pm – Sports Team – Deep Down Happy

The 2020 #HyundaiMercuryPrize Shortlist has been revealed! Let’s take a deeper look at the 12 incredible albums that make up a snapshot in music over the past twelve months… pic.twitter.com/2xuP1WtMWG

— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 23, 2020

On her BBC Radio 6 Music slot this morning, showhost Lauren Laverne revealed a record-breaking shortlist that for the first time in the award’s 29 year history included more women solo artists than men. Alongside mixed gender groups Sports Team, Porridge Radio and Lanterns on the Lake, five women were nominated for the award. In addition to Scottish composer Anna Meredith and English folk singer Laura Marling, Dua Lipa, Charli XCX and Georgia all hail from the pop sphere, though a pop album has not won the award since M People’s Elegant Slumming in 1994.

Charli was one of several artists to record their reaction from lockdown, saying that “it feels really good to be recognised, especially when there are so many incredible artists making so many bold steps and albums at the moment”. While the nominations have platformed Newcastle indie underdogs Lanterns on the Lake (frontwoman Hazel Wilde works a part-time job at Newcastle University to help fund the project), eyebrows have been raised at the omission of critical darlings Rina Sawayama and FKA twigs. Similarly, Guardian columnist Alexis Petridis lamented that despite Dave’s win last year, UK rap newcomer J Hus hadn’t got a look in so as to make way for genre staples Kano and Stormzy.  

“Stop! Whoa!” Here’s @charli_xcx‘s reaction to making the 2020 Hyundai Mercury Prize Shortlist! #HyundaiMercuryPrize pic.twitter.com/aNJe9zEkOW

— Mercury Prize (@MercuryPrize) July 23, 2020

Marling’s Song for Our Daughter – an album addressed to a fictional, future daughter inspired by the concept of Maya Angelou’s book Letter to My Daughter (2009) – is the singer-songwriter’s fourth Mercury nomination, making her the joint second most nominated artist (level with PJ Harvey and the Arctic Monkeys) in the award’s history, just lagging behind Radiohead’s five. Like the Oxford five-piece, none of her previous entries have yet won her the £25,000 prize.

Fellow nominee (and bookies’ favourite) Michael Kiwanuka also matched previous award records, joining Coldplay and Anna Calvi in having all of his first three studio albums nominated. This year’s obligatory jazz nomination (made seemingly into an unwritten tradition in recent years) went to Moses Boyd’s Dark Matter. As of now, the awards ceremony is still set to take place on the 10th of September at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, though organisers will of course have to wait on future government guidance. Read the full list in alphabetical order below:

Moses Boyd – Dark Matter

Charli XCX – how i’m feeling now

Georgia – Seeking Thrills 

Kano – Hoodies All Summer

Michael Kiwanuka – KIWANUKA

Lanterns on the Lake – Spook the Herd

Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter

Anna Meredith – FIBS

Porridge Radio – Every Bad 

Sports Team – Deep Down Happy

Stormzy – Heavy Is the Head

Speaking about the name of her second album, ‘FIBS’, Meredith, said: “[fibs are] lies — but nice friendly lies, little stories and constructions and daydreams and narratives that you make for yourself or you tell yourself.”

The upcoming album, ‘FIBS’,  is the follow-up to her acclaimed and SAY award-winning debut album, ‘Varmints’, which was released in 2016. Since then the Scottish singer she has kept busy, doing the soundtrack to the Bo Burnham-directed film ‘Eighth Grade’ and working as a classical composer. While a press release points out, that she “was recently named a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in the Queen’s birthday honors list for services to music, making her Anna Meredith MBE.”

The announcement comes after Meredith revealed, on the 10th of July 2019, that she will be hitting the road on a seven-date tour of the UK, next year, in support of her upcoming album, ‘FIBS’. The Scottish singer and composer will hit the road, in Leeds, at the Belgrave Music Hall, on the 3rd of February 2020, heading to Manchester, London, Bristol, Glasgow, and Coventry, before concluding the tour, in Brighton, at the Old Market, on the 10th of February 2020.

my news – my 2nd album FIBS will be out 25th October on @moshimoshimusic , settle in, there is MUCH to discuss!

— Anna Meredith (@AnnaHMeredith) July 10, 2019

The singer also has two festival appearances in 2019, which will see her perform, at Visions Festival, in Hackney, on the 3rd of August 2019, before heading to the Helsinki Festival, in Helsinki, on the 23rd of August 2019.

Meredith’s first breakthrough came from her work ‘froms’, which was created for the 2008 BBC Last Night of the Proms. Since then she has written another BBC Prom commission, her first opera (Tarantula in Petrol Blue – with libretto by Philip Ridley) and collaborated with the beatboxer Shlomo – writing the Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra. Meredith has since been racking up the awards winning the classical music nominee for the 2009 Times Breakthrough Award and the 2010 Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Composers.

Alongside her acoustic work, Meredith has made forays into electronic music, which she has performed throughout Europe alongside a diverse range of artists including supporting These New Puritans in Berlin, James Blake, Seb Rochford and Max de Wardener, at Ether in 2011. However, it wasn’t until 2012, that Meredith released her debut EP, ‘Black Prince Fury’, through Moshi Moshi Records. She released her second EP, ‘Jet Black Raider’, in 2013 Meredith would have to wait another four years before releasing her debut album, ‘Varmints’, which was released in March 2016, with widespread success.

‘FIBS’ Tracklist:

1. Sawbones
2. Inhale Exhale
3. Calion
4. Killjoy
5. Bump
6. moonmoons
7. Divining
8. Limpet
9. Ribbons
10. Paramour
11. Unfurl

Anna Meredith Tour Dates 2020:

03/08/2019 – Visions Festival – Hackney, London
23/08 – Helsinki Festival – Helsinki
29/09 – South Bank Centre – London
03/02 – Belgrave Music Hall – Leeds
04/02 – Gorilla – Manchester
05/02 – EartH – London
06/02 – Trinity – Bristol
08/02 – Glasgow Art School – Glasgow
09/02 – Arts Centre – Coventry
10/02 – Old Market – Brighton