London Contemporary Orchestra


The London Contemporary Orchestra , founded in 2008 by Hugh Brunt and Robert Ames, is an ensemble of young musicians whose stated aim is "to explore and promote new music to an increasingly wide audience". LCO staged its inaugural season at LSO St Luke's and has since performed at venues and festivals including the Roundhouse, Latitude Festival, The Old Vic Tunnels, Snape Maltings, Southbank Centre, Barbican, Spitalfields Music and Royal Opera House. LCO has since worked on films including Theeb, Moonlight, Macbeth , Slow West and The Master.
In 2010 the LCO was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, and in 2015 LCO was the winner of the Ensemble category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.

Overview

LCO's inaugural 2008 season featured music by Mark-Anthony Turnage, Kaija Saariaho, Thomas Adès, Iannis Xenakis, Simon Holt, Roberto Carnevale, Olivier Messiaen, Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, and new works by young composers Emily Hall, Colin Alexander and Jonathan Cole. In May 2009 the LCO collaborated with experimental electronic duo Matmos and composer Anna Meredith for a series of performances at Shoreditch warehouse Village Underground. LCO appeared at the Roundhouse in January 2010 as part of contemporary music festival 'Reverb', performing works by Steve Reich, John Cage, Biosphere and the world premiere of Shiva Feshareki's turntable concerto "TTKonzert". LCO made its debut at the Spitalfields Music Summer Festival in June 2010 and at Aldeburgh Music's 'Faster Than Sound' in May 2010. In October 2010, the Roundhouse staged three screenings of Metropolis with Gottfried Huppertz's original score performed live by the LCO. Later that year, the LCO gave a performance of Frank Zappa's "The Yellow Shark" as part of the Roundhouse's 'Frank Zappa – 70th Birthday Celebration'. LCO returned to the Roundhouse in August 2011 to collaborate with Ron Arad on 'Curtain Call'. LCO staged its first 'LCO Soloists' project at The Old Vic Tunnels in May 2011. In March 2012, the LCO performed works by Xenakis, Gabriel Prokofiev, Jonny Greenwood and Vivier to a capacity audience of 1,200 as part of 'Reverb 2012' at the Roundhouse. LCO made its Southbank Centre debut in 2012 closing Meltdown Festival with a performance of William Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops".
In 2013 LCO performed in the abandoned Aldwich underground station, 350 ft underground, Claude Vivier's Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele. LCO was the winner of the Ensemble category in 2015 at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards. LCO strings and choir feature prominently on Radiohead's 2016 Mercury-nominated album A Moon Shaped Pool.

Organisation

The Artistic Director role is shared between Robert Ames and Hugh Brunt. They also share the role of Principal Conductor.

Collaborations

The LCO performed with headliners Belle & Sebastian at Latitude Festival in July 2010 and rejoined the band for their UK tour in December 2010. The concerts reprised many of the arrangements first performed by Belle & Sebastian and the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in 2006. In June 2010 members from the LCO joined Mercury Prize-nominated band Foals at Glastonbury Festival for a BBC 6 Music live session. LCO appear on the band's single "Spanish Sahara". LCO has worked with artists, composers and brands including Secret Cinema, Actress, Vivienne Westwood, Arcade Fire, Goldfrapp, Nike, William Basinski, Biosphere, Mira Calix, Mara Carlyle, Mike Figgis, Simon Fisher Turner, Foals, Jonny Greenwood, Matmos, Jimmy Page, Jed Kurzel, Frank Ocean and United Visual Artists.
In collaboration with , LCO developed a sample library of strings in 2017 and in 2019 they released a second collaboration sample, this time of textures.
On November 19, 2019, LCO's collaboration with Bastille for the 2019 John Lewis Christmas advert was released.

Awards

In 2010 the LCO was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, and in 2015 LCO was the winner of the Ensemble category at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.

Filmography

The Master score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 21 September 2012

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Awards: Chicago Film Critics Association Awards – Best Original Score
Theeb score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 19 March 2015

Director: Naji Abu Nowar
Awards: BAFTA – Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer; Academy Award nominated – Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Slow West score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 16 April 2015

Director: John Maclean
Awards: Sundance Film Festival – World Cinema ; Screen Music Awards – Feature Film Score of the Year
Rattle the Cage score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 10 December 2015

Director:
Macbeth score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 11 December 2015

Director: Justin Kurzel
Awards: Cannes Film Festival nominated – Palme d'Or
Radiohead: "Daydreaming" score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 6 May 2016

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Awards: MTV Video Music Awards Japan nominated - Best Rock Video
The White King score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 18 June 2016

Directors:,
Awards: Michael Powell Award nominated - Best British Feature Film; Edinburgh International Film Festival nominated - Best Performance in a British Feature Film
"" score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 3 December 2016

Director:
Awards: - The Audience Choice Award
Assassin's Creed score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 14 December 2016

Director: Justin Kurzel
Awards: Golden Trailer Awards - Golden Fleece TV Spot; Golden Trailer Awards nominated - Best Original Score TV Spot
score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 4 May 2017

Director: Ridley Scott
Awards: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films nominated - Best Science Film Award; Fright Meter Awards nominated - Best Special Effects
You Were Never Really Here score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 27 May 2017

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Awards: Cannes Film Festival – Best Actor; Best Screenplay
The Ritual score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 13 October 2017

Director: David Bruckner
Phantom Thread score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 25 December 2017

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Awards: Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominated
American Animals score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 19 January 2018

Director: Bart Layton
Awards: British Independent Film Awards - Debut Screenwriter and Best Editing
What They Had score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 2 May 2018

Director: Elizabeth Chomko
Calibre score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 22 June 2018

Director: Matt Palmer
Awards: Bafta Scotland Awards winner and British Independent Film Award Nominee
Three Identical Strangers score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 29 June 2018

Director: Tim Wardle
Awards: Primetime Emmy and BAFTA award nominated - Best Documentary
Suspiria score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 2 November 2018

Director: Luca Guadagnino
Captive State score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 28 March 2019

Director: Rupert Wyatt
Tell It To The Bees score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 2 May 2019

Director: Annabel Jankel
The Mustang score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 19 June 2019

Director: :fr:Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre|Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Awards: Sundance Film Festival - NHK award
Overlord score performed by London Contemporary Orchestra
Release Date: 3 November 2019

Director: Julius Avery
Awards: Saturn Award nominee - Best Horror Film and Best Make-Up

Discography

Foals: "Miami" feat. players from the LCO

Release Date: 2 July 2010

Label: Warner Music UK Limited
Foals: "Spanish Sahara" with London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 12 September 2010

Label: Warner Music UK Limited
Jonny Greenwood: The Master

Release Date: 10 September 2012

Label: Nonesuch Records Inc.
Foals: Holy Fire feat. London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 11 February 2013

Label: Transgressive
Jed Kurzel: Slow West

Release Date: 12 May 2015

Label: Sony Classical Records
: with London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 7 August 2015

Label: Al Dakheel, Inc.
Jed Kurzel:

Release Date: 1 October 2015

Label: Decca Records
Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool by

Release Date: 8 May 2016

Label: XL Recordings

Most tracks on this album feature the orchestra and choir performing arrangements by Jonny Greenwood
Frank Ocean: Endless feat. London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 19 August 2016

Label: Def Jam Recordings
Frank Ocean: Blonde feat. London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 20 August 2016

Label: Boys Don't Cry
Justice: Woman feat. London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 18 November 2016

Label: Ed Banger Records
by Jed Kurzel

Release Date: 19 May 2017

Label: Milan Records
Actress X LCO: Audio Track 5

Release Date: 1 September 2017

Label: Ninja Tune
Phantom Thread by Jonny Greenwood

Release Date: 12 January 2018

Label: Nonesuch
Actress X LCO: Lageos

Release Date: 25 May 2018

Label: Ninja Tune

New Works