A two-week music festival is coming to the City of London in October, for Michael Mainelli, ending his tenure as Lord Mayor. Themes will include knowledge, history and invention through two weeks of a musical programme.

The talks, concerts and events take place over two weeks, ranging on themes of architecture, student concerts and a concert at Mansion House with Julian Joseph, a duo from Genoa.

Tessa Marchington, the event’s producer spoke to the London Society.

What is the background to the Festival of Music, Invention & Knowledge 

The festival sits at the end of Lord Mayor Michael Mainelli’s year in office and ties together his theme Connect to Prosper, which highlights the importance of knowledge, of global trade and of sustainability.

What will be happening during the musical programme?

We are celebrating the City’s unique environment, beauty and creativity through a two-week programme of live music and performance. The Lord Mayor has roots in Italy and Paganini’s violin is travelling to London for a very special concert with the LSO during these two weeks so we have programmed touches of Paganini in every concert.

As the birthplace of London, the City is a place with an ever-changing skyline – modern creations set against Christopher Wren’s baroque churches. We invite you to experience iconic City spaces in new ways. Highlights include the opening concert in Mansion House, featuring the great British jazz pianist Julian Joseph, with state-of-the-art surround sound; the innovative performers Eklectric Duo (of Genoa) in Milton Court; virtuosic playing by Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (Leader, LSO) and singing by Tenebrae in St Lawrence Jewry – with the spirit of Paganini present throughout.

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The programme includes a variety of free lunchtime concerts in beautiful Wren churches, a singing workshop open to all City workers and residents on Vivaldi‘s ‘Gloria’ (led by Tenebrae’s Nigel Short), and evening events with tickets available from £20. The Festival of Music, Invention & Knowledge is supported by the City of London’s Destination City programme, and the Comune of Genoa and curated by the artistic director Ian Ritchie.

What is your role - and what do you enjoy most?

I’m the producer of the Festival - and all that entails within a small festival team of two! I’m always passionate about bringing people together to have a shared experience so we will be launching the programme in the exquisite setting of Mansion House, and my role is to weave the many parts of the festival together, to make things happen and work with our partners to ensure the delivery of the two weeks is a success.

It’s an ambitious programme and it’s exciting to be working in partnership with the City of Genoa too, having some of their best artists performing in some iconic City venues. Through our network at MIO we will be engaging the City workers, both in attending concerts and also participating in the singing workshop as well as giving students the opportunity to perform and have masterclasses with some of the musicians performing.

There are a mixture of free and paid events. How did you choose which was free and which was paid for?

The City has a tradition of free lunchtime concerts for City Workers so we wanted to be able to offer some Pop In lunchtime concerts. Whilst the musicians will be paid we have been able to cover the costs through some sponsorship of these making them more of an informal commitment for those who might like to pop by in their lunchtime spontaneously.

Can you tell me more about Ian Ritchie and his role as curator?

Ian was the Director of the City of London Festival from 2005 - 2013, and I worked with him over this time, bringing office choirs into the festival, creating a performance in Guildhall Yard partnering office choirs and primary schools. Ian is a very thoughtful and clever curator, often linking programmes with international themes and historical events.

He went on to set up the Setubal Festival commissioned by Lady Helen Hamlyn, and I subsequently worked with him  there too producing the arts and health symposium as part of the Festival. Ian’s background is as a singer, he studied at the Royal College of Music & Guildhall School and works as a curator and director.

Why do you think music is so important in the workplace?

The workplace can be a very pressured and alienating environment and we play our part in counterbalancing this through music. Music creates community and fosters a feeling of belonging - especially when you are singing together with others who may be more senior than you, or new to the company, once you have sung together so many barriers are broken down and the wellbeing impact this can have both on the individual and on the collective is huge. Using music as a lens for creative thinking, for leadership, for being with each other, for creating an inclusive culture is very effective too, and throughout all of this, hopefully we are also building new audiences and rekindling people’s love of music whilst helping people to discover a curiosity for different styles of music too.

How have your events been received?

Very positively! Over the 16 years or so I’ve been doing this, I think now there is more of an understanding than ever of the power music has to be a vehicle for achieving companies’ objectives - both the people and culture objectives but also the business objectives and outcomes.

Which companies/businesses have you brought music to?

We have brought music to almost every sector in the business world. Banking, law, advertising, marketing, charity, public services, insurance, real estate… you name it! Each week we are working with over 80 businesses across London and also abroad. Most recently we welcomed the Crown Estate to our client roster, our long standing client Channel 4 will be performing for us next week at our Summer Workplace Choir Concert and I still love teaching the piano at Norton Rose Fulbright where I have been teaching since 2007!

What does Music in Offices offer ?

Our four pillars of activity are 1) Instrumental lessons as an employee benefit, 2) we set up weekly workplace choirs, 3) wellbeing workshops, team building activities, 4) producing events. Events can be internal performances, performing under the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree raising money for Charity, our end of term choir and pupil concerts, having young singers from the British Youth Opera performing at a dinner or having our wonderful steel pan duo bring some carnival flair to your summer party!

Do you work with young people, people in the community, or community groups?

We always bring a spotlight to a charity partner at our concerts - introducing charities to our members and clients and raising money for them. Each year at Christmas we raise money for Royal Trinity Hospice, a wonderful charity who cared for one of our own conductors.

Sometimes these charities go on to become a client’s charity of the Year, like Contact the Elderly did, and that is obviously hugely beneficial to their year ahead. Other times our members might start volunteering for them… engagement varies. At our summer concert we will be raising money for the Naz Legacy Foundation and we love to support our friends at The Choir With No Name too.  

For further information visit Music in Offices. Tickets go live on July 16th.

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