London Contemporary Orchestra

The London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), 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 both in the UK and internationally, including the Roundhouse, Latitude Festival, The Old Vic Tunnels, Snape Maltings, Southbank Centre, Barbican, Spitalfield's Music, Royal Opera House, Yota Space, and Unsound Festival. LCO has since provided its work on films including Theeb, Moonlight, Macbeth, Slow West, The Master, The Two Popes and American Animals.

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

In January 2022, LCO performed a continuous 24-hour long concert at the Barbican Centre.

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 (restored version), 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 (curated by Antony Hegarty) with a performance of William Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops".

In 2013 LCO performed in the abandoned Aldwych underground station, 350 ft underground, Claude Vivier's Glaubst du an die Unsterblichkeit der Seele ('Do You Believe in the Immortality of the Soul?'). LCO was the winner of the Ensemble category in 2015 at the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards.

In 2018 London Contemporary Orchestra featured in Thom Yorke's first feature film score, Suspiria. Suspiria was nominated for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. In 2019 LCO collaborated with composer Jed Kurzel on a number of film projects including The Mustang, Seberg and in 2020 on True History of The Kelly Gang.

In January 2022 performed 24, a continuous 24-hour long concert at the Barbican Centre. This included performances from electronic musicians KMRU, Actress, and Powell, plus works by John Cage, Éliane Radigue, Mica Levi, Alvin Lucier, Michael Gordon and James Tenney. Morton Feldman’s String Quartet No 2 was also performed. Visuals were designed by projection mapping artist László Zsolt Bordos.

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 Radio 6 Music live session. LCO appear on the band's single "Spanish Sahara" (radio edit). 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, Laurel Halo, Loraine James, Matmos, Jimmy Page, Jed Kurzel, Frank Ocean, Coby Sey, Taylor Swift and United Visual Artists.

LCO strings and choir feature prominently on Radiohead's 2016 Mercury-nominated album A Moon Shaped Pool. In collaboration with Spitfire Audio, 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.

LCO X Spitfire Audio
In 2017 LCO collaborated with Spitfire Audio to create London Contemporary Orchestra Strings, a string sample library made up of 42,094 samples. The sample set was recorded in a tight room with sections of six violins, four violas, three cellos and two double basses.

In 2019 for a second time LCO collaborated with Spitfire Audio to create London Contemporary Orchestra Textures. The sample library recorded in an aircraft hangar features four grouped instrument ensembles, each comprising 12 individual textures.

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

Discography
Foals: "Spanish Sahara" with London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 12 September 2010

Label: Warner Music UK Limited

Jonny Greenwood: The Master (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Release Date: 12 May 2015

Label: Sony Classical Records

Jerry Lane: Theeb (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)] with London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 7 August 2015

Label: Al Dakheel, Inc.

Jed Kurzel: Macbeth (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)]

Release Date: 1 October 2015

Label: Decca Records

Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool

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

Alien: Covenant (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) 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 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Jonny Greenwood

Release Date: 12 January 2018

Label: Nonesuch

Actress X LCO: Lageos

Release Date: 25 May 2018

Label: Ninja Tune

American Animals (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Anne Nikitin

Release Date: 22 June 2018

Label: The Orchard

Captive State (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Rob Simonsen

Release Date: 15 March 2019

Label: Masterworks

Thom Yorke: Anima

Release Date: 19 July 2019

Label: XL Recordings

Thom Yorke: Suspiria (Music for the Luca Guadagnino Film)

Release Date: 26 October 2019

Label: XL Recordings

Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Release Date: 4 February 2022

Composer: Olivier Deriviere

The Smile: A Light for Attracting Attention feat. strings by the London Contemporary Orchestra

Release Date: 13 May 2022

Label: XL Recordings

The Smile: Wall of Eyes Release Date: 26 січня 2024 Label: XL Recordings

New works

 * Emily Hall: "Put Flesh On!" (2008)
 * Colin Alexander: "Potential Fracture Lines" (2008)
 * Jonathan Cole: "Assassin Hair", revised version (2008)
 * Howard Quin: "Combination Curves" (2009)
 * Jonathan Cole: "burburbabbar za" (2009)
 * Shiva Feshareki: "TTKonzert" (2010)
 * Tristan Brookes: "Ur" (2010)
 * Emily Hall and Toby Litt: "Songs" (2010)
 * Mira Calix and Larry Goves: "pedotin"; "ipo" (2010)
 * Simon Fisher Turner: "Attitude" (2010)
 * Jonathan Cole / Colin Alexander: "Forum" (2011)
 * Martin Suckling: "de sol y grana" (2011)
 * Gabriel Prokofiev: "Concerto for Bass Drum and Orchestra" (2012)
 * William Basinski (arr. Maxim Moston) "Disintegration Loop 2.1" (2012)
 * Actress: Audio Track 5 (2017)