Classically different

Two friends are changing the way Londoners listen to classical music, as well as introducing it to a younger audience, says Richard MacKichan

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YOU'LL recognise the setting and the scene is familiar-fans standing shoulder to shoulder, whooping, cheering and clamouring to meet the artist at the merch table afterwards-but the performers may prompt a double-take, such is the simple subversion of Noisenights.

For four years, these nights, programmed by Through The Noise, have been providing classical music up close; taking artists out of the rarefied surrounds of plush-seated concert halls and into the more low-key trappings of some of the capital's best-loved gig venues. Fans are close, both literally and figuratively, to the performance: each Noisenight event is entirely crowdfunded by its attendees.