Council: Pekka Kuusisto & Gabriel Kahane
Southbank CentreBelvedere Road, South Bank, London
Sat 7 Nov · 18:00 · £32
About this event
The multi-talented musical friends come together under the name Council to welcome us for an intimate evening of original songs, chamber and folk music. After nearly a decade of musical friendship, it seems only fitting that the iconic Finnish musician Pekka Kuusisto and cult American singer-songwriter Gabriel Kahane have formalised their collaboration under the moniker ‘Council.’ Now, they present an evening of intimate and sonically varied songs & chamber music, written during several writing retreats in Northern Karelia and Portland, Oregon. The pair bring the music to life on a variety of instruments, including piano, electric guitar, electric and acoustic violins, harmonium, whistling and finely shaped vocals. With this new body of work, Kuusisto and Kahane attempt to locate the universal in the personal, and vice versa: here are stories of individual and collective grief; of nostalgia, adolescence and memory-play; of the joy, wonder and perplexity of fatherhood in an era of global instability. As they explore and deepen their own friendship on stage, these two relentlessly searching artists offer a musical tapestry depicting the complexities of life in the 21st century. The programme includes works by Pekka Kuusisto and Gabriel Kahane, along with traditional Scandinavian folk music. Pekka Kuusisto is a Southbank Centre Resident Artist for Classical Music: Autumn/Winter 2026/27.
