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The Night Shift at Brixton Blues Kitchen

Brixton, Blues Kitchen

Tuesday 10 February 2026, 20:00

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Music

includes songs by Purcell, Cornysh, Lawes, Dowland and Rustin
and instrumental pieces by de Visee and Matteis

Price

£15 suggested price - or 'pay what you choose' (from £8 minimum)

“Easier than air with air, if spirits embrace” - lutenist Sergio Bucheli curates an evening of music inspired by civil rights activist and early music revivalist Bayard Rustin.

Bayard Rustin worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr and was the main organiser of the March on Washington in 1963. He was also involved with the early music revival in New York during the 1950s and 1960s having learnt the lute whilst in jail in California for the “crime of sodomy” (as it was at the time). Tonight’s setlist features baroque songs that he recorded and performed in New York by Purcell, Cornysh and Dowland, as well as his own pastiche Elizabethan song ‘I saw her as I came and went’.

Sergio will be joined by mezzo-soprano Angharad Rowlands and violinist Alice Evans.

"Bayard Rustin was an unyielding activist for civil rights, dignity, and equality for all. An advisor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he promoted nonviolent resistance, participated in one of the first Freedom Rides, organized the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and fought tirelessly for marginalized communities at home and abroad."

Presidential Medal of Freedom citation for Bayard Rustin

Bayard Rustin was born in 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He was a lifelong pacifist and highly influential within the Civil Rights Movement until his death in 1987. In the 1950s he became a key adviser to Martin Luther King Jr playing a vital role in organising the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the March on Washington in 1963, where King gave the famous ‘I have a dream’ speech. He later became involved in the gay rights movement. In 2006, despite prejudice and opposition to the name, the Bayard Rustin High School was opened in his hometown. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama in 2013 and in 2020 California Governor Gavin Newsome issued a pardon for his 1953 conviction.

The Night Shift is our series of informal chamber music gigs – literally music for smaller rooms, in the home or other places where people socialise. They’re a chance to hear the members of the OAE playing music that they’re passionate about and bringing in a wide range of musical influences. So come along, grab a drink with friends (or meet some new ones) and enjoy the music.

There are two ticket price choices for The Night Shift. Our suggested price is £15 or you can ‘pay what you choose’ by entering your amount (with a £8 minimum up to as much as you like!).

Violinist Julia Kuhn and bass player Cecelia Bryggemyer playing in the playground at Acland burghley School

Japanese conductor Masaaki Suzuki conducts the OAE with singer Florian Stortz

OAE musicians run a workshop in a school classroom

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The Night Shift at Brixton Blues Kitchen

Brixton, Blues Kitchen

Tuesday 10 February 2026, 20:00

Event detail

“Easier than air with air, if spirits embrace” - lutenist Sergio Bucheli curates an evening of music inspired by civil rights activist and early music revivalist Bayard Rustin.

Did you know you can support the OAE?

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