As part of her new strategic vision for London Transport Museum, Director and CEO Elizabeth McKay and the whole team are pleased to announce its latest cultural initiative. The new Transported by Culture: Music programme will see young classical and jazz musicians from some of London’s leading music schools being given the opportunity to perform for visitors at the Museum in the heart of Covent Garden.
Inspired by the vibrant surrounds of the West End, the Museum is bringing more art, culture and design into its programming to engage new audiences with its collection, as well as the stories it tells about London. This forms part of London Transport Museum’s broader vision, which was revealed in July 2024 alongside its new brand. It has so far seen the Museum launch its first theatre performance, The Truth About Harry Beck, in its Cubic Theatre.
Launching on 14 February and running until October 2025, visitors to London Transport Museum can enjoy live performances from rising classical and jazz musicians against the unique backdrop of its iconic collection. The young musicians are from four prestigious London conservatoires: Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, or Trinity Laban.
The programme has been developed to equip young classical and jazz musicians at the start of their careers with real-world performance experience. It is also an opportunity for young people to engage with London’s transport history and the Museum’s collections through their work.
Giving young people skills for the future, confidence, and opportunities to fulfil their potential is an important part of the Museum’s work as an education and heritage charity. This includes tackling the skills shortage in the transport sector by turning childhood enthusiasm for transport into future careers through its Enjoyment to Employment programme and introducing young people to self-employed career pathways in the culture and heritage sectors through its Young Freelancer programme.
In late 2024, London Transport Museum put out a call to recruit these young musicians, with a mandatory requirement that applicants were either undergraduates or postgraduates. As part of this competitive process, the Museum then appointed 10 soloists and ensembles to join the programme, representing a wide range of styles and instruments. Each young musician will perform three times over the duration of the programme.
Bringing classical and jazz music to the Museum is just one part of its new art, culture and design programming. In October 2024, the Museum welcomed its debut theatre production, The Truth About Harry Beck, which celebrated the mind behind the world-famous Tube map – and enjoyed critical acclaim and sold out shows in its Cubic Theatre. Another theatre production will be launching at the Museum later in the year.
The Museum is also set to resume London transport’s tradition of commissioning talented artists to create posters promoting public transport as a way to discover things to see and do in the capital. More information about this poster commissioning project will be announced soon.
Elizabeth McKay, Director and CEO for London Transport Museum, said: “Not only are we the world’s leading museum of urban transport but, as a cultural cornerstone of the Covent Garden Piazza, we have a long history of embracing art, culture and design as part of our work. As we look to the future, we want to do this even more. We are therefore delighted to be offering some of the capital’s leading young classical and jazz musicians the chance to perform in our iconic central London venue, supporting their career development and, in turn, offering a unique musical experience for our visitors as part of their visit.’
The full programme of performances will be announced in due course.
