The Vauxhall Band
The Vauxhall Band was founded in 2021 by Artistic Director Laura Piras with the aim of bringing together leading period instrument specialist musicians and historic dance experts to create engaging performances inspired by eighteenth-century music heard in London in a variety of contexts: from pleasure gardens such as Vauxhall, Ranelagh and Marylebone, to the West End theatres and concert rooms.
The ensemble name is inspired by the original ‘Vauxhall Band’ which is, historically, how the collective of orchestral musicians who performed at eighteenth-century Vauxhall Gardens were known.
Based on the findings of an ongoing research project, concert programmes weave together music from different genres, celebrating the wide range of influences that were contributed to musical life in London by international musicians from diverse backgrounds.
The Vauxhall Band’s recent performances include the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Concert at St Cecilia’s Hall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, concerts at Lewes Baroquefest and the Tea House Theatre, Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, a Salon Music Supper Concert (with an eighteenth-century Vauxhall Gardens-inspired menu created by host and food historian Michelle Berriedale-Johnson) and a modern-day pleasure garden performance at Crossrail Place Roof Garden, Canary Wharf.
In addition, The Vauxhall Band has given masterclasses at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, and historic dance workshops at the Classical Vauxhall Festival and at Graveney School, Tooting with Mary Collins, Steven Player and Kath Waters. Future performances include the London Handel Festival, Mozart’s Requiem with Libera choir and a second Salon Music Supper Concert. A CD recording is planned for 2026.
The Original Vauxhall Band
Late 18th/early 19th-century London: what a time to be alive for musicians and concertgoers!
London was a truly cosmopolitan musical city, with leading composers and performers from Europe featured every night in concert halls, theatres, and pleasure gardens.
The original Vauxhall Band performed at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in an ‘orchestra’ building, elevated above crowds of thousands of listeners, who would experience the music among the trees, illuminated by lanterns and moonlight, accompanied by the heady scent of flowers and shrubs.
Vauxhall Gardens was one of several Pleasure Gardens in London. It was a unique place as people from all walks of life could come together and experience music. This took place from May to August every year, six nights a week, for over 150 years.
Picture Credit: Thomas Rowlandson hand-coloured aquatint 1809. With permission from David Coke.
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