Two towering figures from the contemporary avant-garde, artists, composers and performers Philip Glass and Laurie Anderson collaborate.

But as well as a collaboration between two of the twentieth century’s most important contemporary musicians, this is the sound of longtime friends bouncing ideas off of each other. Glass’s mesmerically repetitive piano compositions are enriched by Anderson’s singular artistic voice, dissolving genre boundaries through mutated electric violin, sung poetry and spoken song. Video work and recordings augment their performance, creating an innovative multimedia experience, music as theatre.

In the early 70s, New York arts enthusiasts gathered on Sunday afternoons to hear the Philip Glass Ensemble rehearse Music in Twelve Parts in the composer’s warehouse loft. One regular attendee was a young Laurie Anderson. Finding enormous inspiration in his work, she went on to establish herself as a giant of the Downtown scene, blending performance art and contemporary music, even scoring a surprise crossover hit with her 1981 single ‘O Superman’. But despite having known each other for many years, Glass and Anderson have only recently joined forces as collaborators – tonight is a chance to hear the fruits of decades of creative practice and friendship.