PENGUIN CAFE | AMBIENTE SKATUVE

Saturday, 1 December 2018 Cēsis Concert Hall in Latvia will host the first concert of the musical band Penguin Cafe in the Baltic states. It is the continuation of the traditions of the British composer and musician Simon Jeffes’ world-famous Penguin Cafe Orchestra by his son Arthur Jeffes.

Simon Jeffes was perhaps one of the greatest post-modernist British composers and is often credited as one of the founders of world music quite some time before Sting and Peter Gabriel. His internationally acclaimed Penguin Cafe Orchestra, whose output was described by Jeffes as contemporary semi-acoustic chamber music, toured the world in the 1980s and 1990s, enjoying considerable popularity.

After Simon Jeffes’ death, his son Arthur Jeffes formed a successor band, giving it the name Penguin Cafe.  Its repertoire includes pieces written by his father, as well as Arthur’s own music rooted in the Penguin Cafe Orchestra philosophy. Arthur Jeffes’ melodies reference African, Venezuelan, Brazilian, avant-garde, minimalist and classical music, employing a vast range of instruments ‒ strings, piano, harmonium, guitars, kalimba, as well as electronic sample loops.

Penguin Cafe has brought together previous members of bands like Gorillaz, Suede, Florence and the Machine and Razorlight. The band’s latest album The Imperfect Sea was released in 2017 under the Erased Tapes record label.

Cēsis Concerts Hall is a unique, multi-functional cultural centre of national and regional significance. It is situated in Cēsis, one of the most beautiful cities in Latvia, only 2 hours drive from Tartu.

Since its inauguration in spring 2014, the Concert Hall has had a busy cultural schedule, with appearances by first-class musicians, theatre company performances, art exhibitions and film screenings.