-Sound & Music
"LFAM fills a massive geographic gap by bringing complex, highly diverse American scores to London — showcasing how effectively Odaline de la Martínez guides the Lontano Ensemble through dense, experimental American modernism."
-The Guardian
The Mornington Trust & Lontano Trust Present
The 10th London Festival of American Music (LFAM):
250 Years of Diversity
About the Festival
Founded in 2006 by the visionary Cuban-American conductor-composer Odaline de la Martínez alongside her contemporary music group, the Lontano Ensemble, the London Festival of American Music (LFAM) was born out of a specific gap in the British music scene. While major American minimalist icons like Philip Glass, John Adams, and Steve Reich were regularly played in the UK, a massive world of diverse American contemporary classical music was being entirely ignored.
Martínez established LFAM as a biennial event to introduce British audiences to outstanding US-based composers who were highly celebrated at home but virtually unknown across the Atlantic. Today, LFAM remains one of the UK's most influential platforms for contemporary classical exchange, driven by the philosophy that a festival can permanently expand and change the landscape of the musical world.
Odaline de la Martínez
Festival Director · Composer & Conductor
"Energy crackles around the Cuban-born conductor and composer like an electric field."
— The Sunday Times
Award-winning Cuban-born composer and conductor Odaline de la Martínez is a pioneering figure in contemporary classical music. In 1984, she became the first woman in history to conduct a BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and has since led major orchestras worldwide.
Her many honours include a Marshall Scholarship from the British Government, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music, the Villa Lobos Medal from the Brazilian Government, a Lifetime Achievement Award (2017), a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Surrey (2019), a Gold Badge from the Ivors Academy, and the Lukas Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021 she was appointed Honorary Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, in 2023 Tulane University created the Odaline de la Martínez Award in her honour, and in 2026 she received the Tulane University International Alumni Award for Exceptional Achievement.
As a composer, her major work is the opera trilogy Imoinda – A Story of Love and Slavery, whose three parts were premiered between 2013 and 2019, with the complete trilogy receiving its world premiere at the 7th London Festival of American Music. Recent commissions include Cuban Dances, Short and Sweet (Royal Academy of Music's 200th Anniversary), and Four Afro Cuban Poems, recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
Martínez founded the London Festival of American Music in 2006 with the Lontano Ensemble, now in its 10th edition, championing diverse American contemporary music and ensuring over half of all featured composers are women.
November 12
Solos, Duos and More
with Lontano Ensemble & Odaline de la Martinez
The concert on the 12th, titled Solos, Duos and More, features Daniel Asia’s Pine’s Last Poems, Arlene Sierra’s A Young Mind in Old Bees, as well as works by Alfred Lerdahl, Barbara Jazwinski, Elena Ruehr, Augusta Reed Thomas, and Aaron Einbond.
Featured soloists are Salome Siu, mezzo-soprano; Heather Roche, clarinet; Dominic Saunders, piano; Clare O’Connell, cello; and Alison Wormell, bassoon.
Odaline de la Martínez
Conductor
Salome Siu
Mezzo Soprano
Barbara Jazwinski
Dreams of Vagabond Winds for oboe, clarinet, bassoon (2022) *
Elena Ruehr
Of Water and Clouds for flute and piano (1986) *
Augusta Reed Thomas
Rainbow Bridge to Paradise, solo cello (2016) *
Arlene Sierra
A Young Mind in Old Bees for bassoon and string quartet (2025) *
Alfred Lerdahl
Three Diatonic Studies for solo piano (2025)
Daniel Asia
Pine's Last Poems for voice and string quartet (2018) *
Aaron Einbond
Resistance for bass clarinet and electronics (2012) *
November 13
Voices - Choral Works from America
Suzi Digby Conductor & VOCE Chamber Choir
The fifth concert on the 13th of November features the international conductor Suzi Digby and the vocal ensemble VOCE. The programme includes works by well-known American choral composers such as Eric Whitacre, Caroline Shaw, Frank Ticheli, Nico Muhly, Reena Esmail, Michael Gordon, Nick Strimple, Jake Runestad, Dolly Parton, and Odaline de la Martinez.
Suzi Digby
Conductor
"Choral wizard" — The Telegraph
"Sensitive and accomplished conductor" — Musical America
Suzi Digby OBE was born in Japan and raised across Hong Kong, Mexico and the Philippines before settling in the UK. An internationally renowned choral conductor and music educator, she has spent nearly four decades trailblazing the revival of singing in UK schools and communities.
She founded five influential organisations: The Voices Foundation (1993), Voce Chamber Choir (2003), Vocal Futures (2010), Singing4Success (2014), and The London Youth Choir (2012) — a pyramid of 9 choirs serving all 33 London boroughs. In 2016, she founded ORA Singers, commissioning 100 new choral works and running Young Composer and Graduate Composer mentoring schemes.
As a conductor, her debut with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment drew critical acclaim and she has conducted major choral-orchestral works with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London Mozart Players, Brandenburg Festival Orchestra and others, at venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Wigmore Hall, King's College Chapel Cambridge, Glastonbury and Hyde Park.
Eric Whitacre
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening (1922) *
Caroline Shaw
and the swallow (2017) *
Frank Ticheli
Earth Song (2014) *
Nico Muhly
A Great Stone (2018) *
Reena Esmail
TaReKiTa (2016) *
Nick Strimple
A Set of Three (one of the set) (1974) *
Michael Gordon
I first noticed Robinson (2020) *
Jake Runestad
Nyon Nyon (2006) *
Dolly Parton
Light of a Clear Blue Morning (2017)
Odaline de la Martinez
Three Afro-Cuban Poems (2024)
Thank You to Our Sponsors
The 10th London Festival of American Music is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors.
Hinrichsen Foundation
Polyhymnia
Dwight und Ursula Mamlok-Stiftung
Special thank you to Jane Gross for your support!
Connect With Us
Odaline de la Martínez
Festival Director & Artistic Director, Lontano Ensemble
"LFAM, a leading UK showcase for contemporary American music…promoting outstanding American composers to UK audiences."