Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) was a celebrated French singer, songwriter, pianist, film composer, poet, painter, screenwriter, writer, actor and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French popular music, he was renowned for his often provocative and scandalous compositions, as well as for his eclectic output, including jazz, world, chanson, pop, rock, reggae, electronic, disco, new wave and funk. He is regarded as one of the most influential popular musicians of the 20th century.

The papers talk regime change and opium addiction. War crimes spark cultural vandalism. A small Anglo-French army finds itself before the walls of Beijing. How did it get there? More to the point, how will it get out? Join us to meet the powerful characters Empress Dowager Cixi, Chief Minister Prince Gong, Lord Elgin, and Queen Victoria who held the fate of millions in their hands.

William Whitehead, acclaimed organist and music scholar, will talk about the Orgelbüchlein project will talk about the fascinating project to commission short organ pieces from 181 contemporary composers to complete J.S. Bach’s amazing but unfinished series of musical settings. The event will feature a selection of recordings of pieces both by J.S. Bach and by contemporary organ composers.

Kasia Wozniak, distinguished photographer and concept designer, talks about the importance of image and the role that images play in the arts, with particular reference to her own practice.

Timothy Adès, the distinguished rhyming translator of Victor Hugo and other European poets talks about his craft. Translating mainly French, German and Spanish poems into English, Timothy specialises in the challenging and complex rendering of foreign language rhyming poetry into an English form that features similar rhyme and metre.