Nathan co-curates new sounds festival 2026

NEW SOUNDS is a three-day festival of contemporary music presented by the department of music, showcasing some of the best and most innovative modern music at Royal Holloway, university of london.

NEW SOUNDS 2026 invites you to explore music you may never have heard before. From reinventions of our folk traditions, research-led sessions, discovering the sounds of Festival feature composer Kathy Hinde to a new folk-horror opera, there are a host of opportunities for you to join us and immerse yourself in new sounds.

Co-curated by Dr Nathan James Dearden and Dr Nina Whiteman, the festival will feature appearances from our internationally acclaimed Choir of Royal Holloway, our New Voices Consort,visiting artists and researchers such as Kathy Hinde and Lauren Martin, the latest outing of our Royal Holloway Percussion Ensemble, plus many of our new music specialists and researchers.

This year's festival will take place between Wednesday, 11 March 2026 to Friday, 13 March 2026, in venues across campus.

What's On

Booking for our festival events are now open. To find out what's on, please visit our events page (link embedded).