New film to launch Royal Albert Hall's 150th anniversary year

The Royal Albert Hall has launched its 150th anniversary year with a 90-second tribute to live music entitled Your Room Will Be Ready, narrated by Mick Jagger, directed by Tom Harper, and scored by Academy Award-winning composer Steven Price.

The film pairs images of the empty venue with archive event footage from 1933 to the present, accompanied by Sir Mick reading from For Friends Only by W H Auden.  

Director Tom Harper said: 'I have desperately missed live performance – there is something electric and fundamentally human about the shared experience of being in a room surrounded by other people, part of an audience.

'The Royal Albert Hall is a magnificent building even when it's empty, but what makes it truly special is the connection it fosters through those shared experiences. That is what this film is about; not only a celebration of performances from the Hall's glorious past, but also the sense of anticipation of some of the things to look forward to when we can be together again.'

Recorded at Mark Knopfler’s British Grove Studios, the film’s original score features the Tippett Quartet, celebrated flautist Eliza Marshall and BBC Symphony Orchestra principal trumpet Philip Cobb. 

The film is the first event of the Hall’s 150th anniversary celebrations, which will extend into 2022 and include major commissions from British artists, headline performances from music icons, and a series of showcases promoting the next generation of talent. 

The Royal Albert Hall’s doors remain closed for the first time since the Blitz, with the charity losing £34m in income and cancelling more than 330 auditorium shows. The Hall will still be closed on its birthday, 29 March. 

Watch the film below. 

www.royalalberthall.com/150