21 November 1940 – 28 July 2025
Southbank Centre is sad to hear the news of the death of Amelia Freedman, who was Head of Classical Music between 1995 and 2006.
Amelia was a pioneer in the classical music world in the UK and beyond. She formed the Nash Ensemble while still a student at the Royal Academy of Music in the 1960s. The Nash Ensemble has gone on to become one of the world’s top chamber groups, championing new work from composers as well as performing and recording the great classical chamber repertoire.
While at the Southbank Centre, Amelia led the classical programme with great ambition and flair, developing strong relationships with international artists such as Jessye Norman, Mariss Janssons and the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Alfred Brendel, the Takács and the Emerson string quartets.
Amelia commissioned many works from composers including Judith Weir, Thomas Ades, Mark Anthony Turnage, Harrison Birtwistle and Luciano Berio. She was involved in commissioning cross-genre works for the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall in 2007, including Thomas Adès’ In Seven Days and Heiner Goebbels’ Songs of Wars I Have Seen.
She also spearheaded major large-scale festivals, including the WorldVoice Festival, that featured choirs from global traditions, as well as festivals celebrating composers including Kurtág, Rachmaninov, Berio, Xenakis, Birtwistle and Turnage – involving partnerships with a number of British conservatoires.
Amelia’s work was characterised by passion, good taste, deep knowledge, curiosity and ambition for audiences and artists. Her love of music was equalled only by her love and knowledge of football, specifically Arsenal FC. She was one of a kind who will be much missed.