Premonitions of the Unbuilt City is an album of piano music written by Matt Rogers and performed by his friend and collaborator Kit Downes. Bringing together influences from classical, jazz, vaporwave and steampunk, the album is a re-imagining of Rogers's Royal Opera House operatic commission – cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic – for solo piano.
Matt Rogers is an award winning classical composer working in the UK, Europe and America. He has written commissions for Royal Opera, Aldeburgh Music, Opera North, London Sinfonietta, English Heritage, Art on the Underground, Scenatet and Alarm Will Sound, and had music performed at an array of spaces including the Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Yard Theatre, New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, Pompidou Centre, King's Cross Station and the inner circle of Stonehenge.
Kit Downes is a BBC Jazz Award winning, Mercury Music Award nominated pianist. He has toured the world playing piano, church organ and harmonium with his own bands ('ENEMY', 'Troyka' and 'Elt') as well as with artists such as Squarepusher, 'Empirical', Benny Greb and Sam Amidon. He has written commissions for Cheltenham Music Festival, London Contemporary Orchestra, Ensemble Klang at ReWire Festival, the Scottish Ensemble, Cologne Philharmonie and the Wellcome Trust.