Come and enjoy Endelienta Baroque playing the Water Music and Bach Double Violin concerto underneath Luke Jerram's Mars: War & Peace at St John the Baptist Church W14 8AH as part of Kensington and Chelsea Festival. Suitable for all ages. A unique one-off event with limited tickets. The maximum number of tickets available per booking is two. Tickets are free as part of Kensington and Chelsea Festival's open access programme.

All sites for Mars: War & Peace are fully accessible. This website link will let you book two free tickets or one donation ticket at a time. Donations received are given to the church.

The Artists
Originally founded in 2017, but re-formed post-pandemic, Endelienta Baroque comprises some of the country's most talented young performers on historical instruments. Their aim is simple - to revel in the joy of performing music from many baroque repertories, and to invite our audiences to participate in that joy. The group often collaborate with other ensembles for larger-scale vocal works, In 2022, to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the composer's death and presented the music of Heinrich Schütz and many lesser-known contemporaries at Barnes Music Festival, Beverley Chamber Music Festival, and at St Cuthbert's Church, Earl's Court in London. 2023 sees the group tour a programme of Restoration Suites, as well as the EarthSong project, in which they will use Handel's Nine German Arias, along with newly-penned works, as a means of exploring the environment and the ecological crises, in a series of concerts and school workshops in London and Cornwall.

Mars: War & Peace
Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 120dpi detailed NASA imagery* of the Martian surface. At an approximate scale of 1:1 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 10 kilometres of the surface of Mars.

The artwork allows us to view Mars from the air, as though we are a satellite mapping and studying the surface in perfect detail. Every valley, crater, volcano and mountain are laid bare for us to inspect. We are transported to this desert wasteland, to imagine what it’s like to step foot on this incredible planet and in comparison, really value our life on Earth.

Mars was named by the ancient Romans for their god of war because its reddish colour was reminiscent of blood. Accompanying the Mars: War & Peace sculpture is a specially created sound composition by BAFTA and Ivor Novello award winning composer Dan Jones. Featuring the sounds of seas, deserts and clips from NASA missions to Mars, it also incorporates the sounds of distant bombing and people marching, as if to war. This new soundtrack allows viewers the opportunity to reflect on the current conflict in Ukraine and the history and notion of war.

“Mars: War & Peace follows on from my other touring astronomical artworks Museum of the Moon and Gaia, allowing a close encounter with the Martian planet. Presented with a new soundtrack for the first time at Kensington and Chelsea Festival, I hope that visitors will feel transported to its inhospitable desert wasteland, whilst also being faced to contemplate the bleak realities of war on our planet.” Luke Jerram
The installation is a fusion of Mars imagery, light and surround sound composition. Each venue also programmes their own series of events to contemplate not just the beauty of the red planet and wonder of space science, but also to highlight injustice and the effects of war.

*Mars: War & Peace is made from NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter data.

On the day of each visit, stay updated by checking our website and social media for any changes to the schedule. Please use public transport if possible rather than driving, take picnic plastic home to recycle, and bring refillable drinking flasks.

There are three sites for Mars: War & Peace as part of Kensington and Chelsea Festival. Do also book for a visit to see the installation when there is not a concert on - see festival website.

Sites for Mars: War & Peace are:

- St John the Baptist Church, Holland Road, London W14 8AH. Running from the Saturday 22 July until Sunday 30 July, at set times of day only. Immerse yourself in the magic of live music every evening in this venue from Monday 22 July to Saturday 29 July at 8.30 pm (specific timed ticket required.)

- All Saints’ Church Notting Hill, Clydesdale Road, London W11 1JS. Running from Monday 31 July to Tuesday 8 August, at set times of day only.

- Jubilee Square, Kensington and Chelsea Town Hall, W8 7NX. Running from 8am to 11pm Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 August, with the sound track being played at 7pm each night. A QR is available to link to the sound track at other times. Please note, for indoor venues, tickets need to be pre-booked to allow entry.

Main Festival Event.