Kerry Andrew’s specially commissioned song, a setting of Michael Rosen’s new poem for the Quentin Blake exhibition.

Again And Again By Kerry Andrew

Young people talk about running away from children's homes and foster families.

Running

This audio, 'Objects and Secrets', documents extracts of conversations the artist Helen Barff had with family and friends when researching the theme of family. These conversations informed and accompany her sculpture 'Holding', which is part of the exhibition 'Finding Family' at the Foundling Museum from 17 March - 27 August 2023.

Helen Barff 'Objects and Secrets' (Audio for Finding Family exhibition)

A young man recalls the specific dates and times that he moved between children's homes.

Time

Renowned natural history sound recordist and 2014 Handel Foundling Fellow, Chris Watson, worked with young care-leavers recording the sounds of the dawn chorus on the site of the original Foundling Hospital. Inspired by the genetic link today’s birds have with those that sang here for the eighteenth and nineteenth century foundlings, Watson’s sound piece links past and present through a poetic meditation on the importance of place.

Dawn Chorus by Chris Watson

To bring William Hogarth’s art to life, acclaimed musician and producer Martyn Ware made a specially-commissioned immersive soundscape for our exhibition Hogarth & the Art of Noise, inspired by the masterpiece, The March of the Guards to Finchley.

Hogarth & the Art of Noise | Soundscape

Dawn Chorus is a beautiful sound installation that links past and present through a poetic meditation on the spirit of place. It was made for the Foundling Museum by Foundling Fellow, the renowned wildlife sound recordist, Chris Watson, and a group of young care-leavers from London.

Dawn Chorus with an introduction by Chris Watson

A Voice is an art installation created by care leavers which was on display at the Foundling Museum, from 14 January - 17 May 2020. Informed by interviews with a former pupil of the Foundling Hospital, A Voice is a poignant and humorous bridge between past, present and future, bringing together experiences of care across time.

A Voice

Learn about the career and life of Richard Leveridge, a leading singer on the 18th-century London stage, in this podcast from experts Thelma Wilson and Olive Baldwin. Baldwin and Wilson have written extensively on seventeenth and eighteenth-century singers for musical periodicals and dictionaries. They were Research Associates for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, for which they wrote over 60 articles, and have edited facsimile editions of the complete songs of Richard Leveridge, including his highly successful and popular music for Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Introducing Richard Leveridge

Samir Savant, Director of the London Handel Festival, talks to the Foundling Museum’s Katy Hamilton about the challenges – and unexpected silver linings – of performing Handel’s music in 2020, through lockdown and beyond. The Museum has worked closely with the Festival for many years, hosting events and organising displays and exhibitions about Handel and his contemporaries.

Selections from the November 2006 Concert

Performing Handel’s Music in 2020

The Foundling Museum tells the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. We aim to inspire everyone to make a positive contribution to society, by celebrating the power of individuals and the arts to change lives.

Discover thought-provoking exhibitions, contemporary art commissions, collection displays and historic archives, plus a lively programme of concerts, workshops, talks and special events, all enjoyed within beautiful 18th-century interiors.

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