The South Bank Centre today unveiled the programme and performers it hopes will bring the glory days back to London's biggest arts complex.
Artistic director Jude Kelly has assembled an eclectic range of names - from Grammy-winning opera singer Willard White to pop band St Etienne - to implement her vision of the future.
The South Bank Centre encompasses the Royal Festival Hall, the Purcell Room, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery.
'This is the best venue in the world, in terms of its position and beauty, and the aim is to revive it fully with all artistic forms blazing,' said Ms Kelly. 'This is a chance for a sleeping giant to wake.'
The Royal Festival Hall will reopen in June next year after a £91 million overhaul, with a concert featuring all four resident South Bank orchestras. The first full-scale museum show in London by Turner Prize- winning artist Anthony Gormley will be held at the Hayward.
Other highlights include a major exhibition charting the development of contemporary painting, a new London literature festival and a series of performances by Daniel Barenboim of all Beethoven's piano sonatas.
Perhaps the most eye-catching move Ms Kelly has made is to employ a series of artists in residence and associate artists who are to create a range of work. They include composer Oliver Knussen, Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski and musician Nitin Sawnhey.
