The concert - called One Day - will construct a musical score based on content from the Saturday 25 September edition of the Guardian and will be performed by the world-renowned London Sinfonietta.
The performance will take place in front of an audience of 2,000 people on Saturday 20 November 2010 at Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall.
The Guardian has given Herbert and the London Sinfonietta exclusive behind-the-scenes access to its editorial and production processes - from attendance at editorial meetings, through to recordings of the actual edition being printed at the Guardian Print Centre in east London – in order to provide context for Herbert's compositions.
The newspaper edition will not only act as the concert's score, but also as the programme notes. Performing Herbert's new compositions alongside him, the London Sinfonietta's musicians will bring a different perspective to everything contained within the newspaper, ranging from the Labour party leadership campaign to the recipe pages.
Although the score is still being written by Herbert, it is expected that the London Sinfonietta will be joined on stage by guest musicians and singers as well as sportspeople, writers, journalists, members of the public and actors. Between them, they will aim to make One Day not only a compelling evening of new music, but an engaging, interactive spectacle, with plenty of the theatrics and invention for which Herbert's live shows have gained such a strong reputation.
Matthew Herbert said: "Musicians have long served a function as storytellers. Yet the biggest stories, the ones that often have a direct impact on our lives, are rarely retold in contemporary music. By choosing one edition of a national paper as both score and subject matter, I'm forced to confront this paradox head on."
Alan Rusbridger, Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media, said: "Matthew Herbert's experimental approach to music is renowned, and seeing an edition of the Guardian being brought to life in this extraordinarily creative way is a remarkably intriguing prospect."
