Online Promotion of Composers and Performers since 1995

Events Category: New Work

The Ring of Fire

Date:
Categories: Experimental, New Work, Opera
Tags: armenia, avet terterian, marylebone theatre, opera

Friday, 19 July, 7.45pm at Marylebone Theatre at Rudolf Steiner House, London

BOOK TICKETS

Tereza Gevorgyan (soprano)
Arshak Kuzikyan (bass, baritone)
Sam Leggett (tenor)
Heather Caddick (soprano)
Anais Heghoyan (sorpano)
Benjamin Beurklian-Carter (bass, baritone)
Chorus of London Armenian Opera
Orchestra of London Armenian Opera
Aris Nadirian (conductor)
Seta White (director)
Teni Matian (choreographer)

The Ring of Fire – Avet Terterian

The Ring of Fire is an experimental, ground-breaking opera composed by Avet Terterian in 1967 in Armenia, a country hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Avet Terterian (1929-1994) was a Soviet Armenian composer scarcely known in his own country, but renowned in the Soviet Union. The recipient of prizes in East and West, he was praised by the likes of Dmitri Shostakovitch. He produced a large body of work including eight symphonies, orchestral and chamber works, songs, film music and another opera, Earthquake in 1984. In a courageously modern and eclectic western style, The Ring of Fire blends harmonic and atonal elements while also incorporating motifs of Armenian folk music.Against the backdrop of a raging civil war, two combatants find themselves marooned together on an island. Haunted by the spirits of the past, their conflict becomes one between love and ideology.

Music by Avet Terterian

Libretto by Vladimir Shahnazaryan on Boris Lavrenyov’s ‘The Last Shot’ and verses of Y. Charents

Reduced arrangement by Aris Nadirian

BBC Philharmonic – Janáček and Tchaikovsky

Date:
Categories: Concerts, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: alma mahler, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, colin matthews, david matthews

Sat 30 Sep 2023, 19.30 at The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Programme

Leos Janáček – Sinfonietta(25 mins)
Alma Mahler-Werfel – Six Songs(20 mins)Die stille Stadt, (3′) Laut Sommernacht (3′) Licht in der Nacht (3′) Waldseligkeit (3′) In meines Vaters Garten (4’) Bei dir ist es traut (4’) All arr. Colin and David Matthews
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky – Symphony No. 6 in B minor, ‘Pathétique’(45 mins)

Join us for our 2023-24 season launch as Chief Conductor John Storgårds sets the stage with Janáček’s gargantuan Sinfonietta.
Brimming with brass and bold yet bridled melodies, its galvanising energy plays foil to the emotional outpourings of Tchaikovsky’s swan song, his Sixth Symphony. Premiered only days before the composer’s death, the Symphony remains an enigma – its only truly agreeable mark, its sheer passion. Separating both of these titanic works, Dame Sarah Connolly joins us for an exploration of some of history’s less well-trodden territory in a collection of Alma Mahler’s orchestrated songs.

GET TICKETS

Soundings from the Planet

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Experimental, Family, New Work
Tags: kings place, NW Live Arts

Thursday 23 November, 8.00pm at Hall 2 Kings Place, London

Hyelim Kim Taegum Flute
Colin Alexander Cello
James Larter Percussion
Suntou Susso Kora
Tuulia Hero Violin
Catharina Feyen Double Bass
Adaya Peled-Malka Soprano
William Bracken Piano
Musicians and storytellers come together to consider the impact of climate change in an evocative programme of words and music.

NW Live Arts’ dynamic musicians explore the sounds of our planet – music of the air, sea, sky, forests and landscapes – in a programme of Bach, Bartok and Messiaen, free improvisation, new composition and music from West Africa and South Korea. Sharing the stage, creative storytellers from the local community join the musical conversation asking us to value our connections to nature and find a way to let the planet restore.

“I’m delighted that NW Live Arts has created a mission to actively create platforms where social themes and ideas can be delivered in engaging ways – directly into the hearts of communities by talented artists and musicians.”

Kuljit Bhamra MBE

BUY TICKETS

Snow on Snow

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians

Wednesday 20 December, 7.30pm at Greyfriar’s Kirk, Edinburgh

Programme
GILES SWAYNE Magnificat
GUSTAV HOLST In the bleak midwinter
PETER WARLOCK Bethlehem Down
HELEN LEACH Touch of Heaven (from Letters from the Owl House) – solo cello
CECILIA MCDOWALL Now may we singen
CAPPERAULD The Night Watch (World Premiere)*
JOHN TAVENER The Lamb
JOHN TAVENER Chant – solo cello
POULENC Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël: O magnum mysterium Quem vidistis pastores Videntes stellam Hodie Christus natus est
J S BACH Sarabande (from Suite No 4 in E-flat) – solo cello
SALLY BEAMISH In the Stillness
TRAD arr RUTTER Wexford Carol
ERIC WHITACRE Lux Aurumque

GET TICKETS

SCO Chorus
Gregory Batsleer Chorus Director
Philip Higham Cello

The simple beauty of unaccompanied voices – what better way to celebrate the coming festive season?

The SCO Chorus’s annual Christmas concert has become a firm fixture in Scotland’s musical calendar: experience the singers’ radiant tones under expert Director Gregory Batsleer in music to warm your heart and lift your spirit.

Francis Poulenc provides four exquisite miniature scenes from the nativity story, while revered choral composer and conductor Eric Whitacre’s Lux Aurumque is a shimmering contemplation of the season, and SCO Associate Composer Jay Capperauld unveils a brand new-choral piece, a setting of Niall Campbell’s poem The Night Watch.

*Commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

London Sinfonietta Birthday Concert

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Experimental, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians

Wednesday 24 January, 7.45pm, at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, London

GET TICKETS

The London Sinfonietta marks its birthday with the eclectic, provocative, surprising and beautiful music it has commissioned and performed throughout its history.

Performing a mix of new commissions and classic chamber repertoire written specially for the ensemble over the years, the London Sinfonietta is joined by special guests for a festive evening.

Performers

London Sinfonietta
Geoffrey Paterson conductor
Simon Haram saxophone

Repertoire

Programme includes:
Knussen: Coursing
Tansy Davies: Iris for soprano saxophone & chamber ensemble
Hannah Kendall: Verdala
Takemitsu: Tree line
Thomas Adès: Living toys

Katia & Marielle Labèque: Two Pianos

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work, Pre-concert event, Women musicians

Sunday 28 January, 7.00pm at Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre

Katia and Marielle Labèque regularly dazzle audiences worldwide with their virtuosity, versatility and charisma. Opening with Debussy’s seductively exotic Epigraphes Antiques, they continue with Schubert’s Fantasy in F minor for duet, a work filled with understated passion and longing. Ravel’s ballet suite Ma mère L’oye (Mother Goose) follows, a piece that twinkles with fairy-tale enchantment.

The pair finish with a work by the great minimal composer Philip Glass, 4 Movements for 2 pianos. Glass himself is a fan of the pair, saying ‘the Labèque sisters are tremendous. They are great performers, and great interpreters. And they are wonderful supporters of music, not only modern music, but just music.’

Programme

Debussy: 6 Epigraphes antiques for 2 pianos
Interval
Schubert: Fantasia in F minor for piano duet, D.940
Interval
Ravel: Ma mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) Suite for piano duet
Philip Glass: 4 Movements for 2 pianos

BOOK NOW

Brodsky Quartet

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work

Friday 2 Feb 2024, 7.30pm at Outwood Academy Foxhills, Scunthorpe

Brodsky Quartet

Sonata for solo violin No 3 in C BWV 1005 – Johann Sebastian Bach, arranged for string quartet by Paul Cassidy
String Quartet in G minor Op 10 – Claude Debussy
String Quartet No 15 in G D 887 – Franz Schubert

Since forming in 1972, the Brodsky Quartet have performed over 3,000 concerts on the major stages of the world and have released more than 70 recordings. A natural curiosity and an insatiable desire to explore has propelled the group in a number of artistic directions and continues to ensure them not only a prominent presence on the international chamber music scene, but also a rich and varied musical existence. Their energy and craftsmanship have attracted numerous awards and accolades worldwide, while their ongoing educational work provides a vehicle to pass on experience and stay in touch with the next generation.

BUY TICKETS

Love is Love

Date:
Categories: Choral, Concerts, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: Kantos Choir, LGBTQ+

Thursday, 15 February 2024, 8:00 pm 9:00 pm at The Old Woollen Town Street Pudsey, England, LS28 5UJ

GET TICKETS

Join Kantos Choir for a performance that charts the course of true love, which never did run smooth. Interspersing choral works and poetry by old romantics and young lovers, Kantos will melt your heart with love songs – no crooning though, promise!

The concert features works by contemporary composers Derri Joseph Lewis, Alex Groves, and Mari Esabel Valverde, who all share fresh perspectives on LGBTQ+ lives and lovers.

Come celebrate love, loving and being loved. After all, love is all you need.

This concert is BSL interpreted by leading British Sign Language interpreter of classical music, Paul Whittaker OBE

Dreams by Mystery Ensemble – Manchester

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, Family, New Work
Tags: Hayao Miyazaki, Mystery Ensemble

Sunday, 18 February 2024 6:00 pm at The Stoller Hall Hunts Bank Manchester
Sunday, 25 February 2024 7:00 pm at The Stoller Hall Hunts Bank Manchester

GET TICKETS

The Miyazaki Dreams concert is an immersion in the fabulous atmosphere of the films of the world-famous Japanese director and Oscar winner Hayao Miyazaki. Mystery Ensemble has collected magical music from his cartoons and compositions inspired by his creations.

The evening programme includes renowned works composed by ingenious Joe Hisaishi, including My Neighbor Totoro, the legendary movie Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle in the Sky and others. The programme also includes works by other composers inspired by Miyazaki’s artworks.

Musical themes will take viewers into famous anime stories’ atmosphere and introduce brave heroines, magical creatures and characters inspired by Japanese folklore.

Cross Currents: Her Ensemble – Birmingham

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: errollyn wallen, Her Ensemble, joanna borrett, sasha scott

Saturday, 24 February 2024, 7:30 pm 9:00 pm at Elgar Concert Hall Bramall Music Building, Birmingham University Birmingham, B15 2TT

GET TICKETS

Between a majestic sunrise and a blinding starburst, Her Ensemble opens CrossCurrents 2024 with a star-encrusted concert of music by women, performed by female and non-binary musicians. Errollyn Wallen’s Concerto Grosso places a spotlight on the extraordinary talent within the ensemble with dazzling step-out solos.

We’ll also hear the world premieres of two new works by Sasha Scott and Joanna Borrett. Sasha Scott’s piece, a CrossCurrents commission, follows her meteoric rise with commissions from the likes of Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, and Beijing Music Festival Arts Foundation, and Joanna Borrett’s work will entwine classical and folk influences for string orchestra.

Total Immersion: Missy Mazzoli – Barbican, London

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians, Workshop
Tags: barbican centre, missy mazzoli

Sunday, 25 February 2024, 11:00 am 9:00 pm at Barbican Centre Silk Street London, England

GET TICKETS

Pianist, visionary, musical dramatist and Grammy-nominated composer, Missy Mazzoli has been called “the 21st century’s gatecrasher of new classical music”. She’s an artist for whom the personal is political, and in whose hands the intimate stories of modern America take on an epic scale and a global significance. “With each work, I endeavour to provide a new language for thoughts and feelings we suppress in everyday life” she says – “to provide space in which we can process the overwhelming nature of the world”. With participation from the composer herself, this Total Immersion day explores the whole range of her work: a close encounter with one of the most singular – and potent – voices of the new millennium.

The Nature of Why – Plymouth

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Experimental, Family, Festivals, New Work, Workshop
Tags: paraorchestra, richard feynman, will gregory

Friday, 1 March 2024, 7:30 pm at Theatre Royal Plymouth Royal Parade Plymouth, England, PL1
Saturday, 2 March 2024, 4:00 pm at Theatre Royal Plymouth Royal Parade Plymouth, England, PL1

GET TICKETS

Playfully fusing live orchestral music with contemporary dance, The Nature of Why blurs the divide between performer and audience for an experience bursting with passion and joyous intensity.

“This isn’t a performance you simply see or hear. It’s one you feel” Bristol 24/7

Created by ParaOrchestra, with a cinematic score by Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory, The Nature of Why takes inspiration from the unconventional curiosity of theoretical physicist Richard Feynman and his search for meaning in the world around us.

Audiences join performers on the Lyric stage and are invited to explore the constantly shifting action, seeking out their own unique encounters, resulting in an epic and immersive theatrical experience like no other.

Mothers In Music All Dayer – Bristol

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Educational, Experimental, Family, Masterclasses, New Work, Opera, Women musicians
Tags: alice ballantine dykes, emma butterworth, mothers in music

Thursday, 7 March 2024, 12:00 pm 11:00 pm at The Mount Without Upper Church Lane Bristol, England, BS2

GET TICKETS

This incredible all-day event showcases the many talented women in the Mothers in Music network, hosted by MAMA Coaching. Rachael Dadd, Beth Rowley, Jenny Lindfors, J*M*A, and Rita Lynch will be joined by Rioghnach Connolly (The Breath, Honeyfeet), and DJs Natalie Littleton and Sarah Hulme. Conversations will be led by Alice Ballantine Dykes, founder of MAMA Coaching.

Across a broad spectrum of musical genre, we are building a platform that enables these mothers to remain visible, valued and celebrated in the music industry. The evening will also host the first performance of extracts from a new Bristol opera from composer Emma Butterworth.

We will have a social in the Crypt between the daytime and evening performances (5.30 – 7) where we will offer the chance to discuss our network, and how we aim to remove barriers for mothers in the music industry.

Children are welcome during the daytime and social events. Limited numbers of FREE tickets are available for children up to 11 years of age. This will be family friendly, with breastfeeding and buggy parking spaces available.

Mishima by Philip Glass – Bristol Ensemble Contemporary

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: anna thorvaldsdottir, arnolfini centre, bristol ensemble, philip glass

March 14, 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm, Arnolfini 16 Narrow Quay, Bristol, United Kingdom
Spectra Anna Thorvaldsdottir
Stringsongs Meredith Monk
Reflections Anna Thorvaldsdottir
String Quartet No.3 ‘Mishima’ Philip Glass
An hour of contemporary music for string quartet, exploring timescales in human memory and the natural environment.
String Quartet No.3 by Philip Glass forms the core of the programme, with the mesmerising cross rhythms and hypnotic quality for which the composer is so well known. Based on music Glass wrote for a film based on the life of Japanese author Yukio Mishima, this short quartet references moments in the writer’s life.

Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s work is deeply inspired by the elemental landscapes of her native country. Her work for strings explores primordial textures, combining emotional intensity with glacial stasis.

A pioneer of interdisciplinary art, for over five decades, Meredith Monk has worked across composition, performance, choreography and direction. She has developed a unique style which links the archaic with the experimental. Stringsongs was written for the Kronos Quartet in 2005, and has been described by critic Tom Service as having a ‘mysterious mythic power’.

GET TICKETS

The Land of Lost Content

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Song
Tags: roderick williams, st george the martyr

Thursday 11 April, 7.00pm at St George the Martyr, Borough High Street, London.

Renowned baritone Roderick Williams OBE captured the heart of the nation performing at the coronation of King Charles III. Here he joins forces with acclaimed musicians Iain Burnside (piano) and Leon Bosch (double bass) for a recital of songs including Butterworth’s Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad, works by Amy Beach and Rebecca Clarke, and Grant McLachlan’s The silence of the day for baritone, double bass and piano. The evening is hosted by the church referenced by Dickens in Little Dorrit and will also feature a short performance by Emerald Choir, conducted by Clare Caddick.

BUY TICKETS

George Butterworth – 6 Songs from A Shropshire Lad
William Denis Browne – Arabia
Amy Woodforde-Finden – Kashmiri Song
Amy Beach – The Moon-path
Rebecca Clarke – The Seal Man
Harry Thacker Burleigh – 5 Songs of Laurence Hope
Grant McLachlan – The Silence of the Day
Arthur Somervell – A Shropshire Lad

Roderick Williams – baritone
Iain Burnside – piano
Leon Bosch – double bass

SongEasel

Einaudi meets Vaughan Williams!

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Family, New Work
Tags: bristol ensemble, einaudi, vaughan williams

Saturday 18 May, 7.30pm at St Andrew’s Church, Backwell, North Somerset, BS48 3JJ

BOOK TICKETS

Bristol Ensemble perform –
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending, Greensleeves
Ludovico Einaudi Primavera, Petricor, Devenire, I Giorni
Max Richter On the Nature of Daylight
Astor Piazzolla Summer

The evocative and atmospheric nature-inspired music of Einaudi and Vaughan Williams come together in this stunning Spring concert.

The Lark Ascending is one of Britain’s best-loved pieces of classical music, capturing the character of the English countryside inhabited by the sky lark.

The natural world is also beautifully depicted by the works of Ludovico Einaudi as he takes us through Spring, the evocative Petricor (smell of rain), and I Giorni – ‘In the Days, Our Life’.

Max Richter’s hauntingly beautiful On the Nature of Daylight and Astor Piazzolla’s pulsating tango Summer conclude a fascinating emotional and uplifting programme of music.

Tickets £20 for adults, £10 for under 25 year olds

Kleio Quartet – Hattori Foundation

Date:
Categories: New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: 1901 Arts Club, kleio quartet, wynton marsalis

Wednesday 22 May, 7.00pm at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Joseph Haydn – String Quartet no.27 in D major, Op.20 no.4, Hob III:34
Wynton Marsalis – Quartet no.1 ‘At the Octoroon Balls’: Excerpts

Performers
Yume Fujise – violin
Katherine Yoon – violin
Jenny Lewisohn – viola
Eliza Millett – Cello

Kleio Quartet

The Kleio Quartet is a current Hattori Foundation Senior Award Winner.

This performance forms part of the Hattori Foundation early evening concert series. This is a very friendly series, in true Salon-style, where guests are invited to enjoy a pre-concert drink included in the ticket price, a one-hour performance (without interval) and then meet the performers and Trustees in the Club’s bar after each recital for complimentary refreshments.

Gavin Bryars Double Bill

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work
Tags: 1904 Arts Club, bristol ensemble, gavin bryars

Friday 24 May, 7.00pm at 1904 Arts Club, The Red Lodge, Park Row, Bristol, BS1 5LJ

BOOK TICKETS

Bristol Ensemble performs The Sinking of the Titanic by British minimalist composer Gavin Bryars. The work was inspired by the story that the band on the RMS Titanic continued to perform as the ship sank in 1912 and imagines how the music performed by the band would reverberate through the water some time after they ceased performing.

Composed between 1969 and 1972, the work is now considered one of the classics of British classical experimental music. It was first recorded in 1975 when it became the first release on Brian Eno’s Obscure Records.

The programme includes Bryars’ arrangement of the religious song Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet which he heard in London in 1971 whilst working on a film about people living rough in the area around Elephant and Castle and Waterloo Station. In the course of being filmed, some people broke into drunken song – sometimes bits of opera, sometimes sentimental ballads – and one, who in fact did not drink, sang the song Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.

The programme includes the world premiere of Marcus Davidson’s Felefantasi, a work inspired by the Norwegian Fele, the way it’s played (technique wise) and the music written for it.

Tickets £20 for adults, £15 for students in full time education and under 25 year olds

Salomon Orchestra 60th Birthday Concert

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Festivals, New Work, Premiere performance
Tags: elgar, martyn brabbins, salomon orchestra, st johns smith square

Saturday 1 June, 7.30pm at St John’s Smith Square, Smith Square, City of Westminster, London, SW1P 3HA

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Martyn Brabbins – A Birthday Greeting
Modest Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
Edward Elgar – Symphony no.1 in A flat major, Op.55

Performers
Martyn Brabbins – Conductor
Michal Oren – Conductor

Salomon Orchestra

Salomon’s 60th Birthday Concert.

Widely regarded as one of London’s finest amateur orchestras, Salomon is pleased to be joined by our President, Martyn Brabbins, and the young, prizewinning conductor Michal Oren in celebrating our 60th season.

Michal will conduct a fanfare specially written for us by Martyn Brabbyns and Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. In the second half, Martyn will conduct Elgar’s First Symphony.

Four New Short Operas

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Family, Festivals, New Work, Opera
Tags: anderson, buttler, dunn, JAMfestival, new eork, opera, thornton

Saturday 13 July, 3.00pm at St Nicholas’ Church, New Romney

BOOK TICKETS

Ceferina Penny (soprano)
Angela Dorin-Barlow (mezzo-soprano)
Benedict Munden (tenor)
James Emerson (baritone)
Travis Bloom (piano)

World premiere new short opera – Toby Anderson
World premiere new short opera – Jago Thornton
World premiere new short opera – Roseanna Dunn
World premiere new short opera – Sam Buttler

Derek Jarman has been a major influence on this year’s JAM Composers’ Residency: Writing for Opera. Four composers have spent two weeks writing 15-minute operas to new libretti by Grahame Davies, based on Jarman’s life and films. Part of this included spending a day writing at Prospect Cottage, Jarman’s famous Dungeness home. Come and hear these new works, commemorating the great film director’s life.

This concert is part of JAM on the Marsh festival, running from 4-14 July on Kent’s Romney Marsh.

Classic Cornwall

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: Classic Cornwall, Jason Carr, Saint Columb, York Bowen

Tuesday 27th August, 7.30pm St Columb Major Parish Church, 3 Market Place, Saint Columb, Cornwall, TR9 6AN.

BUY TICKETS

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Divertimento in B flat major, K.254
Gustav Mahler – Piano Quartet in A minor
York Bowen – Clarinet Sonata, Op.109
Gabriel Fauré – Fantaisie, Op.79
Ralph Vaughan Williams – 6 Studies in English folksong
Jason Carr – Winter in Sherwood

Performers
Alec Forshaw – bassoon
Mark Lacey – clarinet
Janna Huneke – flute
Paul Guinery – piano

The first of three concerts, featuring solo items for flute, bassoon and clarinet with piano. A diverse range of musical eras will be explored using combinations of all 4 instruments.

Future Voices – RSCM Millennium Youth Choir

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: Future Voices, Octagon Chapel

Saturday 31 August, 1.15pm at Octagon Chapel, Colegate, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1BN.

FREE EVENT with retiring collection

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina – Magnificat quarti toni
Richard Dering – Ave virgo gloriosa
Benjamin Britten – Rejoice in the Lamb, Op.30
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Valiant-for-truth
Grayston Ives – Magnificat (Edington Service)

Performers
RSCM Millennium Youth Choir

Programme Note
Founded in 1999, the RSCM’s Millennium Youth Choir is a chamber choir for young singers aged 16 to 23. With a light but intense annual programme, the choir sings at cathedrals and churches across the country, most recently at Durham and Newcastle Cathedrals. The choir sings music of all styles and periods, from plainchant and the music of the Renaissance masters to Herbert Howells and new contemporary compositions.

Find out more https://www.rscm.org.uk/learn-with-us/rscm-choirs/millennium-youth-choir/

Elua Percussion Duo

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: elua percussion duo, koshinski, regents hall, trevino, zivkovic

Friday 6 September, 1.00pm at Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, Mayfair, London, W1C 2DJ.

Free admission: booking line – 07973 173583

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – Flight of the Bumble Bee (arr. Max Leth)
Gene Koshinski – As One
Bricusse and Newley – Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: Pure Imagination
Emmanuel Sejourne – Khasmin
Harold Arlen – Over the Rainbow (arr. elua)
Nebojsa Zivkovic – Duo Per Uno
Ivan Trevino – 2+1
Frank Zappa – O Duo (arr. Bongo Fury)
Performers

Heledd Gwynant – Percussion
Jess Wood – Percussion

Elua – Percussion Duo

elua is a female percussion duo based in London. Heledd Gwynant and Jess Wood are both freelance musicians who formed elua – percussion duo in 2021 after they met as students at the Royal College of Music.

Celebrating Black History Month

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: 1901 Arts Club Waterloo, black history month, waha hasegawa

Thursday 3 October, 7.00pm at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE

GET TICKETS

Margaret Bonds – Troubled Water
Leslie Adams – Etude in C sharp minor
George Walker – Sonata no.2
Oswald Russel – Papillons
Julia Perry – Prelude for piano
Joshua Uzoigwe – Talking Drums: Egwu Amala
Robert Nathaniel Dett – Magnolia
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Three-Fours (Valse Suite), Op.71

Performers
Waka Hasegawa – piano

Programme Note

Join us for an inspiring recital in honour of Black History Month, featuring an award winning pianist Waka Hasegawa.

Celebrate the extraordinary musical contributions and achievements of Black composers through a thoughtfully curated programme. Experience the soulful rhythms of spirituals and the innovative harmonies of modern masterpieces, showcasing the profound impact of Black musicians on classical and contemporary music.

This heartfelt tribute promises to be an unforgettable evening, highlighting the vibrant creativity and enduring legacy of Black composers.

The Fidelio Trio

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: david gompper, fidelio trio, morgan hayes

Thursday 10 October, 7.00pm at King Charles the Martyr, London Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 1YX

GET TICKETS

Gabriel Fauré – Piano Trio in D minor, Op.120
David Gompper – Stela Celi
Morgan Hayes – Trans-pose
Franz Schubert – Piano Trio in B flat major, D.898

Performers
Tim Gill – Cello
Darragh Morgan – violin
Mary Dullea – piano

Fidelio Trio

Programme Note
The …’virtuosic Fidelio Trio’… (Sunday Times) are Darragh Morgan (violin), Tim Gill (cello) and Mary Dullea (piano). Shortlisted for the 2016 Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards, The Fidelio Trio broadcast regularly on BBC Radio 3, RTÉ Lyric FM, WQXR, and have been featured on a Sky Arts documentary.

Eternity in an Hour

Date:
Categories: New Work, Song, Women musicians
Tags: bhagavad gita, holywell music room, jess dandy, keval shah

Tuesday 15 October, 6.30pm at Holywell Music Room, Holywell Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 3SD.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Reena Esmail – Settings of Sanskrit verses from the Bhagavad Gita

Performers
Jess Dandy – contralto
Keval Shah – piano

Indian and Western philosophies converse in tonight’s recital, in a fusion of cultures, perspectives and soundscapes. Commissioned for this year’s Festival, Indian- American composer Reena Esmail’s settings of Sanskrit verses from the Bhagavad Gita draw out the essence of Vedantic thought, and are interspersed with music from the canon of Lied repertoire, highlighting the ways in which Western and Eastern philosophies converge and diverge. Two outstanding artists join forces for this unique reimagining of India’s most celebrated and influential scripture, and its fascinating relationship with European poetry and music.

Darragh Morgan & Mary Dullea

Date:
Categories: Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: conway hall, darrah morgan, mary dullea

Sunday 20th October, 6.30pm at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Camden, London, WC1R 4RL

GET TICKETS

Programme
Arvo Pärt – Fratres
Deirdre McKay – a quarter million miles from the moon
Hannah Kendall – A Winged Spirit
Evis Sammoutis – Monogenesis
Chick Corea – Children’s Songs: nos. 7, 16, 19 & 18
Cesar Franck – Violin Sonata in A major

Performers
Darragh Morgan – violin
Mary Dullea – piano

For this special concert, as part of Bloomsbury Festival, Darragh Morgan and Mary Dullea explore themes of ‘human’ qualities and ‘kindness’ in their programme.

Musical art is a force that inspires and connects humankind, evoking our desire to create artistic expression. Plato said music gives soul to the universe.

Reflecting on ‘human’ qualities and ‘kindness’, Darragh Morgan (violin) and Mary Dullea (piano) have created a programme that teases out the fantastical and the familial. The title of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres translates as ‘brothers’. César Franck’s Violin and Piano Sonata is one of the giants of the repertoire and was composed as a wedding gift for the ‘King of the Violin’, Eugène Ysäye. It is a work with an inventive structure and cyclic form, themes reappearing in later movements, and a central Recitativo-Fantasia movement. ‘Human Kind’ in terms of our relation to the universe and coming into being is explored in Deirdre McKay’s a quarter million miles from the moon and Evis Sammoutis’s Monogenesis. Hannah Kendall’s A Winged Spirit and a set of Chick Corea’s inimitable Children’s Songs complete this journey.

The London Festival of American Music

Date:
Categories: Concerts, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: London Festival of American Music, lontano, odaline de la martinez

Monday 11 November, 7.30pm at The Warehouse, 13 Theed Street, Lambeth, London, SE1 8ST

FIND OUT MORE

Programme
William Dougherty – A Stillness of Zero Sensation
Rajasekar Sruthi – I Saw You and I Danced | Dagian a Deux
de la Martinez Odaline – Canciones
Einbond Aaron – String Trio
Ogonek Elizabeth – Falling Up
Thomas Davis Daniel – New Commission

Performers
Samantha Ege – Compere
Odaline de la Martinez – Conductor
Amber Fasquelle – mezzo-soprano

Programme Note
Our opening event features performances of American composers that studied in the UK as Marshall Scholars, many of whom have already made their mark in the world of music: William Dougherty, Sruthi Rajasekar, Aaron Einbond, Daniel Thomas Davis, Odaline de la Martinez and Elizabeth Ogonek – who was awarded a prize by the Royal Philharmonic Society.

Visions of the Eternal

Date:
Categories: Choral, Concerts, New Work
Tags: jessica norton, london concord singers, st martin-within-lugate

Thursday 12th December, 7.30pm at St Martin-within-Ludgate, 40 Ludgate Hill, City of London, London, EC4M 7DE.

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Richard Quesnel – For the Fallen
Arnold Bax – Mater ora filium
Emma Brown – Sweet Was the Song
William Byrd – This day Christ was born
Bob Chilcott – Advent Antiphons
Edward Elgar – Lux Aeterna (Nimrod)
Ola Gjeilo – Ubi caritas
Johann Sebastian Bach – Mass in B minor: Dona Nobis Pacem
Ivo Antognini – Lux Aeterna
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Requiem in D Minor: Lacrimosa
Felix Mendelssohn – Richte mich, Gott (Psalm 43), Op.78 no.2

Performers
Jessica Norton – Conductor

London Concord Singers
Programme Note

A concert that moves from the considerations of eternal life, to the coming of Christ heralded by Advent, with Bob Chilcott’s Advent Antiphons, Ola Gjeilo’s Ubi Caritas, and music by Richard Quesnel, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Antognini, Bach, Elgar, Byrd and Emma Brown culminating in Bax’s magnificent and magisterial Mater Ora Filium

Illuminate – NYO

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work
Tags: jaime martin, national youth orchestra, nielsen, ravel, royal concert hall nottingham

Monday 6th January 2025, 7.00pm at Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG1 5ND

BOOK TICKETS – TEENS GO FREE!

Programme
Maurice Ravel – Boléro
Anna Thorvaldsdottir – Catamorphosis
~ Interval ~
Carl Nielsen – Symphony no.4, Op.29

Performers
Jaime Martín – Conductor

National Youth Orchestra

Programme Note
The National Youth Orchestra shines a light on the brilliance, passion and musical potential of a new generation.

Experience the Orchestra perform Ravel’s Boléro, a masterpiece of orchestration and evolving textures.

Immerse yourself in Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis, a sonic journey through nature, brought to life by the glimmering power of the Orchestra.

Discover the drama and grandeur of Nielsen’s Symphony No. 4, a bold and imaginative work that radiates the passion of every performer on stage. As Nielsen once said: “Music is life”, and you’ll feel it in every note.

Play your part in supporting a new generation of musicians, as the Orchestra of 2025 perform together for the first time. Tickets are Free for Teens.

Treske Quartet

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: conway hall, treske quartet

Sunday 12 January 2025, 6.30pm at Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Camden, London, WC1R 4RL

GET TICKETS

Programme
Pyotr Tchaikovsky – String Quartet no.1 in D major, Op.11
Claire Victoria-Roberts – Elasticity
Andrew Norman – An Index of Peculiar Strokes
Maurice Ravel – String Quartet in F major

Performers
Treske Quartet

Programme Note
The Treske Quartet are an emerging ensemble based in Manchester, UK. Increasingly in demand in the UK and abroad, recent engagements include the Ryedale Festival, Llandeilo International Music Festival, Buxton Recital Series and the New Generation Festival. Their Conway Hall programme to open our 2025 series is book-ended by two classics of the canon and between them, an opportunity to hear some exciting music by two leading composers of the new generation.

“The Treske Quartet concluded their debut Conway Hall recital with the piece, mustering all the impassioned intensity needed… their sound is meticulously blended, aided by the hall’s excellent acoustic.” — The Guardian

Love Lives Beyond the Tomb

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work, Song, Young Musicians
Tags: claire hebbershaw, countertenor, james laing, nico muhly, waterloo

Wednesday 5 February, 7.30pm at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE

GET TICKETS

Programme
Russell Pascoe – This England
Nico Muhly – Old Bones
Ian Venables – At the Court of the Poisoned Rose
Herbert Howells – King David
Herbert Howells – Once at leisure
Gerald Finzi – To Lizbie Browne
Ian Venables – Little Old Cupid
Herbert Howells – Siciliana
Ian Venables – Two Songs, Op.28: ‘Flying Crooked’ and ‘At Midnight’
Gerald Finzi – The Clock of the Years
Herbert Howells – The Chosen Tune
Gerald Finzi – In a Churchyard
Ian Venables – Love Lives Beyond the Tomb
Gerald Finzi – Proud Songsters

Performers
James Laing – Counter tenor
Claire Habbershaw – piano

Programme Note
Join us for an enchanting evening celebrating the lyrical beauty of British art song, presented by The Herbert Howells Society.

Experience the music of Howells, Finzi, and Venables in a fresh, captivating way, with a rare counter tenor voice breathing new life into these English masterpieces.

Curated by Claire Habbershaw, this second concert in her series of British composers spotlights both beloved and lesser-known treasures, blending exquisite art song with solo piano gems. This recital will include the world premiere of a song by Ian Venables too!

Whether you’re a classical aficionado or a curious newcomer, prepare to be moved by the depth and elegance of this extraordinary recital.

Lunchtime Concert: CoLab Presentations

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Educational, Experimental, New Work, Premiere performance, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: old royal naval college, trinity-laban

Friday 14 February, 1.05pm at The Chapel – Old Royal Naval College, 2 Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich, London, SE10 9NN.

Free admission – no booking required

A presentation of Trinity-Laban student-led and devised projects, all put together within a week of creativity and innovation.

Richard Barrett & Milana Zarić

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: composing electronics, milana zaric, richard barrett

Wednesday 26th February 2025, 6:00 PM at Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, The School of Music, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT.

GET TICKETS

Richard Barrett – Pektis
Richard Barrett – Restless Horizon
Milana Zarić – Ignis
Richard Barrett – Hylozoon
Milana Zarić – Grottesche
Performers

Richard Barrett – electronics
Milana Zarić – acoustic and electric harps / electronics / voice

Richard Barrett (electronics) Milana Zarić (acoustic and electric harps, electronics, voice)

Richard Barrett – pektis (vocalising harpist)
Richard Barrett & Milana Zarić – restless horizon (electric harp & electronics)
Milana Zarić – ignis (harp and fixed media)
Richard Barrett – hylozoon (electronics)
Richard Barrett & Milana Zarić – grottesche (acoustic & electric harps & electronics)

At the centre of this programme is the idea of extending an ancient instrument into new territories. The title of Richard Barrett’s pektis invokes the ancient Greek harp, with the player singing a fragmentary text by Sappho. The two collaborative compositions by Milana Zarić and Richard Barrett add electric harp and live processing to expand and multiply the instrument further. Grottesche invokes a tradition of paintings based on symmetrical configurations of human-organic-architectural hybrid images, originating in the Roman empire and flowering in the Renaissance, with references to 16th century music. These are complemented by Milana Zarić’s own electric harp piece ignis and Richard Barrett’s solo piece hylozoon for his own keyboard/computer instrument.

Belle Chen – Ravel in the Forest

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Premiere performance
Tags: Belle Chen, ravel, Tung Auditorium

Sunday 9 March, 4.00pm at Tung Auditorium, 60 Oxford Street, Liverpool, L7 3NY

GET TICKETS

Belle Chen – Ravel In The Forest

Performers

Phil Meadows – Musical Director
Eldred Chris – piano
Mike De Souza – guitar
Belle Chen – piano
Seayool . – voice

Engines Orchestra Strings

Programme Note
In just a couple of weeks, remarkable pianist and composer Belle Chen brings her unique, immersive live performance to The Tung Auditorium, reimagining her whimsical album Ravel In The Forest with award-winning Engines Orchestra Strings. Presented in an innovative surround audio format, this special performance will sonically transform The Tung Auditorium.

Fresh off the 2024 EFG London Jazz Festival, Belle’s sonic explorations, classical virtuosity, and free flowing improvisations feels equally at home on jazz, classical and experimental stages. The Australian Music Prize-nominated artist’s latest album also charted at #7 on UK Official Charts (Classical).

“Original and provocative… feels like the sense of discovery” – Brian Eno

ConcertLab: 360°

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Educational, Experimental, Family, New Work
Tags: aulis sallinen, camille pepin, grace-evangeline mason, matthew hindson, samuel barber, sinfonia smith square

Thursday 20 March, 7.00pm at Smith Square Hall, Smith Square, City of Westminster, London SW1P 3HA

GET TICKETS

Programme
Samuel Barber – Summer Music, Op.31
Aulis Sallinen – Sunrise Serenade
Camille Pepin – Avant les clartes de l’aurore / Before the light of dawn
Matthew Hindson – Light Music: ‘A Single Match’
Grace-Evangeline Mason – Midnight Spires
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Serenade in C minor, K.388/384a: Allegro
Joaquín Turina – Scene Andalouse: ‘Crepuscular’

Performers
Sinfonia Smith Square

Programme Note
Step inside a 360 degree world of music.

In an experience that places you at the heart of the music, immerse yourself in a surround-sound chamber music concert where the music isn’t confined to a stage, but envelops you. Where each note comes alive and draws you into the centre of the performance.

Embark on a journey, from the warmth of a summer afternoon (Barber), through the fading light of sunset and twilight (Turina), to a lively night-time celebration (Mozart), a walk home through a midnight city (Mason), the soft glow of a flickering match illuminating the night’s calm (Hindson), the first light of dawn (Pepin), and finally, the arrival of sunrise (Sallinen).

Expect an evening full of musical discovery.

The Choral Pilgrimage 2025: Liverpool – Angel of Peace

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: Anna Clyne, choral pilgrimage, harry christophers, sarah sexton, the sixteen, will todd

Friday 4 April, 7.30pm at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5TQ

GET TICKETS

Programme
Hildegard of Bingen – Ave Generosa
Arvo Pärt – Tribute to Caesar
Will Todd – I shall be an angel of peace
John Taverner – Gaude plurimum
Hildegard of Bingen – Ave Generosa
Arvo Pärt – Da pacem Domine
Anna Clyne – Orbits (New commission, world premiere)
Arvo Pärt – Magnificat
John Taverner – O splendor gloriae

Performers
Sarah Sexton – violin
The Sixteen

Programme Note
A programme for inner peace, combining medieval sounds with the contemporary voices of Arvo Pärt, Will Todd and Anna Clyne.

Scottish Ensemble – Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work
Tags: donald grant, emily doolittle, james mcmillan, martin suckling, queens hall, scottish ensemble

Sunday 13th April 2025, 7:30 PM, Queen’s Hall, 85-89 Clerk Street, Newington, Edinburgh, EH8 9JG, Scotland .

GET TICKETS

Programme
Donald Grant – Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn / The Night Overtook Us
Martin Suckling – Postcards: Touch; In Memoriam
~ Interval ~
James MacMillan – For Sonny
Emily Doolittle – Falling Still
Performers

Scottish Ensemble

Programme Note
There are a number of works including the above. The 120 minute performance has an interval.

Composer and fiddle player Donald Grant grew up immersed in traditional music in a small village in the Highlands, and it was here that he realised his passion for gathering with others to share a love of music-making.

Following memorable performances during Celtic Connections 2024 and 2025, Donald joins Scottish Ensemble musicians once again for an evening of friendship and musical storytelling. Oral tradition is at the heart(h) of this evening which features the vocals of Gaelic singer Mishca Macpherson and performances by Innes White (guitar), Tom Gibbs (piano), Euan Burton (double bass) and Calum Stewart (uilleann pipes).

They come together to perform traditional tunes, a selection of contemporary Scottish string music and Donald’s work Thuit an Oidhche Oirnn (The Night Overtook Us).

Come and Sing with John Rutter

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Festivals, Masterclasses, New Work
Tags: choirs, Hereford Cathedral School, Rutter

Saturday 10 May, 11.00am at Holy Trinity Church, Whitecross Road, Hereford, Herefordshire, HR4 0DU

GET TICKETS

John Rutter – Look To The Day
John Rutter – Sacred Choruses
John Rutter – The Lord bless you and keep you
Performers

John Rutter – Conductor

Programme Note
As part of Hereford Cathedral School’s Music Maker series, John visits Hereford to lead a Come & Sing Workshop Day. In this workshop, John will lead singers through some of his best-loved compositions and share some of the tales of his formidable career!

Iconoclassics: Minimalist Stories with Waka Hasegawa

Date:
Categories: Festivals, New Work, Premiere performance, Women musicians
Tags: Cafe Yukari, minimalist composers, philip glass, Waka Hasegawa

Friday 23 May, 7.30, at Neighbourhood Cafe Yukari, 110 North Road, Kew, London, TW9 4HJ

GET TICKETS

Programme
Philip Glass – Piano Etudes: selection
Arvo Pärt – Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka
Steve Reich – Piano Counterpoint (arr. Vincent Corver)
JOE Hisaishi – Dawn Flight (Etude – A Wish to the Moon)

Performers
Waka Hasegawa – piano

Programme Note
Pianist Waka Hasegawa makes her ICONOCLASSICS debut at Cafe Yukari with a programme exploring minimalist music by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Arvo Pärt and Joe Hisaishi, paired with Preludes by J S Bach.

***

Café Yukari is an intimate, friendly venue close to Kew Gardens tube station. Concert-goers enjoy high-quality classical music in a convivial setting and a chance to mingle with other music lovers and meet the artists. Plus authentic Japanese food and a beautiful Fazioli grand piano!

A Celebration of English Wind Music

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work
Tags: adam broughton, dorchester abbey, martin ellerby, st cat's ensemble

Sunday 25 May, 1.30pm, at Dorchester Abbey, High Street, Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH.

GET TICKETS

Programme
John Ireland – A Maritime Overture
Martin Ellerby – Wessex Dances
Percy Grainger – Lincolnshire Posy
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on Greensleeves
Gustav Holst – Second Suite for Military Band, Op.28 no.2
Jacob Gordon – An Original Suite

Performers
Adam Broughton – Conductor

St Cat’s Ensemble

Programme Note
The English Music Festival celebrates the brilliance, innovation, beauty and rich musical heritage of Britain with a strong focus on unearthing overlooked or forgotten masterpieces of the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century.

St Cat’s Ensemble take their name from St Catherine’s Hill in Winchester, near to where they are based. A Platinum award-winner at the 2023 National Concert Band Finals, they are the inaugural wind band to perform at the EMF. Their programme includes the UK premiere of Martin Ellerby’s ‘Wessex Dances’, as well as other British compositions for wind band from the late nineteenth century onwards.

Tickets are on sale from the website and by means of a postal booking form. Tickets for individual concerts will also be available on the door, subject to availability. Full Festival and Day Passes are also available.

Dorchester Abbey is the venue for the duration of the long weekend with talks taking place in the Village Hall as well as a Festival Lunch (pre-booking required). A dedicated mini-bus shuttle operates to/from Didcot Parkway rail station – bookings should be made via the website when the timetable is published.

Shadows of War

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Festivals, Free, New Work
Tags: frank bridge, piano quartet, rebecca clarke, romsey abbey, ww1

Tuesday 3 June, 1.00pm at Romsey Abbey, The Abbey, Romsey, Hampshire, SO51 8EP

FREE ADMISSION

Programme
Frank Bridge – Cello Sonata, H.125
Claude Debussy – Violin Sonata in G minor, L.148
Rebecca Clarke – Morpheus, God of Dreams
Performers

Lydia Hillerudh – Cello
Ziteng Fan – piano
Kyungsik Shin – viola
Emma Roijackers – violin

Programme Note
This free event in collaboration with Romsey Abbey Lunchtime Recital Series features Debussy’s evocative Violin Sonata and Bridge’s emotionally rich Cello Sonata both written during and in response to World War 1.

Scottish Ensemble: Concerts for a Summer’s Night

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: errollyn wallen, heloise werner, perth, scottish ensemble

Monday 9th June 2025, 8:00 PM at Rossie on the Earn, Farmhall Farm, Forgandenny, Perth, PH2 9HR, Scotland

GET TICKETS

Programme
Antanas Rekašius – Music for Strings no.2: I Allegro molto espressivo
Barbara Strozzi – Arie, Op.8: ‘Che si puo fare’
Gilles Binchois – Selection of Chansons (arr. Lisa Illean)
Errollyn Wallen – Tree
Héloïse Werner – Unspecified Intensions (arr. Alexander/Werner)
Héloïse Werner – Lullaby for a sister (arr. Alexander/Werner)
Igor Stravinsky – Concerto in D ‘Basel’: Rondo
Julie Pinel – Sombres lieux (arr. Marianne Schofield)
Julie Pinel – Cantatille (arr. Marianne Schofield)
Maurice Ravel – Petite Symphonie à Cordes: Movement 2 (arr. Rudolf Barshai)
Pauline Viardot – Berceuse
Tom Coult – Prelude (after Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe)

Performers
Héloïse Werner – Voice

Scottish Ensemble

Programme Note
Our annual summer concerts bring vibrant music to open, light-filled venues across Scotland. This year we are joined by singer and composer Héloïse Werner – “a soprano of extraordinary range, tone and vocal abilities, possessing a seemingly inexhaustible expressive range” (Gramophone).

Héloïse’s vocals and our musicians’ playing will meld to create a bright and vivid sound world that will take listeners on an odyssey through beautifully evocative arrangements of Baroque songs to Héloïse’s own dramatic and playful works.

Tenebrae Choir: A Prayer for Deliverance Album Launch

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: a prayer for deliverance, cecilia mcdowall, john tavener, st james's piccadilly, tenebrae

Thursday 19th June 2025, 7:30 PM at St James’s Church, 197 Piccadilly, Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL, England

GET TICKETS

Programme
Gustav Holst – The Evening-Watch, Op.43 no.1
Cecilia McDowall – Standing as I do before God
Francis Pott – The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God
Caroline Shaw – And the Swallow
Richard Rodney Bennett – A Good-Night
Joel Thompson – A Prayer for Deliverance
~ Interval ~
John Tavener – Song for Athene
Robert Lucas Pearsall – Lay a Garland
Arthur Sullivan – The Long Day Closes
Herbert Howells – Requiem
William Henry Harris – Bring us, O Lord God

Performers
Tenebrae

Programme Note
Tenebrae are looking forward to this special launch concert for their new album, A Prayer for Deliverance, due to be released on Friday 20th June 2025. Expect a live performance of music from the album, along with the opportunity to purchase your own copy of the disc before it goes on public sale the following day.

Mixing iconic choral works with music by some of today’s most exciting composers, this varied programme is centred around themes of rest. Joel Thompson’s virtuosic new work is a particular highlight: written for 15 vocal parts, A Prayer for Deliverance (2021) perfectly showcases Tenebrae’s core values of passion and precision. The second half features Herbert Howells’ Requiem – surely one of the most moving works in the English choral repertoire.

Cappella Nova: Songs of Hope and Farewell

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Family, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: cappella nova, st luke's bath, tony shield

Saturday 28th June 2025, 7:30 PM at St Luke’s Church, Hatfield Road, Wellsway, Bath, Somerset, BA2 2BD, England

GET TICKETS

Programme
Benjamin Britten – Hymn to St Cecilia, Op.27
Sergei Rachmaninov – All-night Vigil (Vespers): Bogoroditse Devo
Morten Lauridsen – O magnum mysterium
James MacMillan – O Radiant Dawn
Ola Geilo – Ubi Caritas
Charles Villiers Stanford – Beati Quorum Via
Charles Villiers Stanford – Justorum Animae
Kerry Andrew – O Nata Lux
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry – Songs of Farewell: 1, My Soul there is a country
Eriks Esenvalds – Only in Sleep
Moses Hogan – Deep River
James Erb – Shenandoah
Undine Smith Moore – Daniel, Daniel.
Natalia Tsupryk – Tyhoyi Nochi
Charles Villiers Stanford – The Bluebird
Edward Elgar – The Saga of King Olaf: ‘As Torrents In Summer’
Ralph Vaughan Williams – The turtle dove

Performers
Tony Shield – Conductor
Cappella Nova, Bath

Programme Note
On 28th June Cappella Nova say farewell to Tony Shield, our conductor and musical director, who is retiring after 24 years of music-making with the choir.

In this special concert we mark Tony’s contribution with a programme based on some of our favourite music both serious and light-hearted, featuring a wide range of composers including Rachmaninov, Stanford, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Parry. The programme also includes Britten’s celebration of Saint Cecilia – the patron saint of music.

A charity concert in aid of the Genesis Trust

Four Corners – A journey through folk stories and songs

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Festivals, Folk music, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: cecil sharp house, dominic ellis-peckham, ellie gowers, kerry andrew, london oriana choir

Friday 4th July 2025, 7:30 PM at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regent’s Park Road, Camden, London, NW1 7AY, England

GET TICKETS

Programme
Will Lang – Hop-Picker’s Tragedy
Ken Johnston – Johnnie Cope
Niopha Keegan – Ye mariners
Susan Hill – Scarborough Fair
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Ca’ the Yowes
John Rutter – Dashing away with the smoothing iron
Ellie Gowers – The Stars are Ours
Michael McGlynn – Dulaman
Ben Parry – My Heart’s in the Highlands
Cecilia McDowall – A Fancy of Folksongs
Kerry Andrew – All things are quite silent

Performers
Dominic Ellis-Peckham – Conductor
Niopha Keegan – fiddle
Maz O’Connor – Singer
Will Lang – Percussion

London Oriana Choir

Programme Note
Join London Oriana Choir and special guests Will Lang, Niopha Keegan and Maz O’Connor for a unique collaboration on a journey through folk stories and songs from all four corners of these Isles.

Lonarc Oboe Trio

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: 1901 Arts Club, edwin roxburgh, lonarc oboe trio

Wednesday 23rd July 2025, 7:30 PM at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE

GET TICKETS

Programme
Edwin Roxburgh – Shadow-Play
Ludwig van Beethoven – Variations on ‘La ci darem la mano’ from Don Giovanni, WoO 28
Edwin Roxburgh – Raving Winds (2025)
Ludwig van Beethoven – Trio in C major, Op.87

Performers
Lonarc Oboe Trio

Programme Note
This concert is promoted by the Lonarc Foundation, a charity set up in 2017 to advance, improve, develop and maintain education in and appreciations of wind chamber music. By researching the lesser known eighteenth century double -reed Viennese/Bohemian wind chamber music, editing then publishing these scores ready for performance by the Lonarc musicians and then the wider public; by commissioning new wind chamber music pieces; by recording, pressing, promoting and selling of CD’s and streaming content, whilst also providing “free to public” tracks. To build the Lonarc Foundation so that is can continue to do its works for the many future generations to come.

All for the benefit of musicians, students and the general public.

The National Youth Orchestra – Beyond

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Family, New Work, Young Musicians
Tags: caroline shaw, Dalia Stasevska, john williams, national youth orchestra

Wednesday 6th August 2025, 7:30 PM at Symphony Hall, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2EA

GET TICKETS

Programme
John Williams – Star Wars
Gustav Holst – The Planets, Op.32
Caroline Shaw – The Observatory

Performers
Dalia Stasevska – Conductor

The National Youth Orchestra

Programme Note
Join The National Youth Orchestra for an unforgettable musical adventure through space and time.

Feel the force as 160 teenage musicians bring the most epic music from the Star Wars soundtrack to life.

Launch into the cosmos with Caroline Shaw’s The Observatory, where explosive sounds meet moments of calm.

Travel through the solar system with the Orchestra as they play The Planets, surrounding you with the infinite power of the universe.

Experience the thrill of live music as these extraordinary young musicians take you beyond the stars in a concert full of energy, emotion and awe-inspiring sound.

Don’t miss this cosmic journey!
The National Youth Orchestra

The Choral Pilgrimage 2025: Exeter Angel of Peace

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Festivals, New Work, Pre-concert event, Touring
Tags: Anna Clyne, exeter cathedral, harry christophers, sarah sexton, the sixteen

Saturday 20th September 2025, 7:30 PM Exeter Cathedral, 1 The Cloisters, Exeter, Devon, EX1 1HS.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Hildegard of Bingen – Ave Generosa
Arvo Pärt – Tribute to Caesar
Will Todd – I shall be an angel of peace
John Taverner – Gaude plurimum
Arvo Pärt – Da pacem Domine
Anna Clyne – Orbits (New commission, world premiere)
Arvo Pärt – Magnificat
John Taverner – O splendor gloriae

Performers
Harry Christophers – Conductor
Sarah Sexton – violin

The Sixteen

Programme Note
The Sixteen is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its annual Choral Pilgrimage tour. This year’s ‘Angel of Peace’ programme features nine pieces from across the centuries, from medieval abbess Hildegard of Bingen to the magical realm of a brand-new work by the contemporary composer Anna Clyne.

The Choral Workshop will be taking place at 9.30am in St Michael & All Angels Church (Mount Dinham). Led by Harry Bradford, this workshop provides an equally rewarding opportunity to explore the music inspired by The Sixteen’s 2025 Choral Pilgrimage programme including pieces by Taverner and Pärt. Tickets for the workshop cost £30.00 (with £5.00 off when you buy a workshop and concert ticket together).

Gala Concert With Jasdeep Singh Degun

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Cross-cultural, Family, Festivals, New Work
Tags: Jasdeep Singh Degun, ripon cathedral, st cecilia orchestra

Saturday 27th September 2025, 7:30 PM Ripon Cathedral, Minster Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1QT.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Jasdeep Singh Degun – Sitar Concerto ‘Arya’
Jasdeep Singh Degun – Lament for Sitar, Tabla and Strings
~ Interval ~
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov – Scheherazade, Op.35

Performers
Jasdeep Singh Degun – sitar
Gurdain Rayatt – tabla
Gary Matthewman – Conductor

St Cecilia Orchestra

Programme Note
A rare chance to hear the mesmerising virtuosity of one of the world’s leading Indian classical musicians paired with Rimsky-Korsakov’s exuberantly colourful and much-loved dramatic masterpiece.
Join St Cecilia Orchestra, under guest conductor Gary Matthewman, for a spectacular concert bringing together the traditions of Western and Indian classical music. Renowned Leeds sitar player and composer, Jasdeep Singh Degun, joins the orchestra in a performance of his own sitar concerto, Arya, and the beautiful Lament for Sitar, Tabla and Strings. The second half of the concert takes us to Persia, with Rimsky-Korsakov’s musical retelling of the stories of Scheherazade: an exhilarating journey of love, intrigue and adventure.

Night Songs

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, New Work, Song, Women musicians
Tags: belinda jones, hinrichsen foundation, kerry andrew, laura bowler, mycenae house, sarah dacey

Friday 3rd October 2025, 7:30 PM Mycenae House, 90 Mycenae Rd, Greenwich, London, SE3 7SE.

Night Songs – An evening of classical song exploring women’s relationship to the night including 5 new commissions, in aid of the charity, Refuge.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Kerry Andrew – Bless my baby bless my baby bright
Freya Waley-Cohen – Spell for Change
Yshani Perinpanayagam – *New Work*
Laura Bowler – *New Work*
Lucy Mulgan – wishy washy

Performers
Sarah Dacey – soprano
Belinda Jones – piano

Programme Note
Darkness offers us sanctuary, secrecy and an opportunity to witness the magnificence of the solar system but it can also be incredibly dangerous. Our negative experiences of the night as women often leads to us being deprived of its beauty and magic. This concert is an offer of rebellion and positivity, an artistic reclaiming of the night.

Sarah Dacey (Soprano) and Belinda Jones (Piano) perform art songs by both living and historical composers, including 5 new commissions from Kerry Andrew, Lucy Mulgan, Laura Bowler, Yshani Perinpanayagam and Freya Waley-Cohen.

This project is supported by the Hinrichsen Foundation and the Vaughan Williams Foundation. This concert is also a fundraising event for the charity Refuge.

A Choral Mosaic

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, New Work
Tags: joyful company of singers, macmillan, Rutter, st gabriels church, tavener

Thursday 16th October 2025, 7:00 PM at St Gabriel’s Church, Warwick Square, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2AD.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Felix Mendelssohn – Richte mich, Gott (Psalm 43), Op.78 no.2
Heinrich Schütz – Ich bin die Auferstehung und das Leben, SWV 464
Johannes Brahms – Fünf Gesänge (Five songs), Op.104
Sergei Rachmaninov – Sacred Concerto (V Molitvah)
Francis Poulenc – Un soir de neige, FP 126
Ferenc Farkas – Alkony (Dusk)
György Orbán – Cor Mundum
John Rutter – Hymn to the Creator of Light
Jonathan Harvey – Come, Holy Ghost
John Tavener – Song for Athene
James MacMillan – O Radiant Dawn

Performers
Peter Broadbent – Conductor
Joyful Company of Singers

Programme Note
Join the Joyful Company of Singers in the splendid acoustics of St Gabriel’s for an evening of outstanding ‘a cappella’ music, sung by one of the UK’s leading amateur chamber choirs, conducted by Peter Broadbent MBE.

‘A Choral Mosaic’ – a selection of works that will feature in their performances in Dresden later that month, including pieces by Heinrich Schütz, Sir John Rutter, Sergei Rachmaninov, Francis Poulenc, Sir John Tavener, Johannes Brahms and Sir James MacMillan.

Sofia Ros – Accordion

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, New Work, Pre-concert event, Women musicians
Tags: 1901 Arts Club, albeniz, hattori foundation, SOFIA ROS

Wednesday 22nd October 2025, 7:00 PM at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Isaac Albéniz – Suite Española, Op. 47: Córdoba
Isaac Albéniz – Suite Española, Op. 47: Asturias
Jean-Philippe Rameau – Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin: Les Cyclopes
Vaclav Trojan – The Ruined Cathedral
Viacheslav Semionov – Sonata no.2 ‘Basqueriad’
Phil Cunningham – Loch Katrine’s Lady
Niccolo Paganini – La Campanella

Performers
Sofia Ros – accordion

Programme Note
This performance forms part of the Hattori Foundation early evening concert series. This is a very friendly series, in true Salon-style, where guests are invited to enjoy a pre-concert drink included in the ticket price, a one-hour performance (without interval) and then meet the performers and Trustees in the Club’s bar after each recital for complimentary refreshments.

Shifting Patterns

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: anna meredith, eden court, gorecki, scottish ensemble

Saturday 25th October 2025, 7:00 PM at Eden Court, Bishops Road, Inverness, IV3 5SA, Scotland.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Anna Meredith – Quartets (arr. Jonathan Morton)
Henryk Gorecki – Quasi una Fantasia

Performers
Scottish Ensemble

Programme Note
Through vigorous rhythms and kaleidoscopic harmonies, this performance explores repetition, transformation, and emotion— tracing the delicate threads between pulse and reflection. Anna Meredith’s boundary-pushing style collides with Henryk Górecki’s poignant lyricism against a backdrop of stunning visual projections.

Pairing new arrangements of Anna Meredith’s joyful and energetic works with Henryk Górecki’s emotionally charged Quasi una Fantasia Scottish Ensemble will create an evening that is both electrifying and meditative. Bespoke projections by animator Ewan Morris Jones, commissioned by Ligeti Quartet, will provide a stunning visual backdrop.

Oxford Raga Unison: Duet of Winds and Drums

Date:
Categories: Cross-cultural, Experimental, Family, New Work, Premiere performance
Tags: Ajay Prasanna, holywell music room, Kousic Sen

Thursday 13th November 2025, 7:00 PM at Holywell Music Room’ Holywell Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1 3SB

Oxford Raga Unison: Duet of Winds and Drums
An evening of Indian classical flute and tabla

GET TICKETS

Programme
Traditional Hindustani Classical – Evening Ragas for Flute and Tabla (Based on traditional Hindustani ragas)
Performers

Ajay Prasanna – flute
Kousic Sen – tabla

Kalasudha

Programme Note
Fellow music lovers of Oxford, we’re bringing something poetic to our beautiful town this autumn. A magical evening of Indian classical ragas on flute will take place at the Holywell Music Room on 13th November.

Come experience Oxford Raga Unison: Duet of Winds and Drums, a transcendent evening of Hindustani classical music featuring Pandit Ajay Prasanna, a three-time Grammy nominee and internationally celebrated bansuri virtuoso known for his innovative cross-genre Flute Symphony, with Kousic Sen, one of the foremost tabla players of his generation.

Born into a musical family in Calcutta and trained by great masters of the Banaras Gharana, Kousic is admired worldwide for his powerful yet sensitive tabla playing. His energetic performances bring a new life to the stage, whether in classical concerts, dance accompaniment, or cross-cultural collaborations. As an Artist in Residence with Milapfest in Liverpool, and through tours across the USA, Canada, Europe, and Asia, he has shared his rhythmic mastery with audiences in many of the world’s most famous venues.

Together, Ajay’s meditative flute playing and Kousic’s vibrant tabla dialogue will create soundscapes that are deeply restorative, echoing the timeless belief in the power of music for mindfulness, emotional balance, and mental health.

Firebird Festival Night

Date:
Categories: Concerts, New Work, Young Musicians
Tags: London Firebird Orchestra, Pablo de Sarasate, Yury Revich

Tuesday 18th November 2025, 7:30 PM, at St George’s Hanover Square, Mill Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 1FX

GET TICKETS

Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven – Violin Sonata no.9 in A major ‘Kreutzer’, Op.47
Yury Revich – Prelude no.1
Pablo de Sarasate – Carmen Concert Fantasy, Op.25
Jules Massenet – Thais: Meditation

Performers
Yury Revich – violin

London Firebird Orchestra

Programme Note
Firebird Festival Nights is a collaboration between Firebird and Yury Revich’s “Festival Nights” series, which takes place principally in Vienna.

The main feature of this programme is an arrangement of Beethoven’s dazzling Kreutzer Sonata for Violin and String Orchestra, which will be narrated with excerpts from Leo Tolstoy’s book on the same subject.

This is complimented by beautifully melodious pieces of Yury’s own composition and popular virtuoso works by Massenet and Sarasate.

The fourth generation of a family of solo violinists, Yury Revich is a winner of both ECHO Classic and International Classical Music Awards and enjoys a busy international schedule of concerts and concertos across the globe. He has performed at each season with Firebird since 2019.

A Recital of Music by Julian Dawes

Date:
Categories: Concerts, New Work
Tags: 1901 Arts Club Waterloo, julian dawes

Sunday 23rd November 2025, 7:00 PM, at 1901 Arts Club, 7 Exton Street, Waterloo, London, SE1 8UE

GET TICKETS

Programme
Julian Dawes – Eleven Jewish Songs
Julian Dawes – Three Songs for Noctet
Julian Dawes – Sonatina
Julian Dawes – Improvisation

Performers
Mitra Alice Tham – piano
Dominic Dawes – electric guitar
Yoav Oved – tenor

Programme Note
Join us for a recital of music by highly regarded and accomplished composer Julian Dawes.

Commotio at Woodstock: An Advent Choral Celebration

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Family, New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: becky lane, bob chilcott, commotio, eric whitacre, graham fitkin, martin read

Saturday 6th December 2025, 7:30 PM, at St Mary Magdalene Church, Park Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, OX20 1SJ

GET TICKETS

Programme
Motswane Pege – In Principio
Levente Gyöngyösi – Puer natus in Bethlehem
David Bednall – Hail, gladdening light
Richard Allain – Vero Cras (Eight Advent Antiphons)
~ Interval ~
Jonathan Lane – There is no Rose of such Virtue
Becky McGlade – Of the father’s heart begotten
Graham Fitkin – The Christmas Truce
Martin Read – That Yonge Child
Bob Chilcott – Pilgrim Jesus
Eric Whitacre – Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Bob Chilcott – Song of the Crib

Performers
Commotio

Programme Note
Oxford’s acclaimed chamber choir Commotio makes its debut at St Mary Magdalene’s, Woodstock, with a vibrant programme of contemporary choral music. Renowned for championing the best modern compositions and rediscovering overlooked gems of the past century, Commotio offers a rich and refreshing musical experience.

Highlights include music from their No.1 album with Bob Chilcott: Rose in the Middle of Winter, and works by Martin Read, Richard Allain, and David Bednall—each of whom has a special connection to the choir. Don’t miss this unique evening of powerful, poignant, and uplifting choral music.

Mad Song play Steve Reich (Oxford)

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: finnissy, mad song, mazzoli, muhly, o'reilly theatre, reich

Friday 30th January 2026, 5:30 PM O’Reilly Theatre, Keble College, Oxford University, Oxford, OX1 3PG.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Michael Finnissy – Banumbirr
Kai Kubota-Enright – spatial communication of dripstone
Missy Mazzoli – Still Life with Avalanche
~ Interval ~
Nico Muhly – Doublespeak
Isabella Gellis – And Other Things
Steve Reich – Double Sextet

Performers
Mad Song

Programme Note
Mad Song explore repetition in a wide-ranging programme culminating in Steve Reich’s iconic Double Sextet.

Join Mad Song at Keble’s O’Reilly Theatre for an early-evening concert exploring repetition in the music of six living composers. The varied programme presents the wide range of contemporary aesthetic styles, spanning Finnissy’s (b. 1946) modernist Banumbirr to Steve Reich’s (b. 1936) iconic Double Sextet.

The influence of Reich’s pioneering minimalism makes itself felt strongly in the work of Mazzoli (b. 1980) and Muhly (b. 1981). Meanwhile, the programme is completed with recent works from two younger voices: Kai Kubota-Enright (b. 2000) and Isabella Gellis (b. 1997).

The Balanas Sisters: live at The Mildmay Club

Date:
Categories: New Work, Women musicians
Tags: balanas sisters, mildmay club, pateris vasks, ravel

Thursday 19th February 2026, 7:00 PMat Mildmay Club, 33-34 Newington Green, Newington Green, London, N16 9PR

GET TICKETS

Programme
Maurice Ravel – Sonata for Violin and Cello
Antonio Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
George Frideric Handel – Passacaglia in G minor (arr. violin and cello)
Pēteris Vasks – Castillo Interior

Performers
Kristīne Balanas – violin
Margarita Balanas – cello

Programme Note
Having grown up in the small Latvian town of Dobele, Kristine and Margarita Balanas moved to the UK in their teens. Since studying together at the Royal Academy of Music in London, they have performed together at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, Berlin Philharmonie, and London’s Royal Albert Hall, Barbican, and Royal Festival Hall.

This performance, their first since signing a record deal with Decca Classics, is an intimate exploration of duet repertoire for violin and cello. Taking place in Newington Green’s iconic working people’s club The Mildmay Club, the programme centres around compositions by Maurice Ravel and fellow Latvian Peteris Vasks, complimented by new arrangements of George Frideric Handel and Antonio Vivaldi made specially for The Balanas Sisters.

Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello features at the heart of the evening. Written in memoriam of Claude Debussy, it finds common aesthetic ground with Vasks’ Castillo Interior, a meditative and spiritual piece inspired by the writings of St Teresa of Ávila. It’s a journey of discovery that mirrors the sisters’ own path in music, a theme of personal reflection which links together all the music in the programme at this one-off London show.
The Balanas Sisters: live at The Mildmay Club
Get a route map

In Five Years’ Time – a new opera

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work, Opera, Premiere performance, Women musicians
Tags: edward lambert, jing jia, kucy gibbs, mae heydorn, rosalind dobson, the space theatre

Tuesday 24th February 2026 7:00 PM, The Space, 269 Westferry Road, Millwall, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 3RS.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Edward Lambert – In Five Years’ Time

Performers
Mae Heydorn – contralto
Rosalind Dobson – soprano
Fiona Hymns – soprano
Lucy Gibbs – mezzo-soprano
James Schouten – tenor
Jean-Max Lattemann – counter tenor
Chris Murphy – baritone
Thomas Stevenson – bass baritone
Alistair Burton – Conductor / piano
Jing Jia – accordion

The Music Troupe

Programme Note
In Five Years’ Time is a ‘drama in song’ based on an experimental play by Spain’s favourite poet, Federico García Lorca. This surreal work explores themes of love, identity and decay, yet does so in the manner of a fairy tale, clothed in fun and topsy-turviness. Lorca himself said it was impossible to stage, but The Music Troupe has put together a cast of 8 superb singers – playing 14 roles – to bring this operatic adaptation to life in the style of a cabaret. Displaying the group’s trademark lyricism, the music is stimulating and accessible while the drama and poetry are uniquely heart-rending.

The main theme of the opera is the poet’s search for identity in its many forms while the non-linear narrative explores the nature of time and truth. All the characters seem to slide into disillusionment and decay: a troupe of circus clowns, by contrast, are happily immersed in their own theatricality.

At the start of the opera, its central character, the poet Federico, is betrothed to the voluptuous young Belisa. Since she is only 15, this gives him an excuse to postpone the wedding for five years. Impatient for sexual fulfilment, she takes a lover while her girl friends express frustration with Federico’s procrastination. Later in the opera, Belisa is ‘reincarnated’ as a deluded Italian countess whose inner life has evaporated, (hence, perhaps, Lorca’s description of her as a Mask).

Federico’s three male friends are cynical, ebullient and sensitive in turn, perhaps representing celibacy, promiscuity and homosexuality. They metamorphose into a trio of circus clowns who appear from time to time.

Meanwhile, Federico spurned his secretary, Rosita, but when the girls tell him of Belisa’s infidelity, he resolves to seek Rosita out again. Although she once loved him, and perhaps does so still, she exacts revenge by telling him to wait five years. Disillusioned and in emotional turmoil, Federico meets a tragic end when assassinated by his friends who’ve embraced the Falangist cause.

In a sub-plot, a neighbour’s child has tragically died and youths have cruelly stoned a cat. The cat and child compare notes as they lie in the mortuary; they are apprehensive about the afterlife to where they eventually pass over at the end of the opera.

Run time: about 1 hour 50 minutes (including an interval)

Notturno Urbano

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, New Work
Tags: chrysalis theatre, giusto di lallo, john cage, philip glass

Wednesday 18th March 2026, 7:30 PM Chrysalis Theatre, Japonica Lane, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK15 9JY.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Various – Glass, Badalamenti, Lynch, Satie, Richter, The Doors, Cage.

Performers
Giusto Di Lallo – piano

Programme Note
Cinematic nocturnal piano: Glass, Badalamenti, Lynch, Satie, Richter, The Doors, Cage. Eclectic, evocative, genre-defying.

Notturno Urbano is the new project by pianist and composer Giusto Di Lallo. Its focus is to explore the emotional geography of cities after dark, through a piano repertoire that crosses diverse musical worlds, dissolving traditional genre barriers into a single, nocturnal, and evocative narrative.

From the mesmerizing music of Philip Glass to the cinematic shadows of Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch, from the post-impressionism of Erik Satie to rock reminiscences and avant-garde, this unconventional concert offers a deep immersion into the soul of the urban night.

Giusto Di Lallo is a versatile and eclectic pianist and composer, renowned for his innovative approach that bridges genres and cultures. He earned a Master’s degree in Piano and a Master’s degree in Composition at the Conservatorio “Lorenzo Perosi” (IT).

Since 1996, he has been a dynamic presence in the concert scene, performing on over 1800 occasions, both as a solo pianist and accompanist. His performances showcase a wide-ranging repertoire that spans classical, contemporary, and experimental music.

His album “Philip Glass – Piano Etudes – 10th Anniversary Special Edition” (SOMM Recordings, February 2025) has been described as “a most rewarding album” (Classical Explorer) and “a welcome addition to the repertoire.” (Gramophone).

Besides his career as a performing artist, Giusto also works as a composer, arranger, and producer, creating music across diverse musical contexts. His creative output extends to composing for visual media, theatre, and dance. He is also the creator and director of several multimedia shows and provides sound installations for art galleries and unconventional environments.

Duration: approximately 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval

Londinium – A Farewell to Arms

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: andrew griffiths, clare o'connell, londinium, lucy walker

Friday 27th March 2026, St John’s Church, 7:30 PM at 73 Waterloo Road, Waterloo, London, SE1 8TY.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Lucy Walker – There will come soft rains
Richard Dering – Factum est silentium
John Joubert – Lines from ‘The Youth of Man’, Op.90
Barbara Strozzi – Che si può fare (arr. Clare O’Connell)
de las Infantas Fernando – Congregati sunt inimici nostri
Rudolph Mauersberger – Wie liegt die Stadt so wüst, RMWV 4/1
John Tavener – Svyati
~ Interval ~
Gabriel Jackson – In memoriam
Howard Skempton – After Rain
Thomas Tallis – O Nata Lux
John Joubert – Let There Be Light
Heinrich Schütz – Verleih uns Frieden genädiglich, SWV 372
Richard Rodney Bennett – A Farewell to Arms
Lucy Walker – I saw eternity

Performers
Clare O’Connell – cello
Londinium
Andrew Griffiths – Conductor

Programme Note
Chamber choir Londinium is joined by acclaimed collaborative cellist Clare O’Connell for an evening of luminous and meditative music exploring themes of conflict, loss, resilience, and hope. Our programme is anchored by two masterpieces for cello and choir: John Tavener’s haunting Svyati, in which the cello represents the Ikon of Christ, and Richard Rodney Bennett’s warm-hearted A Farewell to Arms, in which it embodies a war-weary soldier. Woven around them is a sequence of classic motets by Tallis, Dering and Schütz, heartfelt works by Joubert and Mauersberger, and radiant recent music by Gabriel Jackson, Howard Skempton, and Lucy Walker.

Tickets include a complimentary programme, and wine will be served.

Her Ensemble

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: amy beach, ellie consta, florence price, Her Ensemble, nadia boulanger, ronnie scott's

Monday 30th March 2026, 6:30 PM Ronnie Scott’s, 47 Frith Street, Soho, London, W1D 4HT.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Amy Beach – Piano Trio, Op.150
Reena Esmail – This Love Between Us: Prayers for Unity
Florence Price – Piano Quintet in A minor (1936)
Lili Boulanger – Deux pièces en trio

Performers
Junyan Chen – piano
Laura Van de Heijden – cello
Ellie Consta – violin
Her Ensemble

Programme Note
Her Ensemble are an internationally acclaimed, game-changing ensemble giving exciting and important focus to female composers.

Discovering a large gap in her education and a rich legacy of women writing music as far back as 450 BC, Her Ensemble director Ellie Consta, sought to explore this overlooked repertoire and create a space where classical and contemporary traditions could meet on equal terms.

Her Ensemble is as much about challenging the status quo as it is about celebrating underrepresented voices, approaching all music with curiosity, honesty and a spirt of exploration.

Featuring violinist Ellie Consta together with two phenomenal in-demand soloists – Junyan Chen on piano and Laura Van De Heijden on cello – this will be an exciting, uplifting event in the month of International Women’s Day.

The programme will include piano trios by Beach, Boulanger, Price and Esmail.

Jess Gillam, The Gesualdo Six & National Youth Choir

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Family, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: jess gillam, national yourth choir, reading town hall, roderick williams

Thursday 2nd April 2026, 7:00 PM, Reading Town Hall, Blagrave Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 1QH.

GET TICKETS

Programme
William Byrd – Ave verum corpus
Will Todd – O Wisdom
Orlando Gibbons – The Silver Swan
Thomas Tallis – Te lucis ante terminum
Roderick Williams – Ave Verum Corpus Re-imagined

Performers
Jess Gillam – Saxophone
The Gesualdo Six
National Youth Choir
Nicholas Chalmers – Conductor

Programme Note
Experience superstar saxophonist Jess Gillam as she joins forces with leading choral ensembles Gesualdo Six and National Youth Choir for a truly unique concert experience. Journey through darkness into light in this immersive, uplifting performance, featuring some of the UK’s most exciting young talents.

A programme glistening with choral gems both old and new, we open with William Byrd’s Ave Verum and conclude with its modern-day re-imagining from Roderick Williams. Also featuring luminous works from Orlando Gibbons, Will Todd and Ayanna Witter-Johnson, this evening promises to bathe audiences in the glow of choral magic.

Choral pilgrimage: Lead Kindly Light

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Festivals, New Work
Tags: harry christophers, southwell minster, the sixteen

Thursday 16th April 2026, 7:30 PM Southwell Minster, Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, NG25 0HD

GET TICKETS

Programme
Sebastián de Vivanco – Christus factus est pro nobis
Cristóbal de Morales – Emendemus in melius
Sebastián de Vivanco – Assumpta est Maria
Cristóbal de Morales – Gaude et laetare Ferrariensis civitas
Kerensa Briggs – Lead, kindly light (new commission)
Sebastián de Vivanco – Magnificat Octavi toni
Cristóbal de Morales – Jubilate Deo omnis terra
Sebastián de Vivanco – O quam suavis est, Domine
Cristóbal de Morales – Exaltata est sancta Dei Genitrix
Cristóbal de Morales – Lamentabatur Jacob
Sebastián de Vivanco – Caritas Pater est
James MacMillan – Nothing in vain

Performers
Harry Christophers – Conductor
The Sixteen

Programme Note
A programme exploring majestic music from the Spanish Renaissance alongside spellbinding works from James MacMillan and Kerensa Briggs.

Tear Floods: Homage to Miyazaki

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Concerts, Family, New Work, Premiere performance, Young Musicians
Tags: Carmina Burana, crouch end festival chorus, david temple, robin haigh

Sunday 19th April 2026, 6:00 PM Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, Sloane Square, Belgravia, London, SW1X 9DQ

GET TICKETS

Programme
Robin Haigh – Tearfloods: Homage to Miyazaki
Carl Orff – Carmina Burana

Performers
Ana Beard Fernández – soprano
Ruairi Bowen – tenor
Dominic Sedgwick – baritone
Peter Jaekel – piano
Rufus Frowde – piano
Harrison White – eight string guitar
David Temple – Conductor

Coldfall School Choir
Crouch End Festival Chorus
London Orchestra da Camera percussion ensemble

Programme Note
Crouch End Festival Chorus, under the leadership of its Music Director David Temple, has a long history of commissioning new choral works. Its latest is Tearfloods (Homage to Miyazaki) by the award-winning British composer, Robin Haigh, which will receive its world premiere at Cadogan Hall on Sunday 19 April.

Inspired by the “singular imagination” of the Japanese animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Haigh has used the filmmaker’s work as a funnel for his own creativity to write Tearfloods, his first symphony and largest work to date.

Haigh’s shorter piece, Driftwood, written for the London Symphony Orchestra in 2023, served as a sketch for Tearfloods, sharing much of the same harmonic, melodic and timbral DNA. In Tearfloods, Haigh imagines an alternative reality in which every tear that has ever been cried flows down beneath the earth, forming an immense, secret and ever-changing underground sea. He has imagined the piece as depicting a voyage across this sea by a solitary figure in a small vessel, where “my lonely protagonist might encounter warm, inviting waters made of tears cried with joy, icy and still waters from tears of total loneliness, vicious tempests from tears cried for those lost in war”.

Tearfloods is scored for choir, wind and brass, keyboard, electric guitar, strings, and a large percussion section which includes a microtonal glockenspiel constructed by the composer and a tub of water for submerging a crotale.

Joining the ensemble is the guitarist, Harrison White, playing the eight string Ormsby Goliath guitar in what is believed to be the first time such an instrument has featured in a symphony. Harrison White played with Haigh in their teens in a progressive mental band, Bleeding Oath, and now tours the world with the Norwegian band, Leprous.

Also in the concert is Orff’s ever-popular cantata, Carmina Burana, performed here with two pianos and a rich spread of percussion taking the place of a full orchestra. It’s a delicious mix of innocence and bawdiness, and this performance promises an exhilarating ride, including the screeches of a roasting swan and the pleasures and perils of drinking, gambling and lust.

Purcell, The Musical

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, New Work, Opera, Premiere performance, Women musicians
Tags: clare norburn, henry purcell, swansea grand theatre, the telling

Thursday 23rd April 2026, 7:30 PM Swansea Grand Theatre, Singleton Street, Swansea, SA1 3QJ

GET TICKETS

Programme
Clare Norburn – Purcell, The Musical
Henry Purcell – Instrumental and vocal compositions are interwoven into the drama

Performers
The Telling

Programme Note
A play with music by award-winning writer Clare Norburn and BAFTA-nominated BBC director, Nicholas Renton (Mrs Gaskell’s Wives and Daughters, Musketeers, Lewis).

1695: in his final illness, composer Henry Purcell (Niall Ashdown) is experiencing feverish dream-like hallucinations in which the past, present and fantasy collide, and his songs take on a life of their own. His bedroom is transformed into a theatre and Purcell revisits his past including his childhood memories of the Great Fire of London and his early romance with his wife.

Interwoven into the drama are Purcell’s compositions: from bawdy theatre ballads and joyful celebrations of love, to slow airs, a ‘mad song’, and numbers from his semi-operas.

Niall Ashdown (Creating Carmen, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The Comedy Store Players) stars as Purcell alongside actor-singers Sarah Lambie and Héloïse Bernard, Jo Lawrence on violin, Miriam Nohl on cello and Oliver John Ruthven on harpsichord.

Roots and Ever Green

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Family, Folk music, New Work, Song, Women musicians
Tags: David Bednall, finzi, rebecca clarke, Roots and Ever Green, Shipston Song, vaughan williams

Sunday 3rd May 2026, 3:30 PM St Kenelm’s Church, Bicester Road, Church Enstone, Oxfordshire, OX7 4NN

GET TICKETS

Programme
David Bednall – The Mower
Rebecca Clarke – Passacaglia on an Old English Tune
Gerald Finzi – Farewell To Arms
Ralph Vaughan Williams – 4 Hymns

Performers
James Gilchrist – tenor
Shiry Rashkovsky – viola
Ian Tindale – piano

Programme Note
To celebrate the launch of Shipston Song 2026, celebrated tenor James Gilchrist joins artistic director Ian Tindale and star viola player Shiry Rashkovsky for this spring afternoon recital. Beautiful words by Andrew Marvell and Robert Bridges combine with the evocative music of Vaughan Williams, Gerald Finzi and Rebecca Clarke, all written for the perfect combination of tenor, viola and piano.

Coleridge-Taylor of Freetown

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Cross-cultural, Music Theatre, New Work, Song
Tags: bread and roses theatre, coleridge-taylor, sierra leone, tayo aluko

Wednesday 13th May 2026, 7:00 PM at Bread & Roses Theatre, 68 Clapham Manor Street, Clapham, London, SW4 6DZ.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – Songs and piano pieces
Avril Coleridge-Taylor – Who knows?
Tayo Aluko – Rise Up, Mother Africa! (arr. Deirdre Pascall)

Performers
Tayo Aluko – baritone
Sonum Batra – piano

Programme Note
It’s January 1999.
George Coleridge-Taylor, retired Sierra Leonean diplomat, finds himself trapped in Fourah Bay College when the civil war that has been ravaging the country reaches Freetown. In hiding, he reflects on his and his country’s stories, wondering if he dares defend the woman captured by the fearsome rebels.

His imagination takes him to more peaceful climes, where he sings the beautiful songs of his famous uncle, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

CONTAINS ALLUSIONS TO, AND SUGGESTIONS OF, GENDER-BASED AND WAR VIOLENCE, AND ONE PROFANITY

Written and performed by Tayọ Aluko
Directed by Mojisọla Kareem

Scheduled in recognition of the global campaign: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence

Trailer: https://youtu.be/ueRLZMtTQgY

No Man Is an Island

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Electronic, Experimental, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: elaine mitchener, jonathan higgins, linda buckley, mimi doulton, rich mix

Wednesday 1st July 2026, 7:00 PM at Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnal Green, London, E1 6LA.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Mitchener Elaine – Abode
Buckley Linda – Set Thy House in Order
Krõõt-Kärt Kaev – Tears Apart

Performers
Jonathan Higgins – electronics
Mimi Doulton – soprano

Programme Note
Ten years on from one of the defining political events of the 21st century – the referendum that sparked the UK’s decision to depart from the European Union – three new commissions reflect on what it means to be European today.

Soprano Mimi Doulton performs brand new works from British-Caribbean composer Elaine Mitchener; Irish composer Linda Buckley; and Estonian composer Krõõt-Kärt Kaev, exploring identity, isolation and connectedness, interspersed with wider reflections from across the continent about European identity and the political landscape we now inhabit.

Duration: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Five Beacons of Light – A Cantata for the Sea

Date:
Categories: Choral, Concerts, Educational, Festivals, New Work, Outdoor music, Premiere performance, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: cheryl frances-hoad, cornwall youth choirs, minack theatre, neil ferris, sonoro

Friday 3rd July 2026, 7:30 PM at The Minack Theatre, Porthcurno, Penzance, Cornwall, TR19 6JU.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Cheryl Frances-Hoad – Five Beacons of Light

Performers
Neil Ferris – Conductor
Michael Higgins – piano

Sonoro
Cornwall Youth Choirs

Programme Note
Five Beacons of Light is a newly commissioned choral work by composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad and librettist Di Sherlock, a celebration of the human spirit as a creative force, inspired by the vision and determination of coastal communities who conceived, fought for, and built four rock lighthouses. Young voices express their fears and hopes about the environment through music and equally celebrate the possibility of a different future that supports all life. The young singers become the fifth ‘Beacon of Light’.

Five Beacons of Light will be performed by Sonoro and local youth choirs in areas throughout the UK during 2026. For the performance at the Minack, Sonoro is delighted to perform alongside Cornwall Youth Choirs, directed by Angela Renshaw. Much of CYC’s mission is to protect the local environment and empower young people through music.

Founded in 2016 by Neil Ferris and Michael Higgins, Sonoro combines a passion for excellence in choral music and education. Based in London, the choir regularly perform in concerts and festivals throughout the UK, as well as facilitating ‘Come and Sing’ days, workshops in schools and conducting masterclasses. Sonoro regularly commissions new works by established and emerging composers and has recorded several albums.

London Classical Guitar Festival

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Festivals, New Work
Tags: london classical guitar festival, Nikos Baroutsakis

Thursday 9th July 2026, 7:30 PM at Instituto Cervantes, Sala Luis Cernuda, 15-19, Devereux Court, Temple, London, WC2R 3JJ.

FIND OUT MORE

Programme
Ernesto Lecuona – La comparsa | Danza lucumí | A la antigua (arr. Manuel Barrueco)
Nico Rojas – Guajira a mi Madre (tr. M Pedreira)
Eduardo Martín – Son del barrio | Mirándote | Rincones habaneros
Leo Brouwer – Rito de los Orishas | Toccata cubana
Manuel Saumell Robredo – Recuerdos Tristes (arr. Leo Brouwer)
Ignacio Cervantes – Los tres golpes | Adiós a Cuba (tr. Manuel Barrueco)
Aldo Rodriguez – Cancion y Danza

Performers
Nikos Baroutsakis – guitar

Programme Note
A la cubana’, is a live presentation of the eponymous debut album by guitarist Nikos Baroutsakis that pays tribute to Cuban music. Recorded at the the legendary Abbey Road Studios, it is the culmination of years’ worth of exploration of the Cuban guitar repertoire, inspired by the music of the Buena Vista Social Club. The album includes two new works by renowned composers, commissioned by (and dedicated especially to) Nikos: Toccata cubana by Leo Brouwer and Rincones habaneros by Eduardo Martin.

Born in Athens, Greece, Nikos Baroutsakis is a classically trained guitarist with a wide range of interests in different kinds of music.

This is an ILAMS event organised in collaboration with the Instituto Cervantes and Pixaudio as part of the 2026 London Classical Guitar Festival.

Established in 1997, ILAMS is the first and only organisation dedicated to the study, performance and promotion of Iberian and Latin American classical music in the UK.

National Youth Choir: Roots

Date:
Categories: Cross-cultural, Experimental, Family, Festivals, Folk music, New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: cheltenham town hall, national youth choir, nicholas chalmers

Sunday 2nd August 2026, 2:00 PM at Cheltenham Town Hall, Imperial Square, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 1QA.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Sydney Guillaume – Kalinda
A.R. Rahman – Balleilakka
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi – Four Shakespeare Songs
Kim Andre Arnesen – Even When He Is Silent
Rolando Budini – La Arenosa
Arvo Pärt – …which was the Son of
Paul Crabtree – The Valley of Delight: Death and Resurrection
Elaine Hagenberg – A Farewell
Reena Esmail – Man tu shudam, tu man shudi

Performers
Nicholas Chalmers – Conductor

National Youth Choir

Programme Note
Join some of the best young singers in the world for a breathtaking musical journey that spans continents and generations. Roots celebrates the cultures we inherit and the human connections we create for ourselves.

Feel the electrifying Haitian rhythms of Sydney Guillaume’s Kalinda and ecstatic Bollywood energy of A.R. Rahman’s Balleilakka contrasted with moments of profound reflection in music by Kim Andre Arnesen, Arvo Pärt and Elaine Hagenberg.

Discover Jaakko Mäntyjärvi’s playful take on Shakespeare’s well-known lyrics and experience the world premiere of a new commission from Indian-American composer Shruthi Rajasekar.

Tchaikowsky: Child of Glass

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Concerts, Family, Festivals, Music Theatre, New Work, Premiere performance, Women musicians
Tags: holland park theatre, jayson gilham, tama matheson

Thursday 13th August 2026, 7:30 PM at Opera Holland Park Theatre, Ilchester Place, Kensington, London, W8 6LU.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Tama Matheson – Tchaikovsky: Child of Glass

Performers
Jayson Gilham – Music Director / piano
Tama Matheson – Actor

Programme Note
From the acclaimed team that brought you Beethoven: I Shall Hear in Heaven comes a blazing new music-drama about the life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Nominated for an RPS Storytelling Award and hailed as ‘an explosion in the heavens,’ Tchaikovsky: Child of Glass brings to life with shattering immediacy all the pressures, passions, and conflicts that shaped Russia’s most celebrated composer and one of the world’s irreplaceable geniuses.

Born into a society that reviles and criminalises his nature, Tchaikovsky finds himself torn between public expectation and inner truth. Forever seeking to express his deepest feelings, yet haunted by the threat of condemnation and ostracism, music becomes Tchaikovsky’s refuge and sole avenue for self-expression. He fulfils himself by pouring out longing, anguish and ecstasy into compositions of breathtaking beauty—masterpieces that continue to move us to this day.

Written and performed by Tama Matheson, with music re-imagined and performed by Jayson Gillham, and featuring actors Suzy Kohane and Oliver Holland alongside the Royal Ballet’s Téo Dubreuil—with choreography by the Royal Ballet’s Stephen Wicks—Child of Glass is an electrifying theatrical event that depicts, with incandescent power, the life of one of the greatest artists in all of Western music.

Brothers in Harmony

Date:
Categories: Concerts, Experimental, New Work, Premiere performance, Young Musicians
Tags: cadogan hall, carey tan, kevin tan, philharmonia orchestra

Monday 7th September 2026, 7:00 PM at Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, Sloane Square, Belgravia, London, SW1X 9DQ.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Ludwig van Beethoven – Piano Concerto no.5 in E flat major ‘Emperor’, Op.73
Carey Tan – Symphony no.3 ‘The Rise and Fall of AI Humanity’
Carey Tan – Symphony no.2 ‘The Cries of War’
Sergei Rachmaninov – Piano Concerto no.2, Op.18

Performers
Kevin Tan – piano
Carey Tan – marimba

Philharmonia Orchestra

Programme Note
PART I

Carey Tan — Symphony No. 2: The Cries of War Carey Tan, marimba

I. Shadows of Misery · II. Reflection · III. The Pact

War does not end when the guns fall silent. Carey Tan’s second symphony moves through devastation, haunted memory, and the fragile, hard-won possibility of reconciliation — conjuring an orchestral world of vivid colour and shattering emotional force. To hear it is to be shaken, and then stilled.

Winner of the Gold Prize (Composition) and the Inspirational Creativity Musical Genius Special Prize at the Global Genius Music Competition, 2025. First Prize, UK International Music Competition, 2026.

Ludwig van Beethoven — Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, “Emperor” Kevin Tan, piano

Beethoven’s mightiest concerto needs no introduction — but in Kevin Tan’s hands, it sounds as if it is being discovered for the first time. This is music of invincible grandeur and soaring lyricism, and when Kevin performed it at the Berlin Philharmonie in 2025, more than two thousand people rose to their feet. They clapped. They shouted. They wept. For five unbroken minutes, the hall refused to let him go. That is not a reception — that is a reckoning. On 7 September, he brings this performance to London.

— Interval —

PART II

Carey Tan — Symphony No. 3: The Rise and Fall of AI Humanity Carey Tan, marimba

I. Construction of AI Civilisation · II. Dwelling in Reality · III. Nature and the Universe · IV. Collapse and Destruction · V. Ashes and Echoes

What happens when humanity builds something greater than itself — and then loses control of it? Carey Tan’s extraordinary third symphony charts the full arc: emergence, expansion, imbalance, and ruin. Across five movements of towering scale and intellectual depth, it asks the question our civilisation is only beginning to confront. The silence at its close is among the most powerful things you will experience in a concert hall.

Winner of the Gold Prize in Original Composition at the World Artistry Music Award, 2025.

Sergei Rachmaninov — Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 Kevin Tan, piano

Few works in all of music reach as directly into the human heart as Rachmaninov’s Second. Kevin Tan brings to it everything the concerto demands — brilliance, tenderness, and an emotional directness that makes each phrase feel inevitable. This is the piece that reminds you why live music exists.

9/11 Memorial Concert

Date:
Categories: British Composers, New Work
Tags: english voices, janes henshaw, outcry ensemble, pegasus choir, southwark cathedral

Friday 11th September 2026, 7:30 PM Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, Southwark, London, SE1 9DA.

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Charles Ives – The Unanswered Question
John Cage – 4′ 33″
Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings, Op.11
Jessie Montgomery – Starburst
Tarik O’Regan – Triptych
~ Interval ~
John Adams – On the Transmigration of Souls

Performers
James Henshaw – Conductor
Outcry Ensemble
Pegasus Choir
English Voices

Programme Note
On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, The Outcry Ensemble presents a programme of American and British music reflecting on loss, memory and the human cost of violence.

From Ives’ questioning stillness and Cage’s ritual silence to Barber’s profound lament and John Adam’s extraordinary On the Transmigration of Souls, this concert honours those who died in the attacks, and all those in America, Britain and around the world whose lives were lost in the years that followed…

Of Bestiaries and Bishops

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Early Music, Family, New Work, Period instruments
Tags: david de winter, david yardley, green dragon guild of london, holy sepulchre church, juliette primrose, richard de winter

Wednesday 23rd September 2026, 7:30 PM at Holy Sepulchre Church (Musicians’ Church), Holborn Viaduct, Holborn, City of London, EC1A 2DQ.

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Anonymous – Aurea Personet Lira
St Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury – Kyrie Eleison
Medieval Anonymous – Cantigas de Santa Maria 87: Muita Punna D’os Seus Onrar
David Yardley – I Pra You Sers, Al In Fere
Medieval Anonymous – Bryd on a Breere
Oswald von Wolkenstein – Der Mai Mit Lieber Zal
Bernart de Ventadorn – Can Vei La Lauzeta
~ Interval ~
Johannes Ciconia – Una Panthera
David Yardley – Whisperings (Poem by Anne Casey)
Guillaume de Machaut – Une Vipere
Medieval Anonymous – Alpha, Bovi et Leoni
St Godric – Crist & Sainte Marie / Ste Marie / St Nicholaes
Medieval Anonymous – Cantigas de Santa Maria 66: Quantos en Santa Maria esperanca an
Medieval Anonymous – Orientis Partibus

Performers
David Yardley – countertenor
Juliette Primrose – vielle
David de Winter – tenor
Richard de Winter – baritone

Green Dragon Guild of London

Programme Note
London’s newest medieval music group, Green Dragon Guild, is named after Green Dragon Court, the ancient street in central London that winds between old Borough Market and the surviving medieval corner of Southwark Cathedral.

The group gives an exciting new take on medieval and modern music, presenting evocative works from the 11th to 15th centuries as well as contemporary compositions that are medieval-inspired, brought to life through new creative possibilities flowing from early music scholarship and historically-informed performance practice.

If “Of Bestiaries & Bishops”, from village birdsong to fearsome panthers, from homely bishops to legendary figures of other times and places, join us for an evocative and dynamic exploration of rich and diverse medieval sounds. Performed in the historic church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate, the National Musicians’ Church and site of the meetings of one of the original medieval guilds, the Guild and Fraternity of St Katherine.

The Guild comprises five professional musicians based in the UK with specialisation in medieval music.

Curated with knowledge and passion, our performances encourage reflection not just on history, but on its relevance as a source of solace and inspiration in modern life.

The King’s Trust 50th Anniversary Concert

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Fund-raiser, New Work, Women musicians
Tags: CBSO centre, darren jeffery, isata Kanneh-Mason, jennifer france, joan armatrading, King's Trust, ruby hughes

Saturday 26th September 2026, 7:30 PM at CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham, B1 2LF.

BOOK TICKETS

Programme
Joan Armatrading – Symphony no.1

Performers
Darren Jeffery – baritone
Jennifer France – Soprano
Ruby Hughes – Soprano
Isata Kanneh-Mason – piano

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Programme Note
This special concert marks the 50th anniversary of The King’s Trust and celebrates its work supporting young people across the UK.

The evening opens with a baritone performance of a movement from Joan Armatrading’s first choral work, followed by soprano performances from the same work. A solo piano performance follows before the concert concludes with the second orchestral performance of Symphony No. 1 by Joan Armatrading.

Presented in an intimate concert setting, the evening brings together music and celebration in support of this important milestone for The King’s Trust.

Mad Song @ Bloomsbury Festival

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Family, Festivals, New Work, Women musicians, Young Musicians
Tags: bloomsbury festival, mad song, missy mazzoli, nico muhly, steve reich

Thursday 8th October 2026, 7:30 PM at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, Bloomsbury, London, WC2H 8EP.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Nico Muhly – Doublespeak
Kai Kubota-Enright – spatial communication of dripstone
Isabella Gellis – And Other Things
Missy Mazzoli – Still Life with Avalanche
Steve Reich – Double Sextet

Performers
Mad Song

Programme Note
Join Mad Song’s “expert young players” (The Observer) for a vibrant concert exploring repetition in the music of five living composers. The varied programme spans the globe and culminates in Steve Reich’s iconic Double Sextet.

The evening opens with Nico Muhly’s Doublespeak, a dazzling showpiece of ensemble virtuosity. Kai Kubota-Enright then takes us to the meditative soundworld of coastal Japan. The contemplative mood continues with Isabella Gellis’s And Other Things, before Missy Mazzoli’s lyrical Still Life with Avalanche rounds off the first half. After the interval, we’ll dive into Double Sextet, the work that won Steve Reich the Pulitzer Prize.

Mad Song are a specialist new-music ensemble who have performed around the UK and in Germany. Their “rock solid groove” (Artsdesk) promises to make for an unforgettable evening!

Path of Miracles

Date:
Categories: British Composers, Choral, Family, Festivals, New Work
Tags: alistair digges, camino di santiago, edinburgh singers, joby talbot

Saturday 31st October 2026, 4:00 PM at St Michael’s Parish Church, Kirkgate, Linlithgow, West Lothian, EH49 7AL.

GET TICKETS

Programme
Joby Talbot – Path of Miracles

Performers
Alistair Digges – Conductor

Edinburgh Singers

Programme Note
Path of Miracles, by British composer Joby Talbot, is an ethereal choral journey following the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. The Edinburgh Singers first performed one of its movements, Santiago, back in 2018, before performing the work in its entirety in Edinburgh in 2024. The choir are excited to bring this glorious a cappella masterpiece to Linlithgow and Glasgow in 2026.

Written in 2005 following a commission from the vocal chamber group, Tenebrae, this 17-part a cappella work contains a libretto that spans Greek, Latin, Basque, Spanish and French as it takes the listener along the path of this ancient route.

Depicting one of the most enduring religious pilgrimages, the Camino de Santiago, it captures travellers’ stories in an unmissable musical journey drawing from a vast range of global vocal traditions.

Categories

Sign up now for tips and insights on how to improve your marketing and promotion and to receive our monthly newsletter.