Family Concert

Prism Wind Ensemble

An hour of musical fun and games devised by the inventive young musicians of the Prism Wind Ensemble.

Seats available for the adults, gym rolls for the children.  Paint, water, balloons might well be part of the musical accompaniment.

George Frideric Handel: Israel in Egypt

Academy Choir and Academy Baroque Players

The Academy Choir under Matthew Best open the festival with Handel’s mighty choral masterpiece, in which Moses battles bloody water, frogs, hailstones and impenetrable darkness, to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.

With the sheer exuberance of his imagination, the variety and vividness of his choral writing, the power of his story telling, Israel in Egypt is one of Handel’s most popular and glorious oratorios.

Rowan Pearce, soprano
Hugh Cutting, counter tenor
Robert Murray, tenor

Robin O’Neill Conductor
Benjamin Marquise Gilmore, violin
Yukiko Ogura, viola (the Principal Viola chair of the Philharmonia Orchestra is endowed by the Tertis Foundation)

Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges:
Symphony No 1 in G Op 11
A beguiling work by the first classical composer of African ancestry, considered by President John Adams “the most accomplished man in Europe.”

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante K 364
Symphonic in scope, concerto-like in its virtuoso demands, this work thrills with an extraordinary abundance of ideas and sonorities.

J S Bach: Goldberg Variations
Bach’s wondrous set of Variations in a new transcription for orchestra by Robin O’Neill (World Premiere)

Ashley Wass

The distinguished pianist, Ashley Wass, has performed at many of the world’s major halls. In this programme featuring works by giants of the past, Ashley champions a major new work by pianist, and award-winning specialist in electronic music production and sound design, Alexey Shor, in association with Russian virtuoso Mikhail Pletnev.

Bach: Partita No 1 in B flat major
Shor/Pletnev: Piano Sonata
Beethoven: Sonata No 30 in E Major, Op. 109

Franck: Choral No.2
Grieg: Holberg Suite
Saint-Saens: Danse Macabre
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition

Telari makes his instrument speak with the many colours and subtleties of an orchestra. He returns to multiple requests following his astonishing lunchtime recital in 2021.

“Telari belongs to a generation of astonishing Italian artists whose overwhelming musicality goes beyond their instrument.” Carla Moreni

Conceived by flautist Meera Maharaj, the Meliora Collective is a dynamic group of young artists formed of five wind and five string players. This allows a creative flexibility in programming. Today they form a septet: string quintet, with flute and clarinet.

En Saga is performed in its original septet version. The music of Valerie Coleman and Jesse Montgomery are becoming more widely known through the work of Chineke!, of which Meera Maharaj is principal flute.

Gyorgy Ligeti: Old Hungarian Ballroom Dances
Valerie Coleman: Portraits of Langston
Jessie Montgomery: Strum
Sibelius: En Saga

Clara Schumann: Variations, op.20
Schumann: Fantasie-stücke op.111; Allegro op.8
Brahms: Klavierstücke op.119
Rachmaninoff: Corelli variations op.42
Scriabin: ‘Vers la flamme’ op.72
Stravinsky: ‘The Firebird’

Russian pianist Sofya Gulyak, has been hailed as “La Grande Dame du Piano” by La Scène. Sofya was the 1st prize-winner of the celebrated Leeds International Piano Competition in 2009, the first woman in the history of the competition to do so.

Since then Sofya has garnered international praise:

‘A Rach Star is Born…’ Washington Post
‘Phenomenal Sofya Gulyak’ Ruck Muzychny
‘Formidable Artist’ The Guardian

To celebrate their 25th anniversary the Tippetts have chosen
three works that express the full richness of the Romantic chamber repertoire. Mendelssohn’s First Quartet, an undoubted masterwork written while still a teenager is extraordinary for its dramatic scope.

Korngold, also a teenage prodigy (recognised by Strauss and Mahler) fled Nazi Germany for America and success in Hollywood. His third quartet following Hitler’s death, has a fiery vitality, ending in a jubilant mood. Philip Dukes joins as guest viola in Brahms’ gorgeous second quintet – part of our tribute to the memory of the great Lionel Tertis.

This always popular concert showcases the talents of some of the finest young musicians from around the globe.

The celebrated violinist Yehudi Menuhin founded his school
to develop his students’ talents to the highest degree within a nurturing and stimulating academic environment, regardless of their economic background.

Join us for an evening of glorious music, performed by the Armonico Consort and directed by Christopher Monks, from the Baroque era, featuring the works of two Italian masters: Antonio Vivaldi and Francesco Scarlatti. You will hear the famous Gloria by Vivaldi, a joyful and festive setting of the hymn that praises God in the highest.

This masterpiece is full of catchy melodies, lively rhythms, and expressive contrasts, making it one of the most popular choral works of all time. You will also discover the lesser-known but equally brilliant music of Francesco Scarlatti who’s writing has been described as ‘totally awesome’. Francesco was a talented violinist and composer who worked in Naples, London, and Dublin. His music is rich in harmony, texture, and emotion, reflecting his diverse musical influences and experiences.

The two works by Francesco Scarlatti are for 16 voices, divided into four choirs engaging in all sorts of vocal acrobatics, with a 5-part instrumental accompaniment.

Mozart:
Masonic Funeral Music K477 (arr O’Neill)
Serenade No 12, K.388 ‘Nachtmusik’
Serenade No 10, K.361 for 13 winds ‘Gran Partita’

Wigmore Soloists is a new chamber ensemble comprising a roster of outstanding musicians, led by Isabelle van Keulen and Michael Collins, and created with Wigmore Hall’s Director, John Gilhooly.

In Mozart’s day, street serenades (collection of light dance music) were common in Vienna, typically for small wind groups. Mozart’s genius transforms his serenade K.388 into a serious, symphonic work for wind octet. The ‘Gran Partita’ is grander still, perhaps the finest wind music ever conceived.

These three extremely talented international musicians, from Poland, USA, and Israel first met at the Morningside Music Bridge international summer school held each year in Boston, which was established to be a ‘bridge’ for exceptional young musicians between East and West.

Wojciech Niedziółka, violin
Brandon Leonard, cello
Yoav Roth, piano

Roderick Williams, baritone
Iain Burnside, piano

Jorge Jimenez, violin
Anna Stegmann, recorders

Biber – Bartok- Bach – Berio – ‘Traditional’ – ‘Anonymous’ – Tarquinio Merula –  Chuck Corea – Ysaÿe – Bartok – Bach again…

Our view of the moon is transfigured. Always present in the sky yet out of reach in the distance, it has been captivating artist, poets, and composers over the centuries.

In LUNARIS, recorder vistuoso Anna Stegmann and the Catalan violinist Jorge Jimenéz perform four sets around the different, often mythical phases of the moon. With various recorders, vielle and baroque violin, they take us on a journey in which early medieval music effortlessly blends with compositions from the last decades:  music of Hildegard von Bingen merges with the sounds of Luciano Berio; Eugène Ysaÿe gets into a dialogue with Johann Sebastian Bach. 

LUNARIS offers an exciting trip through sonic spaces, in which the gap between old and new music slowly changes our perception, while the moon presents itself to us in its different shapes and moods.

View Full Programme

Jazz Evening

Blues and Roots Ensemble, a diverse group of nine top international musicians from South Africa to Sicily, India to Cuba. The band has established a reputation for its lively, captivating performances.

B.A.R.E specialises in sharing the music of the great bandleader/ composer, Charles Mingus, whose centenary was celebrated recently.

Mozart’s extraordinary musical gifts and psychological insights transcend the rather silly, misogynistic plot to gift us a masterpiece of comic opera. Così fan tutte follows the course of a bet between two brothers engaged to marry two sisters, that women however faithful are easily seducible.

Così fan tutte – “All Women are like that” – under Da Ponte’s and Mozart’s comic genius, subtly resolves the bet to suggest that “We are all like that.” The result is Mozart’s most sophisticated achievement as a musical dramatist.