Concerts
Our 2024/25 season features six classical concerts and a lunchtime workshop.
Click here for details of the 2023/24 season's concerts.
Sunday 13 October at 3.00pm
Villiers Quartet
Katie Stillman (violin), Tamaki Higashi (violin), Carmen Flores (viola) and Leo Melvin (cello)
The Villiers Quartet has become one of the most recognised quartets in the UK for the performance of British music. Their passion for teaching and performing have made the VQ a valuable resource for students and audiences alike. Inspiration comes from the heart of their philosophy: to believe in the art of string quartet.
- Haydn – Quartet in G major, Op 76/1
- Vivian Fung – Quartet no.1
- Beethoven – Quartet in C sharp minor, Op 131
See Villiers Quartet for more details
Sunday 10 November at 3.00pm
Leon McCawley (piano)
"One of today's most impeccable musical pianists" (International Piano)
Leon McCawley has been delighting audiences worldwide. His performances and extensive discography have established him as a pianist of great integrity and variety, bringing freshness and vitality to Classical, Romantic and 20th century repertoire.
- Beethoven – Sonata in A major, Op 2 no.2
- Rachmaninov – Étude tableau in A minor, Op 39 no.2
- Bach arr. Liszt – Organ Prelude & Fugue in A minor, BWV 543
- Mendelssohn – Rondo capriccioso, Op 14
- Mendelssohn – Six Songs Without Words, Op 19b
- Schumann – Sonata No 2 in G minor, Op 22
See Leon McCawley for more details
Sunday 8 December at 3.00pm
Will Duerden (double bass) and Svetlana Kosenko (piano)
Will Duerden is a highly sought-after artist, in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader with a growing international career spanning four continents. Will has had several significant new works written for him and collaborated with artists such as Alexander Sitkovetsky, Lawrence Power and Maxim Rysanov.
- Reinhold Gliere – Two pieces for double bass Op 32: I. Preludium, II. Scherzo
- Frantisek Hertl – Double bass sonata
- Lili Boulanger – Nocturne
- Reinhold Gliere – Two pieces for double bass Op 9: I. Intermezzo, II. Tarantella
See Will Duerden for more details
Sunday 26 January at 3.00pm
Musical and Amicable Society
Anna Curzon & Catherine Martin (violins), Heather Birt & Kate Fawcett (violas) and Jonathan Rees (cello)
Specialising Baroque & Classical repertoire, the original Musical and Amicable Society was founded in 1762, when local church musicians gathered "for practice and recreation" at Cooke's Tavern, Birmingham. We retain this ethos of conviviality, presenting bespoke chamber programmes, collaborating with choirs, bringing to life the rich soundworlds of diverse composers.
- W. A. Mozart – String Quintet no. 3 in C major K515
- W. A. Mozart – String Quintet no. 4 in G minor K516
See Amicables for more details
Sunday 23 February at 3.00pm
The Gould Piano Trio
Lucy Gould (violin), Richard Lester (cello) and Benjamin Frith (piano)
The Gould Piano Trio has been compared in The Washington Post to the great Beaux Arts Trio for their "musical fire" and "dedication to the genre" and at the forefront of the international chamber music scene for over a quarter of a century. They have performed worldwide and numerous appearances at Wigmore Hall.
- W. A. Mozart – Piano Trio no. 5 in C Major, K. 548
- Elliott Carter – Epigrams for piano, violin & cello
- Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky – Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50
See The Gould Piano Trio for more details
Sunday 30 March at 3.00pm
The Fitzwilliam String Quartet
Lucy Russell (violin I), Marcus Barcham Stevens (violin II), Alan George (viola) and Sally Pendlebury (cello)
We welcome back The Fitzwilliam Quartet, resident at Clare College Cambridge, who will include music by two of their favourite composers - the 5th quartet by Liz Dilnot Johnson, inspired by the landscape of the Malvern Hills where she lives, and Schubert's last quartet. This work with the Quartettsatz, was released on CD in 2023.
- Grainger – Molly on the Shore
- Liz Dilnot Johnson – Quartet no. 5 Borderlands (2024)
- Schubert – Quartet in C minor, D. 703 (Quartettsatz, plus its Andante edited by Brian Newbould)
- Schubert – Quartet in G major, D. 887
See The Fitzwilliam String Quartet for more details
