1976 and All That! Spitalfields Music Festival celebrates 50 years since its founding with contemporary music, classical repertoire and cross-artform collaborations including 20 premieres

The 2026 edition of the Spitalfields Music Festival begins the celebrations of the Festival's 50th anniversary. Established in 1976 by conductor Richard Hickox, this year marks the beginning of Spitalfields Music’s 50th anniversary celebrations which will culminate in 2027 with the anniversary of the first Festival.  The 2026 festival takes place from 26 June to 8 July in venues across East London, featuring cutting edge contemporary music, classical repertoire and cross-artform collaborations including 20 premieres.

In line with the festival's cross-artform themes, spoken word takes a prominent role. The opening concert features four newly commissioned poems on theme of what does peace look like, alongside a new work by Philip Herbert inspired by a quote from UN Secretary António Guterres: “Peace is the missing piece” performed by the City of London Sinfonia with music by George Walker, Reena Esmail, Arvo Pärt, and Sibelius. Then writer Ali Smith joins forces with the New European Ensemble to present the UK premieres of four new musical works based on her Seasonal Quartet novels - Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer, interspersed with readings from the books that inspired them. 

Broadcaster and writer Gillian Moore CBE is joined by Stephen Colegrave and Dennis Bovell MBE to delve into what made 1976, the year that Spitalfields Music was founded, such a defining year - The Great Heatwave; an economic crisis; the death of Benjamin Britten; the Sex Pistols’ Anarchy in the UK. 

Still on the theme of political engagement, for No man is an island soprano Mimi Doulton and Jonathan Higgins, electronics perform three new commissions by composers Elaine Mitchener, Linda Buckley and Krõõt-Kärt Kaev which reflect on what it means to be European today, ten years on from the referendum that sparked the UK’s decision to depart from the European Union. Whilst performer-composers Emily Levy and Matthew Bourne present a powerful reimagining of British folk music inspired by Julia Varley - a pioneering British activist, trade unionist, suffragette, and social reformer.

Standard Issue make their festival debut with a programme of contemporary music from female-identifying music creators, featuring the world premiere of a new piece by Australian composer and ecologist Kate Milligan which blends music and field recordings to explore the hidden world of London’s wildlife along the Islington canal. [I recently chatted to Standard Issue, see my article]. Trombone quartet Slide Action presents a concert that places the trombone in a completely new light featuring world premieres from Rockey Sun Keting, Ben Nobuto, Omri Kochavi, and the winner of the inaugural Henfrey-Spitalfields Prize. [I chatted to Slide Action in 2024 about their mission to create a new voice for the trombone, see my interview]

Carolyn Sampson stars in In the Belly of the Beast, a theatrical reimagining of three works from 18th century French composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s Cantates Bibliques (Biblical cantatas) placing a contemporary feminist slant on the biblical tales of Adam, Jonah, and Jephthah, sung in translations by Toria Banks. For The Song Sung True, the Carice Singers and George Parris bring together seminal choral works from the 20th and 21st centuries, including a rarely performed masterpiece by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur and choral music by Luigi Dallapiccola. Along with the London premieres of four new works by fresh talent from the Composers Academy at Cheltenham Music Festival. [I chatted to George Parris at the end of last year, see my interview]

To close this year's edition, the festival returns to the Tower of London for a concert in collaboration with the Choir of the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London that explores the historic legacy of music dating back to the 16th Century featuring Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli. 

Returning to that 1976 founding of the festival, singer, songwriter and composer Tom Hickox, the son of founder Richard Hickox, returns to Spitalfields Music Festival with a concert featuring New YVC that combines new material with songs and compositions from his previous albums. 

And Spitalfields Music isn't just about the festival. Their RAM Schools Tour is a long-standing collaboration with the Royal Academy of Music which brings musicians into classrooms around East London. An ensemble of musicians from the RAM delivers interactive performances during school assemblies, connecting music to PSHE topics, and bringing it to life in an engaging way for our young audiences. Whilst during the festival, 200 children from the Neighbourhood Schools come together to connect and celebrate through song in the Primary Big Sing, including a specially commissioned piece written for the young people by composer Anna Pool.

Full details from the festival's website.