Following its centenary celebrations last year, the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra becomes resident at Brighton Dome

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, music director Joanna MacGregor

The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, music director Joanna MacGregor, opened its 2026/27 season at the Brighton Dome at the weekend with a programme mixing Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Piazzolla and Janacek. This season marks a new development in the relationship between orchestra and venue as it has now been announced that the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra has become the resident orchestra at the Dome.

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1925 and first performed on Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall stage in 1928. It has been a fixture of the venue’s event seasons ever since, most recently celebrating its centenary last year. Sir Thomas Beecham became its first President in 1932, a position later held by Vaughan Williams and Benjamin Britten. The orchestra has a rich tradition of championing living composers; in 1946 Francis Poulenc performed his own concerto at Brighton Dome, while recent seasons have included music by James MacMillan, Gwilym Simcock and the upcoming premiere of Eric Vloeimans' new work.

Joanna MacGregor, CEO and music director of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra commented: "To become Brighton Dome’s Resident Orchestra is a wonderful recognition of BPO’s vibrant performances over the last century, and cements an already close partnership. We’re looking forward to developing ambitious, world class programmes and exciting artistic collaborations for Brighton audiences."

Further ahead, the orchestra pairs Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, and Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments with Mozart's Gran Partita (11 October).

Full details from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's website.

The Continuo Foundation awards £108,000 in its 12th round of grants

The Continuo Foundation recently announced its 12th round of grants, awarding £105,000 to 28 Early Music Projects, supporting 68 concerts in 46 locations along with five recordings. Since being founded in 2020, the Foundation has raised and awarded £1.3 million, supporting 885 concerts in 289 different locations across the UK, alongside 63 recording projects, with 40 albums released so far.

Five emerging ensembles received first-time awards, and projects include a period-instrument Passion in Northern Ireland, a pioneering female composer of string quartets and music from Anne Boleyn’s manuscript.

All five of the first-time recipients are emerging ensembles, formed since 2020, and are among ten recently formed groups supported in this round which collectively received 40% of the total funding. Alongside opportunities to perform, the awards fund recordings and creation of video material that can help young musicians establish a professional presence and secure future work.

A grant makes possible the Ulster Consort's ambitious plan to performing Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Northern Ireland, where opportunities to hear this masterpiece are scarce and relatively few local period-instrument players are available.  Also in Northern Ireland, the grant awarded to Sestina Music will bring Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 to Belfast, combining Early Music specialists with its Next Generation Artists and, for the first time, local choristers from St George’s, St Polycarp’s and St Peter’s church choirs.

The Cambridge String Quartet’s Tales of Maddalena turns to little-known composer Maddalena Lombardini, whose six quartets appeared in 1769, while the genre was still taking shape. At King’s College, Cambridge, a display of first-edition parts will accompany the music. The grant will help pay for professional filming, giving the performance a further life as material with which the quartet can introduce its work to promoters and audiences. Fontanella Recorder Quartet’s A Falcon Fallen follows Anne Boleyn’s turbulent life through music from the manuscript associated with her, held at the Royal College of Music.

Ardour Baroque’s world-premiere recording of trio sonatas by Antonio Luigi Baldassini, will place the little-known Roman composer alongside Corelli and Handel. Queen Victoria’s Consort and the West Gallery Music Association will be recreating English parish music from around 1840, using instruments including the serpent, keyed bugle and English bass horn.

Full details from The Continuo Foundation's website.

Bass Brindley Sherratt to be artistic director of The Grange Festival following Michael Chance's retirement

Brindley Sherratt (Photo: Film and Star)

The Grange Festival (which is based at The Grange, Northington in Hampshire) has announced that the bass, Brindley Sherratt will be stepping up to take the reins as artistic director of the festival following the retirement of Michael Chance at the end of this year's festival. Michael Chance had led the company since its formation in 2016 (in succession to Wasfi Kani's Grange Park Opera which was founded at The Grange in 1998, departing after the 2016 season). 

The Grange is a country house in the style of an ancient Greek temple designed by William Wilkins. The house is an important example of the Greek Revival style in England. The house was subsequently extended by Robert Smirke and Charles Robert Cockerell, but for much of the later 20th century was effectively a roofed ruin. The opera house was created in Cockerell's orangery turned art gallery under Wasfi Kani's auspices. 

The Grange, Northington in 1870

Sherratt, who is about to sing Gurnemanz in Covent Garden's new production of Wagner's Parsifal (which opens on 1 October), is known for roles such as Sarastro in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Claggart in Britten's Billy Budd and Ochs in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. In 2025, Sherratt's second gala for the Meath Epilepsy Charity was held at The Grange. I chatted to him in 2024 on the release of his first recital disc, see my interview 'A bit topsy turvey' Last year we caught him as Cadmus and Somnus in Handel's Semele at Covent Garden [see my review] and as Boris in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk at the BBC Proms [see my review]

Sherratt will continue to perform internationally alongside his role as artistic director but will be more selective with his engagements to ensure he can fulfil his commitments. He commented: "It is an exciting prospect to be investing in British opera at such a crucial moment in this art form’s history. The Grange Festival provides a much-needed platform for the next generation of artists. I’ve benefitted from the support of the local community in so many ways – being a resident of neighbouring county West Surrey - I have seen first-hand the impact that the local audiences can make. In my most recent performance on The Grange’s stage, I held a fundraising gala with a roster of our greatest opera stars in aid of The Meath Epilepsy Charity, where my daughter, Amy, is a resident. Together with The Grange’s generous community, we raised over £180,000 for our cause.   

As a performer, I feel extremely lucky to have taken on roles I could have only dreamed of. Up until now, this role too was a dream, and I am looking forward hugely to working with the creative and administrative teams, as well as all the incredible line-up of artists who appear each year at this wonderful festival."

Sherratt begins his role next month, and full details of the 2027 Festival including its 10th anniversary celebrations will be announced shortly.

In other news, the Festival's chief executive, Tyler Stoops is stepping down after three years in the role, and the Festival's chief financial officer, Sheila Wye has been announced as interim chief executive. 

Full details from The Grange Festival's website.

Recorder player Tabea Debus joins York Early Music Festival as guest artistic advisor

Tabea Debus (Photo: Kaupo Kikkas)

Recorder player extraordinare Tabea Debus is joining York Early Music Festival as guest artistic advisor. She joins the current team of artistic advisers Lindsay Kemp (music writer and producer), Peter Seymour (emeritus professor of music at the University of York and director of Yorkshire Baroque Soloists & Choir), John Bryan (emeritus professor of music at the University of Huddersfield and member of the Rose Consort of Viols) and guest adviser Mark Seow (violinist, musicologist, writer and broadcaster). Tabea Debus has been appointed to support the 2027, ’28 and ’29 festivals and steps into the musical shoes of mezzo soprano Helen Charlston.  

Born in Würzburg, Germany, Tabea Debus studied at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2023, Tabshe ea joined the recorder quartet Palisander, whose theatrical concerts are devised for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Palisander have performed regularly at the National Centre for Early Music where they also led workshops for children and young people.   

Tabea Debus commented: "I am absolutely delighted to be joining the team of Artistic Advisers and honoured to be working alongside these wonderful colleagues to contribute to the creation of the world-renowned York Early Music Festival. I can’t wait to spend the summer festival season in beautiful York in the coming years, delighting in concerts by fabulous musicians from across the UK, and beyond."

The York Early Music Festival was established in 1977 and is designed to celebrate York’s myriad of medieval churches, guildhalls and historic houses through historically informed music-making of the highest international standard. The festival is a central part of the National Centre for Early Music’s (NCEM) annual programme.
 The York Early Music Festival returns next year, 2027, from 2 to 9 July. Further information from the NCEM website. 

Collaborative music & art residency: Burgh House & Chamber Studio join forces with The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust

Trio Musae

A new partnership between Burgh House, in Hampstead, and Chamber Studio will create a residency programme for emerging chamber ensembles at Burgh House. Selected string quartets and trios will take part in a series of residencies at Burgh House, where they will reunite with leading chamber musicians for masterclasses before sharing the results of their work with audiences in intimate evening performances. 

Among the ensembles taking part in the inaugural residency programme are Trio Musae, Talland Quartet and Quartet Concrète – three of the UK's most exciting emerging chamber ensembles. The first season will comprise three events taking place in October, December and February. Each residency will feature a free daytime masterclass followed by a ticketed evening recital in Burgh House's historic Music Room, offering audiences a rare opportunity to witness the creative process behind chamber music performance before experiencing the finished interpretation in concert.

The residency programme is funded by The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust and builds on Chamber Studio's acclaimed Hans Keller Forum, an intensive mentoring programme for outstanding chamber ensembles who are at UK conservatoires. 

Alongside the residencies, Burgh House will present a complementary exhibition celebrating the work of Milein Cosman. One of Britain's most fascinating twentieth-century artists, Cosman was renowned for her expressive depictions of musicians, writers and artists, including Benjamin Britten, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. Featuring important recent acquisitions from The Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust—many on public display at Burgh House for the first time—the exhibition will be accompanied by curator-led talks. 

Moira Lascelles, Director, Burgh House comments, "By bringing together chamber music, visual art and the shared legacy of Hans Keller and Milein Cosman, this exciting new partnership perfectly reflects Burgh House's role as a home for artistic collaboration. It creates opportunities to nurture the next generation of musicians while celebrating Hampstead's remarkable cultural heritage. Hans Keller and Milein Cosman were central figures in the area's artistic life, and we are delighted to honour their legacy through this collaboration."

The first events as part of the residency are a masterclass (21/10) and recital (22/10) with Trio Musae. Full details from the Burgh House website.

A fresh take: youthful Daniel Dorn releases his debut album of Bach's Cello Suites in May 2027

The young German-American cellist Daniel Dorn (born 2008) has just started studying at the Royal Academy of Music with Guy Johnston. He began playing the cello at the age of three, and at ten, he made his orchestral debut as a soloist in Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in D major (RV 403). Away from music, in 2020, together with his twin brother Max, he was awarded first prize in the Jugend forscht competition in the category Mathematics / Computer Science for their research on twin primes. 

In May 2027, Evidence Classics will release Daniel Dorn’s debut album, a journey through three of Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello. The album will present Suites Nos. 1, 2, and 3, while also offering listeners a rare musical curiosity: Robert Schumann’s accompanied version of the Second Suite, performed with Korean pianist Ji-Hwan Hong. 

Daniel Dorn plays a Jacob Stainer cello from 1645, and on the video of the Sarabande from Suite No. 2, his "gentle, fluid, and introspective" [Frederik Hanssen, Der Tagesspiegel] style gives a somewhat Romantic take on Bach's music.

Stream the EP [link tree] 

 

 

Britten's War Requiem: Edward Gardner takes an uncompromising & severe view softened by the poetic attention to the words from soloists in London Philharmonic Orchestra's season opener

Britten: War Requiem - Edward Gardner, Benjamin Appl, Paul Appleby
London Philharmonic Orchestra (Photo: Andy Paradise)

Britten: War Requiem; Natalya Romaniw, Paul Appleby, Benjamin Appl, London Philharmonic Choir, Tiffin Boys Choir & Girls Choir, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner; Royal Festival Hall
26 September 2027

Edward Gardner emphasises the austerity of Britten's sound world in a performance that contrasted austerity with poetry and only brought warmth and reconciliation in the final moments

London does not have a venue completely suitable for the full forces of Britten's War Requiem (and part of me wonders what the sound was like at that first performance at Coventry Cathedral). But the revitalised Royal Festival Hall now has the requisite space and an acceptable acoustic. So, the massed forces of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO), London Philharmonic Choir and London Symphony Chorus filled the Royal Festival Hall stage on Saturday 26 September 2026 for the opening of the LPO's 2026/27 season. Edward Gardner conducted them in Britten's War Requiem with soloists soprano Natalya Romaniw, tenor Paul Appleby and baritone Benjamin Appl, plus the Tiffin Boys Choir and Girls Choir (conductor James Day). 

Paul Appleby was standing in for Allan Clayton at short notice; Appleby recently appeared in John Adams' Antony & Cleopatra at the Met in New York, and he has appeared at Glyndebourne as Jonathan (in Handel's Saul, 2015, see my review), Benedict (in Berlioz's Beatrice et Benedict, 2016) and Tamino (in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, 2024).

There was a stark quality to the work's opening with very pointed delivery from the chorus contrasting with the strength of the low instruments in the orchestra, until 'Et lux perpetua' was really hammered out. The children's choir's entry following the climax highlighted one of the limitations of the hall; placed in the balcony their sound was assured but very present. In 'What passing bells', Paul Appleby revealed a vibrant lyric voice, his intent and intense performance placing strong emphasis on the words. In the unaccompanied 'Kyrie' that followed the chorus was magically quiet, but the sound was very present.

Britten: War Requiem - Natalya Romaniw, London Philharmonic Orchestra (Photo: Andy Paradise)

Misha Mullov-Abbado on harp, Belgian roots & Finizi anniversaries: CD launches this week

It has been a busy week for live CD launches. On Wednesday harpists Oliver Wass and Lise Vandermissen had a joint launch at St Pancras Clocktower for Wass's Musica per arpa on Tactus and Vandermissen's Our Roots on Etcetera. Then on Friday, tenor Nick Pritchard and pianist Ian Tindale launched their disc of songs by Gerald Finzi, The Dance Continued on Signum Classics, at St Clement Danes.

Wass and Vandermissen's launch event was a delight because it involved two harps, both played on a modern harp but Vandermissen also played some repertoire on a 1911 Erard. For her latest disc, Our Roots, Vandermissen has turned to her own roots as she is Belgian, with a disc of music by Belgian composers Jeanne Adrienne Kufferath (1874-1919), Felix Godefroid (1818-1872), Jacqueline Fontyn (born 1930) and Vandermissen's own pieces. The styles proved interestingly varied with Kufferath's more salon-like pieces alongside Godefroid (known as the Paganini of the harp!), Fontyn's piece (which was had direct from the composer) which was a catalogue of advanced harp techniques and Vandermissen's own more personal works.

By contrast, Wass's two-disc set on Tactus, Musica per arpa, contrasted three large pieces by Misha Mullov-Abbado with mainly Italian Baroque works by Travaci, Palestrina, Cacini, and Barbara Strozzi, along with works by Tarrega and Elsa Respighi, plus a concerto by Luigi Molinom with Wass being joined by his Pelleas Ensemble (Oliver Wass - harp, Henry Roberts - flute, Luba Tunnicliffe - viola), and Ensemble APM (Luca Vacchetti - conductor).

Mullov-Abbado has written three pieces for Wass over the years and all three are heard on the disc. At the launch we heard Red Ruth for solo harp along with a work for the Pelleas Ensemble, Three Meditation Songs which was written for the ensemble some ten years ago. The Pelleas Ensemble also played two Barbara Strozzi vocal works in imaginative and free arrangements by the ensemble's viola player, Luba Tunnicliffe. As a finale, Wass and Vandermissen gave us a taster of a future project with a work by Oliver Davis for two harps which was written for them.

Earlier this month I chatted to tenor Nick Pritchard and pianist Ian Tindale about their latest disc, Gerald Finzi: The Dance Continued [see my interview] on Signum Classics reflecting the fact that this year is a double Finzi anniversary. 

So it was a delight to hear some of the music from the disc performed live at St Clement Danes (in an event supported by Finzi Friends). The church is now the central church of the Royal Air Force, a rather apt venue as Gerald Finzi's friend, the composer Howard Ferguson served in the RAF during the war. 

After Finzi's death (in 1956) Ferguson and Finzi's wife Joy created the posthumous song cycles Till Earth outwears Op. 19a and Oh fair to see Op. 13b both of which Pritchard and Tindale performed at the launch. The disc also includes Finzi's 1933 cycle A Young Man's Exhortation, both this and Till Earth outwears are settings of Thomas Hardy.

By contrast Oh fair to see features settings of hardy, Ivor Gurney, Christina Rossetti, Edward Shanks, Robert Bridges and Finzi's close friend Edmund Blunden. The cycle ends with Finzi's last song, a setting of Robert Bridge's Since we loved. But alongside this are two very early songs, and more early songs feature on the disc, all unpublished. All five of these were included in the recital. As Ian Tindale explained, the songs are unpublished for a reason but sufficient time has elapsed that we can explore how these songs reflect both Finzi before his style fully developed along with the moments that look forward to his mature style.

Relishing the challenge: mezzo-soprano Samantha Price on singing her first Dido in Purcell's opera on tour with English Touring Opera

Purcell: Dido & Aeneas in rehearsal - Michael Lafferty (Aeneas), Samantha Price (Dido) & ensemble - English Touring Opera (Photo: Craig Fuller)

As part of English Touring Opera's (ETO) Autumn season they are performing Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in a double bill with Elena Langer's 2002 opera Ariadne. Ariadne is directed by Anna Morrisey with Jessica Cale in the title role. Dido and Aeneas is directed by Rebecca Meltzer and conducted by Alex Robinson with Michael Lafferty as Aeneas and Samantha Price making her role debut as Dido. A graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and a former Harewood Artist at English National Opera, Samantha sang the role of Romeo in ETO's 2025 production of Bellini's The Capulets & the Montagues [see my review].

When I spoke to Samantha, she was just at the beginning of rehearsals with ETO. Whilst she has not sung the role of Dido before she is familiar with the opera. Not only did she learn the aria (as most young mezzos probably do), but she sang the Sorceress in a production of the opera on the opera course at Dartington Hall (when Dartington College of Arts still existed). She comments that it feels a long time ago. She loves the role of Dido and relishes the challenge of it, particularly as the opera is so well known. She was introduced to the aria early and as a young singer found it useful having something in English.

The production of Dido and Aeneas (which is designed by Alex Berry) will be sharing the set with Ariadne and there is an element of keeping it abstract. The production is not specific to Roman mythology and they are aiming for a timeless feel. They want to present the plot as clearly as possible, particularly as there is not a lot of story. Rebecca Meltzer is working on unpicking the layers of myth and storytelling in the piece. Samantha points out that it is a short opera and Dido does not sing a great deal, with only two arias. There are important recits too, and though these are short they are very dense in plot. The story is very much part of the zeitgeist at the moment what with the release of Christopher Nolan's film, The Odyssey, and the popularising of mythology. This is something that they have been talking about in rehearsals, making the audience feel the sense of the work.

Bellini: The Capulets & the Montagues - Samantha Price (Romeo) - English Touring Opera 2025 (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

An exploration of how songs and music can have the unique ability to bring humans and cultures closer together: Sinfonia Cymru's Songs We Carry

Songs We Carry - Patrick Rimes, Ana Silvera, Saied Silbak - Sinfonia Cymru

Ladino song, Arabic music and Welsh folksong: Songs We Carry, Sinfonia Cymru's latest cross-cultural project brings together singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Ana Silvera, composer, singer and oud player Saied Silbak and Welsh composer and fiddler Patrick Rimes with four Sinfonia Cymru musicians to bring Welsh music into dialogue with Ladino, Arabic, Turkish and European influences.

The programme arises out of an earlier Songs We Carry project where Silvera, and Silbak together explored their inherited music, the stories it carries and its power to connect people across cultures [see review of their 2024 show on The ArtsDesk]. The programme was inspired by family history: Ana Silvera's family history as Jewish refugees of the Spanish Inquisition, who resettled in Aleppo (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the 18th century, and Saied Silbak's journey from his Palestinian hometown of Shafaa’mr in the Lower Galilee to London. 

The new programme includes new arrangements by Patrick Rimes of Ana Silvera and Saied Silbak’s music, performing the Ladino and Arabic songs alongside Rimes' Welsh folksongs. Together, it creates a powerful celebration of our diverse and shared musical traditions and the beauty of cultural exchange. An exploration of how songs and music can have the unique ability to bring humans and cultures closer together. 

Ana Silvera explains: "My ancestors were Jewish refugees, and our Ladino songs had almost disappeared. The Ladino language is now recognised by UNESCO as an endangered language. Songs We Carry was my opportunity to share Ladino music and language with new audiences, revealing its beauty and its power to connect us. I’m excited to bring it to Wales, a country that’s home to a thriving minority language, and a nation that is so passionate about sharing its Welsh language and story through song" 

Songs We Carry opens at Riverfront, Newport on 7 October and then tours to The Globe, Cardiff,  Mwldan, Cardigan, Theatr Clwyd, Mold, and Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford-on-Avon with dates in London and Southampton next year.

Full details from the Sinfonia Cymru website. 

Not quite the sum of its parts: starry casting with Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu & Bryn Terfel fails to lift Oxford International Opera's debut with Puccini's Tosca

Puccini: Tosca (Act Three) - Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Chris Christodoulou)

Puccini: Tosca; Carmen Giannattasio, Saimir Pirgu, Bryn Terfel, director: P Burton-Morgan, Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor: Marios Papadopoulos; Oxford International Opera at New Theatre, Oxford
Reviewed 24 September 2026

The debut performance of a new company proves rather a frustrating experience. Star casting and strong individual performances fail to cohere into a satisfying overall operatic drama

Oxford used to be a regular stopping off point for Glyndebourne Touring Opera (remember them?) and Welsh National Opera, but now home-grown professional companies are springing up to fill the voice. Oxford Opera Company debuted in 2018 (with Tosca) and now has an annual production focusing on young artists. Now they have been joined by Oxford International Opera (OIO).

OIO launched under the auspices of the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra (OPO) and its musical director Marios Papadopoulos, with Sir Bryn Terfel as artistic director. And Terfel's name seems to have attracted other star names too. The company's debut production is Puccini's Tosca at the New Theatre Oxford (seen 24 September with a second performance on 26 September). P Burton-Morgan directed and Marios Papadopoulos conducted the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, with designs by Anthony Lamble. Tosca was Carmen Giannattasio, Cavaradossi was Saimir Pirgu, Scarpia was Bryn Terfel with Jamie Woollard as Angelotti, Sion Goronwy as the sacristan and Peter van Hulle as Spoletta.

The setting was resolutely contemporary with Bryn Terfel's Scarpia wandering around with armed heavies. The set for Act One seemed to evoke the designs of Italian brutalist architect Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978) and the sets for the remaining acts utilised the same basic structure. One theatrical element: a false proscenium containing lights that changed colour at crucial moments in the action.

Puccini: Tosca (Act One) - Bryn Terfel - Oxford International Opera (Photo: Alex Brenner)

A sassy Carmen from Katie Bray in Blackheath Halls Opera's celebratory 20th anniversary production of Bizet's opera

Bizet: Carmen - Katie Bray, Oliver Johnston - Blackheath Halls Opera (Photo: Julian Guidera)

Bizet: Carmen; Katie Bray, Oliver Johnston, Meeta Raval, Chuma Sijeqa, director: Harry Fehr, conductor: Christopher Stark, Blackheath Halls Opera; Blackheath Halls
Reviewed 22 September 2026

Blackheath Halls Opera celebrates 20 years by returning to the first opera they performed, Carmen, with Katie Bray making her role debut as terrific, sassy Carmen and Oliver Johnston a powerful Don Jose.

For its 20th anniversary production, Blackheath Halls Opera returned to the work they first started with, Bizet's Carmen. The work has a meaty part for the chorus, but Blackheath has never been lacking in ambition nor the ability to enable amateur chorus members (and orchestral musicians) to rise to the challenge.

The production was directed by Harry Fehr who has a long association with the company [he directed the 2024 production of Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana with Oliver Johnston as Turiddu, see my review]. The conductor was Christopher Stark, the company's musical director. Set designs were by Elliott Squire, with costumes by Alice McNicholas. The movement director was Victoria Newlyn. We caught the second performance at Blackheath Halls on 22 September 2026.

Katie Bray was Carmen, Oliver Johnston was Don Jose, Chuma Sijeqa was Escamillo, Meeta Raval was Micaela, Grant Doyle was Zuniga and Tom Butler was Morales. Frasquita, Mércèdes, Remendado and Dancaire were Clare Mariotti, Ilona Nastase, Jacq Herbots, and Zac Conibear, all vocal students at Trinity Laban. The company was made up of the Blackheath Halls Chorus, Blackheath Halls Orchestra and Blackheah Halls Opera Youth Company, all three community enterprises.

Bizet: Carmen - Meeta Raval - Blackheath Halls Opera (Photo: Julian Guidera)

The opera was sung in Christopher Cowell's English translation first produced for ENO (for Calixto Bieito's production). Rhyming yet with plenty of demotic elements, the language proved to be direct and not too contrived. All concerned seemed to project the words admirably.

Beyond the concert hall: NYCOS Singing Time launches in primary schools & NYCOS BSL Youth Choir makes debut at opening ceremony of Scottish Parliament

Primary Fours in West Primary School, Paisley with NYCOS Artistic Director and Founder Christopher Bell (with the hat), NYCOS Singing Time presenter Holly Clelland (with the red hair) and acclaimed Scottish tenor Nicky Spence (with the red tie)

This year the National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCOS) celebrated its 30th anniverary, the choir launched a variety of intiatives that go well beyond the concert all.

As NYCOS Singing Time launched in primary schools across Scotland from September, providing free access to songs, singing games and teaching resources designed to bring the joy of singing into classrooms nationwide, NYCOS Artistic Director and Founder Christopher Bell, NYCOS Singing Time presenter Holly Clelland and Scottish tenor Nicky Spence joined Primary Fours in West Primary School, Paisley to celebrate the launch.

Created as the centrepiece of NYCOS's 30th anniversary celebrations, the initiative brings together three decades of expertise in youth singing, musicianship and music education. Featuring 15 songs and accompanying singing games, the resource is designed to help children experience the joy of singing while developing musical understanding through play. The films were directed and edited by Lewis Landini and feature three young presenters – Connor Going, Holly Clelland, and Tawana Maramba.

The launch comes at a time when many teachers report feeling less confident about teaching singing and music in the classroom, while opportunities for young people to sing together have declined. NYCOS Singing Time aims to remove those barriers by providing a free, easy-to-use resource that can be accessed by any primary school, regardless of musical experience or budget.

Primary Fours in West Primary School, Paisley with NYCOS Artistic Director and Founder Christopher Bell (with the hat), NYCOS Singing Time presenter Holly Clelland (with the red hair) and acclaimed Scottish tenor Nicky Spence (with the red tie)

Based on the Kodály principles that have shaped NYCOS's educational approach for three decades, the resource uses games, movement and age-appropriate repertoire to help children absorb musical concepts naturally and joyfully. The songs span a range of traditions and languages, including English, Scots and Gaelic, reflecting both Scotland's cultural heritage and NYCOS's belief that singing should be open and accessible to all.

On 16 September, NYCOS launched a new Glasgow Regional Choir, expanding its network of regional choirs and creating opportunities for even more young people to sing regularly in their local communities.

Earlier this year, the organisation launched the NYCOS BSL Youth Choir bringing together Deaf and hearing young people from across Scotland in what is believed to be the first ensemble of its kind in Scotland. Developed in partnership with leading accessible music practitioner Paul Whittaker OBE, the choir enables young British Sign Language users aged 14-18 to experience the creativity, connection and shared expression of choral performance through sign language. The ensemble made its debut at the Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament on 27th June 2026.

NYCOS BSL Youth Choir in a landmark performance at the Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament on Saturday 27 June 2026 (Photo: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament, © Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body)

The celebrations culminated with NYCOS's 30th anniversary tour and a landmark gala performance at Edinburgh's Usher Hall on 13th September. At the heart of the programme was Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, a work that holds a special place in NYCOS history as the first major piece performed by the choir when it was founded in 1996, then comprised of only 60 singers. In August 2026, the choir performed the work in Paisley, Aberdeen and Perth alongside regional choirs from across the country. The gala performance at Usher Hall will bring together 170 young singers with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Between Breath and Brass: Hearing the Sheng in Contemporary London

Julia Luo playing the sheng at the
London International Chinese Music Festival

The sheng is mouth-blown reed instrument that is one of the oldest Chinese instruments with images of it dating back to 1100BCE.

It is an instrument that can look deceptively still. Held vertically in front of the player, its pipes rise from a small wind chamber; the hands move, but often without the immediately visible physical drama of a string player’s bow or a percussionist’s attack. Yet the sound it produces is anything but static. It breathes, bends, overlaps and changes colour with remarkably small adjustments from the player.

For Julia Luo, a Chinese musician now developing her performance practice in London, learning to hear those details has involved moving between two rather different instrumental worlds.

Luo originally trained as a euphonium player at Xinghai Conservatory of Music before completing postgraduate study in music education in Britain. The sheng entered her musical life alongside that Western brass training, rather than replacing it. She studied the instrument with Luo Qixuan, a representative inheritor of Guangdong Han music, and over time the two instruments began to shape the way she approached one another.

At first sight, the pairing seems improbable. The euphonium belongs comfortably within the architecture of the Western wind band and brass tradition: long melodic lines, controlled projection, blended ensemble sound and a highly standardised relationship between notation and execution. The sheng, one of China’s oldest free-reed instruments, carries a different history of sound and musical gesture.

But both begin with breath.

London Opera Company returns to Smith Square with full-scale performance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde

Wagner's Die Walküre - The London Opera Company at Smith Square Hall in 2023

Following sold out performances of Götterdammerung, Die Walküre [see my review] and Siegfried [see Tony's review], the London Opera Company is back at Smith Square Hall on Sunday 18 October 2026 for a performance of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. The cast includes Neal Cooper as Tristan, Cara McHardy as Isolde, Simon Thorpe as King Marke, Harriet Williams as Brangäne and Ronald Samm as Melot. 

Peter Selwyn conducts. Selwyn conducted Der fliegende Holländer at Opera Holland Park last year [see my review] which featured Neal Cooper (London Opera Company's Tristan) as Erik. Cooper also sang the title role in Siegfried in Grimeborn Festival's production of Wagner's opera in 2022 [see my review]. Cara McHardy who sings Isolde, has performed Brünnhilde and Isolde for London Opera Company.

The cast will be joined by an orchestra led by Katherine Shave made up of a core of professionals playing alongside the best post-graduates from London’s top music colleges, and passionate Wagner-loving players from London’s top amateur orchestras. The 25-strong chorus also mixes professionals and amateurs, with Lindsay Bramley as chorus director.

Full details from the Sinfonia Smith Square website.

OutLoud! a new company amplifying queer stories launches with fun, campy production of Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel

Mae Heydorn as the Witch (Photo: Julian Guidera)

A new opera company is presenting its inaugural production at the Cockpit in Marylebone next month. OutLoud! is performing Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October. The family friendly production is reduced to 60 minutes duration (interval free) and sung in English. Hansel and Gretel is directed by William Byram and the musical director is Adam Dickson, with designs by Jackie Crier.

The production features Rozanna Madylus as Hansel, Anna Gregg as Gretel and Mae Heydorn in the triple role of Mother, Witch and Sandman. There will also be 11 young artists from BWA Performing Arts, a South London dance school. The result is planned to be a 'fun, campy production'!

This production marks the launch of a new opera company that aims to amplify queer stories through reworkings of the canon and the performance and commission of new works by LGBTQ+ composers, writers, and creative teams. 

Full details from the Cockpit's website.

Fogli d'album: Anna Bonitatibus & Adele d'Aronzo explore the barely tapped wealth of Rossini's occasional pieces

Rossini - Fogli d'album; Anna Bonitatibus, Adele d'Aronzo; Prospero  
Reviewed 22 September 2026

Rossini's occasional pieces, each dedicated to a friend and patron, brought together in a wonderfully fulfilling recital that wears its learning lightly

Rossini's Guillaume Tell premiered at the Paris Opera in 1829. The effort of composing it left him exhausted but within a year he was planning an operatic treatment of the Faust story. However, the revolution of July 1830 ushered in a new regime under Louis Philippe I and Rossini's lifetime annuity was cut. Any thought of new opera was on hold. This combined with persistent ill-health meant he never returned to large-scale operatic composition.

His years of retirement in Paris with his new mistress,  Olympe Pélissier, left Rossini's wife, Isabella Colbran in Italy where she ended up living with Rossini's father and dying in 1845.

Rossini's didn't give up large compositions altogether and we have the Stabat Mater (begun in 1831 and completed in 1841), and the Petite Messe Solennelle (from 1864), plus his cantata Giovanna d'Arco (written in 1832 for Olympe and revised in 1859). But his main compositional activity was smaller pieces, collected together in Les soirées musicales (1830-1835) and Péchés de vieillesse, an astonishing collection of some 150 vocal, chamber and solo piano pieces.

Though the late 1830s and 1840s were something of a fallow period, compositionally, it seems that he never really lost the habit of composition. In addition to the above there are a myriad of other pieces, largely songs and piano works, often quite short.

This new album from mezzo-soprano Anna Bonitatibus and pianist Adele d'Aronzo on Prospero, Rossini - Fogli d'album explores the barely tapped wealth of Rossini's occasional pieces. The disc draws together some 34 pieces, largely vocal and some very short, which Rossini dedicated to musicians, friends, politicians, artists, noblemen and noblewomen. Some 26 of the pieces are first recordings, and the performers aimed to be faithful to the autograph source or earliest printed source available.

Unassuming charm & surprising sophistication: Bampton Classical Opera in the Italian version of Grétry's take on Beauty & the Beast

Grétry: Zemira e Azor - Gwilym Bowen (Azor), Ffion Edwards (Zemira) - Bampton Classical Opera

Grétry, Holzbauer, Jomelli: Zemira e Azor; Ffion Edwards, Gwilym Bowen, Samuel Pantcheff, Andrew Irwin, Sian Dicker, Rachel Roper, director: Jeremy Gray, CHROMA, conductor: Andrew Griffiths; Bampton Classical Opera at Smith Square Hall
Reviewed 18 September 2026

A rare opportunity to experience one of Grétry's best known operas in an even rare version, with Bampton's young cast bringing out the work's charm and melodic felicity in an engaging and imaginative production

Born in Liège in 1741, André Ernest Modeste Grétry made his career in opera in Paris, writing mainly opéras comiques. He wrote over 50 operas from his first success in 1768 through to his final opera in 1803 (he died in 1813). Though successful in the Ancien régime and despite losing property during the Revolution, he endured. The republic made him an inspector of the conservatoire amd Napoleon granted him the Légion d'honneur and a pension.

His best known operas are Zémire et Azor (from 1771) and Richard Coeur-de-lion (from 1784). Based on a text by Jean-François Marmontel, Zémire et Azor was enormously successful (over 120 performances during its first year) and remained in the French repertory until at least 1820. As with later French operas with spoken dialogue, the work underwent modifications when performed abroad. For performances in 1776 at the court of the Elector in Mannheim, the work was Italianised. The poet Mattia Verazi provided a new libretto, with recitatives by the Elector's kapellmeister, Ignaz Holzbauer. Verazi had been a friend and collaborator of the composer Niccolo Jommelli (who had died in 1774) and presumably at his suggestion two arias by Jomelli were added to the mix. Zemira e Azor was performed at the Elector's summer court theatre in Schwetzingen.

Grétry: Zemira e Azor - Ffion Edwards (Zemira) - Bampton Classical Opera

Mozart owned a score of the work, and his sister-in-law, Aloysia Weber, performed the role of Zémire in Vienna in 1784. The French version was a favourite with Sir Thomas Beecham, but the last UK performance seems to have been at the Camden Fetival in 1980! The 1776 Italian version seems to have languished until it was revived at the Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele in 2023.

It was the 1776 Italian version of Grétry's Zemira e Azor that Bampton Classical Opera chose for their 2026 production, sung in a new English translation by Gilly French and Jeremy Gray. Having performed the work in Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds this summer, the production was brought to Smith Square Hall on Friday 18 September 2026. The director was Jeremy Gray, and Andrew Griffiths conducted CHROMA, with the ensemble placed at the back of the stage. Costumes were by Pauline Smith and Anne Baldwin with visuals (including two electronic screens) by David Hudd and Keith Farr.

Samuel Pantcheff was the merchant Sandro with Andrew Irwin as Sandro's servant Ali. Ffion Edwards, Siân Dicker and Rachel Roper were Sandro's daughters Zemira (Beauty), Fatima and Lesbia. Gwilym Bowen was Azor (the Beast). The harpsichord continuo was played by Alex Norton.

Grétry: Zemira e Azor - Gwilym Bowen (Azor), Ffion Edwards (Zemira), with Samuel Pantcheff (Sandro), Rachel Roper (Lesbia), Sian Dicker (Fatima) in the 'magic mirror' - Bampton Classical Opera

Manfred Honeck to become Philharmonia Orchestra's seventh principal conductor following on from Santtu-Matias Rouvali

Manfred Honeck (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)

The Philharmonia Orchestra has announced that Manfred Honeck will be its next principal conductor. Honeck will take up the post from September 2028, following on from Santtu-Matias Rouvali, who has been principal conductor since 2021. Manfred Honeck is music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra where he is now in his 19th season and his contract was recently extended through the 2032–2033 season. 

Born in Austria in 1958, Manfred Honeck completed his musical training at the Academy of Music in Vienna. His many years as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra have had a lasting influence on his work as a conductor. He began his conducting career as an assistant to Claudio Abbado and was subsequently engaged by the Zurich Opera House. He maintains a distinguished profile as an opera conductor: most recently, he returned to the Salzburg Festival in summer 2026, conducting Ersan Mondtag's new production Ariadne auf Naxos with the Vienna Philharmonic where the musical values were the best thing about the evening. [see my review]

He will become the seventh principal conductor the Philharmonia Orchestra and it is planned that the appointment will become his artistic anchor in Europe whilst he maintains strong links with Pittsburgh.

His appointment marks a shift in the Philharmonia Orchestra's artistic leadership, coming as it does after two Finnish conductors, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Esa-Pekka Salonen, perhaps returning to the Austro-German style of Christoph von Dohnányi (who preceded Salonen as principal conductor). And Honeck's tenure from 2028 coincides with Paavo Järvi taking over from Edward Gardner as chief conductor and artistic advisor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, meaning significant artistic change at the Southbank Centre. Rouvali remains principal conductor for the next two seasons, with a substantial programme of performances in London and beyond, and his close relationship with the Philharmonia will continue beyond the conclusion of his tenure. 

Honeck’s next performance with the Philharmonia comes this November, when he returns to the Royal Festival Hall with his longstanding musical collaborator, pianist Emanuel Ax, for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 25. The programme also includes Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus Overture and Honeck’s own arrangement of the symphonic suite from Richard Strauss’s Elektra.

Manfred Honeck commented: "It is an honour for me to contribute to shaping the Philharmonia’s unique sound identity and to share it with audiences globally at major international venues, as well as in local communities. London is a capital of classical music and a melting pot of cultures. I look forward to playing my part in enticing audiences to experience the full spectrum of traditional and innovative orchestral music we can offer."

Further information from the orchestra's website. 

 

Rehearsal studio, study, office, entertaining suite: Handel Hendrix House's new exhibition celebrates Handel's Brook Street residence

Ledger of subscribers to Handel's Twelve Grand Concertos from 1740 (Handel Hendrix House)

Hallelujah House: Inside Handel's HQ: Handel Hendrix House
Reviewed 17 September 2026

A fascinating & thought-provoking exhibition celebrating both 25 years since Handel's house in Brook Street opened to the public and the way the house was central to Handel's musical life

It is 25 since Handel's house in Brook Street opened to the public and to celebrate Handel Hendrix House has opened a new exhibition, Hallelujah House: Inside Handel’s HQ which runs until 14 March 2027. Handel lived at Brook Street from 1732 until 1759 and the house was central to his music, both the writing of works and the production of them. It was his rehearsal studio, study, office, entertaining suite and much more.

How to reflect this?  Exhibition curator Olwen Foulkes has brought together objects from the museums collection and from loans which tell the story of the remarkable extent to which Handel's music spread across London, and the varied uses to which the house was put. The exhibition is not a single room of objects but more of a trail around the whole of Handel's house, making you view the spaces somewhat differently. But this isn't simply an exhibition about objects, each object evokes a story and these are told not via extensive captions but via online resources (via Bloomberg Connects).

She explains:  "Handel was not just a creative genius, but someone who could organise, entertain, network and work ferociously hard to produce his brilliant music. The story of a creative entrepreneur working hard from home feels very relevant to today, and we are thrilled to be bringing together so many inspiring works of art and objects from museums and our own collections to bring this story vividly to life."

Kazuki Yamada & CBSO launch 2026/27 season with Mahler's Resurrection Symphony celebrating the CBSO Chorus's 1000th performance

CBSO Chorus (Photo: Andrew Fox)

Tonight (17 September 2026), the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, conducted by music director Kazuki Yamada launches their 2026/2027 season at Symphony Hall in Birmingham with a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection' with soprano Anna Patalong. The performance is part of Yamada and the orchestra's ongoing Mahler cycle which continues with Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in June 2027 [see my article on the CBSO's 2026/27 season]

Tonight is notable also for it being the CBSO Chorus's 1000th performance. Founded in 1973, the 180-strong choir made up of singers from Birmingham and the Midlands, 18 years and above, whose day-jobs range from students to nurses, teachers and pilots. The choir has been led by chorus director Simon Halsey since 1983. They performed Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at the opening of the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival in 2000. Later the year they celebrated the centenary of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius which premiered at the Birmingham Music Festival on 3 October 1900 in Birmingham Town Hall. In June 2007 the chorus took part in the 150th Anniversary of Edward Elgar's birth by performing The Dream of Gerontius, The Apostles and The Kingdom over three days with Sakari Oramo and the CBSO, going on to perform The Apostles at the BBC Proms that year.

To mark Britten's centenary in 2013, the CBSO and CBSO Chorus performed The War Requiem in Coventry Cathedral. On Remembrance Day 2026, Remembrance Day, Kazuki Yamada conducts Britten's War Requiem at Coventry Cathedral where the work premiered in 1952. The soloists are tenor Andrew Staples, soprano Irina Lungu and baritone Christian Gerhaher with the CBSO Chorus, CBSO Youth Chorus and Trinity Boys Choir in a performance that also marks 50 years since Britten's death

Further details from the CBSO website. 

Choral music is flourishing in Taiwan: composer Will Todd on his experiences collaborating with the Soochow University Alumni Chorus in Taiwan

Will Todd & Soochow University Alumni Chorus

Composer Will Todd has been collaborating with a choir in Taiwan, the Soochow University Alumni Chorus, first performing his Mass in Blue in 2024 then writing a commission for them and then creating what he considers his third jazz oratorio (after Mass in Blue and Passion Music). Todd and the choir performed it me twice in Taiwan and again in the summer touring to Japan. In this article, Will Todd talks about his experiences being in Taiwan, Taiwanese choral music and his new Christmas-themed oratorio, The Promise written for the Soochow University Alumni Chorus.

Choral music is flourishing in Taiwan with beautiful performances of Western music and excellent newer compositions from contemporary Taiwanese composers. There are choirs all over the country and several top class choral conducting and singing programmes at Taiwanese Universities. I know this because I have experienced it first hand having had the good fortune to work there over the past three years. Beginning with an invitation from Soochow University Alumni Chorus to perform my jazz choral work Mass in Blue I travelled there in 2024 where the choir gave a brilliant performance, with guest jazz musicians at the National Concert Hall of Taipei. And it was packed out with nearly 2000 concert goers! Also on the programme were works by Taiwanese composers some of whom had been commissioned by Soochow University Alumni Chorus. Among these modern compositions, sometimes reflecting Chinese folk music traditions as well as skilfully weaving in more lyrical western harmonic elements and setting Chinese and Taiwanese texts, we heard, among others music by Weng Ching-hsi, Tianhao Ran, Shen-Hsien Liu and Yu Chung-yuan. I also visited the Soochow University and was privileged to direct a masterclass with a group of excellent up and coming young composers, their emerging styles often blending pop and classical genres and showing a real enthusiasm for choral music.