Brahms' Requiem, Elgar's Cello Concerto, Young Artist Recitals & under 26 piano competition: Newbury Spring Festival returns with more than 45 events in over 20 venues

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Newbury Spring Festival Chorus 
at St Nicolas Church, Newbury 2025 (Photo: Milly March)

The Newbury Spring Festival features two weeks of music and the arts with diverse genres including jazz, music theatre, cabaret, world music, folk, choral, ballet, chamber music and more. The festival is in its 47th year, and brings together internationally recognised artists and emerging talent across more than 45 events in over 20 venues, from major concerts at St Nicolas Church and the Corn Exchange to performances in rural churches and historic houses. 

London Mozart Players are joined by horn player Ben Goldscheider and conductor Jonathan Bloxham for Mozart's Horn Concerto No. 4 alongside music by Anna Clyne, Elgar and Mendelssohn. Berkshire Youth Orchestra, conductor Jonathan Burnett is joined by cellist Jonathan Swenson (who won the Windsor International String Competition in 2019) for Elgar's Cello Concerto along with music by Amit Manna and Sibelius. The Sixteen and Harry Christophers stop off on their Choral Pilgrimage at Douai Abbey with music from the Spanish golden age alongside James MacMillan, and Kerensa Briggs. Adam Hickox and the Philharmonia Orchestra are joined by Leeds International Piano Competition winner Alim Beisembayev for Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 alongside music by Mendelssohn and Brahms. Voces8 return to the Festival with a programme that moves from Victoria to Eric Whitacre and Ola Gjeilo.

The Newbury Spring Festival Chorus is joined by soprano Hilary Cronin, baritone James Atkinson, pianists Libby Burgess and Sebastian Wybrow under conductor Tom Primrose for the chamber version of Brahms' A German Requiem. The festival concludes with Tom Feathersonthaugh conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra in Britten's Four Sea Interludes, Strauss' Four Last Songs with soprano Elizabeth Watts, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6.

Charles Court Opera's performances are always a delight, and they bring to the festival their Around the World (of Gilbert & Sullivan) in 80 minutes. Brass ensemble Septura have a Franco-American programme with music by Debussy, Ravel, Gershwin, and Joplin. Joe Stilgoe joins Liza Pulman for Hurray for Hollywood, an evening of songs from the movies. Saxophonist Jess Gillam brings her trio performing music from jazz to the Baroque. The Budapest Cafe Orchestra is a British ensemble that focuses on gypsy and folk-flavoured music from the Balkans and Russia.

Pianist Barry Douglas's recital is an especial highlight with Schubert's Wanderer Fantasy, Beethoven's Appassionata Sonata, and music by John Field and Prokofiev. Organist Simon Johnson plays the organ at Douai Abbey in a programme of Bach, Byrd, Howells and Messiaen.Violinist Michael Foyle and pianist Maksim Stsura give a recital in Englefield House's Long Gallery featuring music by Beethoven, Brahms and Franck.

At Highclere Castle, saxophonist Huw Wiggin is joined by harpist Oliver Wass for an unconventional pairing featuring music from Bach and Purcell to Debussy, Einaudi and Bernstein. Soprano Ruby Hughes joins violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen and pianist/composer Huw Watkins for Homecoming, a wide-ranging recital that includes Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock. Ensemble Augelleti bring their Jewels that Brightly Burn programme that features music by Bach's students. The Pavel Haas Quartet feature music by Schubert and Beethoven, whilst the Fidelio Trio perform Beethoven, Anna Clyne and Ravel.

In a family friendly concert, Stravinsky's The Firebird is presented in a version for two pianos (Mikhail Kazakevich and Elena Zozina) and narrator (Richard Morris) 

Young artists recitals include baritone Florian Stortz and pianist Mark Rogers in Wagner, Liszt, Strauss and more; the Paddington Trio in Ravel and Shostakovich; Ensemble Renard in Perotin arranged by Oliver Knussen, Ravel, Bartok and Nielsen; the Fibonacci Quartet in Beethoven, Janacek and Moravian love songs in their own arrangements. The Sheepdrove Piano Competition is open to pianists aged 26 and under; the final is open to the public and the winner will give one of the Festival's young artist recitals featuring music by Prokofiev.

The Good Vibes Academy Showcase brings together local musicians of all ages and backgrounds in a reflection of a diverse and interconnected community. 

Full details from the festival website. 

Love Songs: Oxford International Song Festival is in celebratory mood

This year, Oxford International Song Festival marks its 25th anniversary with to weeks of concerts (from 9 to 24 October 2026) under the title of Love Songs, featuring 59 events. The Festival opens with a recital by Dame Sarah Connolly, also marking the Festival’s first event at the newly opened Schwarzman Centre, and the following day baritone Matthias Goerne makes his Festival debut with Schubert's Winterreise.

The festival finale features a celebratory pair of events at St Edward's School. In the chapel, Owen Rees and the Choir of the Queen's College give a programme focusing on the Song of Songs with music by Palestrina, Walton, Duruflé, Victoria, Holst and Lauridsen. Then in the evening, in the Olivier Hall, a celebratory concert opens with the premiere of Marriage of…?, a new work by the festival's associate composer Emily Hazrati and librettist Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambahksh performed by soprano Nardus Williams. The choir returns to join soloists for Debussy's La Damoiselle élue, and there are songs and ensembles by Schubert, Chaminade, Bolcom and Brahms performed by Nardus Williams, mezzo-soprano Katie Bray, tenor Stuart Jackson, baritone Rafael Fingerlos, and pianists Jocelyn Freeman and Sholto Kynoch. 

Premieres at the festival include soprano Nardus Williams in . Soprano Katy Thomson and pianist Rustam Khanmurzin premiere a new work by John Webb exploring the corrupting nature of power. Soprano Anna Dennis and pianist John Reid present The Silent Songs of Josefine, a new Kafka-inspired work by Can Bilir. Soprano Louise Alder and Joseph Middleton explore the passing of the year in a programme featuring Helen Grime’s Seasons, written for them in 2025. 

The Festival’s central weekend is devoted to the music of Franz Schubert, with Graham Johnson continuing his exploration of the composer’s final years, 200 years on. Other performances include soprano Camilla Tilling in Schubert’s Rückert settings and mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston in Die Schöne Müllerin, both with Sholto Kynoch; and soprano Sarah Maria Sun in Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with pianist Jan Philip Schulze and clarinettist Julian Bliss. 

The New Generation Day showcases three concerts in partnership with the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists scheme, all recorded for future broadcast. Performers include baritone Andrew Hamilton and pianist Michael Pandya; soprano Erika Baikoff with Sholto Kynoch; and Konstantin Krimmel with Ammiel Bushakevitz, presenting a programme that includes Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel. Eight Oxford Song Young Artist duos each give short showcase slots at the start of headline evening recitals in the first week of the Festival. In the second week, they immerse themselves in the residential Mastercourse, led by Jan Philip Schulze, with daily public masterclasses.

Pianist Dame Imogen Cooper performs Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with soprano Katharina Ruckgaber and baritone Johannes Kammler as part of her final concert season before retirement. Juliane Banse returns with pianist Alexander Krichel, dancer István Simon and choreographer Andreas Heise for Bliss Beside Us, a danced performance of Mozart songs and piano music. The Carducci String Quartet performs Mozart's Clarinet Quintet with Julian Bliss and Alec Roth’s Seven Elements with tenor James Gilchrist. Other instrumentalists at the festival include guitarists Bryan Brenner and Václav Fuksa, and accordionist Murray Grainger.

Full details from the festival's website. 

Classical at Aviva Studios: Factory International presents BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Collective, ENO & more

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Aviva Studios in 2025 (Photo: Gaelle Beri)

Factory International, the organisation behind Manchester International Festival, presents a year-round cultural programme at Manchester's Aviva Studios including a classical season. Last weekend (2 May) the Hallé made its debut at Aviva Studios with Anna Meredith’s ANNO, a recontextualisation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, with animated visuals by the composer’s sister, Eleanor Meredith.

In what is the first of a planned series of collaborations, Factory International and English National Opera are presenting the UK premiere of Angel's Bone by Chinese-American composer, performance artist and activist Du Yun. The opera is a powerful allegory exploring themes of exploitation, power, and the human cost of survival. The work will be directed by Kip Williams and features the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Baldur Brönniman with a cast including Allison Cook and Rodney Earl Clarke.

The BBC Philharmonic returns to Aviva Studios with conductor Ludovic Morlot for a programme featuring Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring alongside the UK premieres of works by Jessie Montgomery and Samuel Adams. The sound is powered by the immersive d&b Soundscape audio system, along with captivating lighting design and audience members can choose to stand in the arena or sit in the upper tier of the hall.

Manchester Collective's Patterns in Repeat features a new piece by saxophonist and composer Cassie Kinoshi for piano and string quartet alongside music by Meredith Monk, and Cassandra Miller. 

Going beyond classical, three concerts blend live music and cinema. NARUTO Symphonic Experience is a cinematic anime concert features a montage of iconic scenes synchronized with a live orchestra performing Toshio Masuda's original score. For Space Station Earth, Ilan Eshkeri's album is performed live on synthesisers with an orchestra and choir, presented alongside a film created from footage captured by astronauts aboard the International Space Station and imagery filmed at European Space Agency locations. And a live concert with the BBC Philharmonic, conducted by Adrian Ronda Sampayo, celebrates two decades of BAFTA-nominated and award-winning games music with synchronised live with dynamic visuals, gameplay and imagery on screen.

Going beyond Aviva Studios, Factory International, Improbable and Nica Burns present the West End premiere of Tao of Glass, composed by Philip Glass and written by Phelim McDermott at sohoplace theatre. A production that was originally part of Factory International’s Manchester International Festival. And ENO will be bringing Du Yun's Angel's Bone to the London Coliseum in October 2026.

Full details from the Factory International website.   

Das Klagende Lied: Adrian Partington on the fascination and mysteries of Mahler's astonishing early symphonic work which he conducts at this year's Cheltenham Music Festival

Adrian Partington conducting Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at Gloucester Cathedral as part of the 2022 Cheltenham Music Festival
with South Cotswold Big Sing Group, British Sinfonietta

As part of this year's Cheltenham Music Festival, Adrian Partington will be conducting the British Sinfonietta and the South Cotswold Big Sing Group in Mahler's Das Klagende Lied at Tewkesbury Abbey. Adrian is music director at Gloucester Cathedral, which pays host to this year's Three Choirs Festival, and his concerts with the South Cotswold Big Sing Group have become a feature of Cheltenham Music Festivals where last year they performed Berlioz's Te Deum.

Das Klagende Lied is the earliest of Mahler's large-scale symphonic scores. Mahler wrote his own text based on Der singende Knochen (The singing bone) from the tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. Mahler's first version of Das Klagende Lied was finished in 1880, whilst he was still a student. He submitted it for a competition where Brahms and colleagues on the jury dismissed the work. Mahler then revised it in 1893, but it was not performed, and he revised it further in 1898 with the first performance finally taking place in Vienna in 1901.

Gustav Mahler in 1898

When I asked Adrian why he had chosen Das Klagende Lied he explained that the work offers some of the best examples of Mahler but on a compact canvas. Despite being an early work the music is instantly recognisable as Mahler. Adrian explains that for him, though Mahler's style developed his tools did not, so the work uses the off-stage bands, marches and fanfares that reoccur in his later music, albeit with more sophistication.

The South Cotswold Big Sing Group likes to explore music that choral societies cannot do, and the group was set up in order to explore possibilities for co-operation between choral societies on events which would otherwise be beyond individual societies. In previous years, Adrian has conducted them in works such as Berlioz's Te Deum and Grande Messe des Morts, and Holst's Hymn of Jesus.

Adrian had been involved in two previous performances of Das Klagende Lied, rehearsing with the CBSO for performances by Simon Rattle and back in the 1980s with Worcester Festival Choral Society who performed it with conductor Bernard Keeffe. It is a work that stayed in his mind, a most attractive piece with fresh, interesting music. Also whilst you need a lot of voices, it is not too demanding a piece.

Adrian did a lot of research on the piece and its various versions, consulting Professor Jeremy Barham and the New Critical Edition of Gustav Mahler’s works in order to have a performing version that the festival could afford. The 1880 original is an astonishing work for a teenager, but it includes a prominent role for 18-part off-stage band and in fact this version has never been performed. In 1893 Mahler reduced the work from three to two movements and dispensed with the off-stage band. Nothing happened, and this version does not seem to have been performed. Then Mahler revised it again, keeping the two-movement format but restoring the off-stage band; this revision was wholesale enough to need a new manuscript and has become the standard version.

Prokofiev Studio: new gallery devoted to the abstract art of Oleg Prokofiev son of the composer & father of composer Gabriel Prokofiev

Composer Gabriel Prokofiev is opening a space dedicated to the art of his father Oleg Prokofiev (1928-1998), son of composer Sergei Prokofiev. Oleg wrote that his father's music inspired in him 'a wave of some wonderful energy...a poetic or artistic impulse'.

Oleg became known for his abstract works created in the 1950s in defiance of the Soviet Union’s strict cultural controls where the doctrine of socialist realism was rigidly imposed. Come the 1960s, Oleg developed a relationship with British art historian Camilla Gray and for a decade Oleg hid his abstract work, so the couple could get married. Granted permission in 1969, the two married but Camilla Gray died two years later. Oleg moved to the UK after her death, but his abstract works were left behind, Oleg believing them lost. Returning to his former home in Moscow in 1994, he discovered that the art works had been kept safe by the house's owner alongside the artist's sketches. 

Camilla Gray's book The Great Experiment: Russian Art 1863–1922, published in 1962, broke new ground in explaining Russian avant-garde art outside Russia. Gray was the daughter of Basil Gray, keeper of Oriental art at the British Museum, and the scholar of art and lettering Nicolete Gray, and granddaughter of the poet Laurence Binyon.

Gabriel Prokofiev has now opened Prokofiev Studio in Hackney which will house his father's archive, featuring abstract artworks from the 1950s alongside letters, postcards, sketchbooks, sculptures and other lost paintings. The opening exhibition, Bending Time will feature a reconstruction of Oleg's 1990s studio in Hackney Wick.

Further information from Prokofiev Studio on Instagram. 

10th anniversary: Fantasia Orchestra celebrates with a busy summer featuring a return to the BBC Proms

Jasdeep Singh Degun, Gurdain Rayatt, Fantasia Orchestra, Tom Fetherstonhaugh - Smith Square Hall (Photo: Pablo Strong)

Fantasia Orchestra, conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh, celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer with a very busy programme of concerts including a return to the BBC Proms, festival appearances at Cheltenham, Snape and more, and a premiere with Dame Evelyn Glennie.

Having recently joined forces with sitar player and composer Jasdeep Singh Degun at Smith Square Hall [see my review], the orchestra returns to Smith Square later this month for a jazz-infused concert featuring pianist Steven Osborne in Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside a typically eclectic programme featuring more DSCH, plus Gershwin, Rogers & Hart and Bartok. And their final Smith Square concert of the season features mezzo-soprano Niamh O’Sullivan in a surprising mix of contemporaries including Richard Strauss, Alma Mahler, Ellington, Kern, Gershwin and more

The orchestra's first Prom (at St Jude's) is more sedate with Junyan Chen the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 alongside Symphony No. 1. A Relaxed Prom at the Royal Albert Hall includes music by Dvořák, Vaughan Williams and Caroline Shaw, alongside arrangements of Radiohead and Duke Ellington, performed with the BBC Singers. Then a Late Night Prom sees them join with Evelyn Glennie for the premiere of Heloise Werner's Wood Pigeon alongside music by Meredith Monk, Morton Feldman and John Coltrane, marking both Feldman and Coltrane's 100th anniversaries.

Festival going sees the Orchestra in Cheltenham with Jasdeep Singh Degun for a repeat of their programme, they are joined by mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat for a remix of the Strauss, Alma Mahler, Ellington, Kern, Gershwin programme at Guiting Music Festival, and they will also be popping up in Snape Maltings.

Full details from the Fantasia Orchestra website. 

Windrush & Migrations - An Evening of Opera in Concert: Pegasus Opera Company & Brixton Chamber Orchestra join forces for Windrush Day

Pegasus Opera Company is joining forces with another dynamic Brixton musical institution, Brixton Chamber Orchestra for a pair of events marking Windrush Day 2026. They are presenting Windrush & Migrations: an Evening of Opera in Concert at Broadway Theatre, Rushey Green (25 June) and Lambeth Town Hall (26 June).

The evening includes excerpts from Will Todd's Migrations which was first commissioned by Welsh National Opera [see my review] and Des Oliver's Windrush Opera commissioned by Pegasus Opera Company, alongside other evocative works that reflect themes of journey, identity and hope. The evening also includes music from Philip Hagemann's opera Ruth based on the Bible story, which Pegasus Opera first performed in 2018.

An evening of music and storytelling exploring themes of migration, identity and belonging, these are stories that resonate strongly across London’s communities, offering an accessible and inspiring entry point into the art form while honouring the significance of Windrush Day.

Full details from Pegasus Opera Company's website. 

 

 

A little summer magic: Anush Hovhannisyan & Sam Jewison in Broadway Rhapsody, for one night only

Broadway Rhapsody: Anush Hovhannisyan & Sam Jewison

Soprano Anush Hovhannisyan is familiar from her performances as Lisa in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Space at the Grange Festival [see my review], Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin at Opera Holland Park [see my review], and Verdi's Les vêpres Siciliennes at WNO [back in 2020 when the company could still afford to stage grand opera, see my review] but in July we will be seeing another side to her.

On 26 July 2026, Hovhannisyan is joined at Opera Holland Park by singer and pianist Sam Jewison and a 40-piece orchestra for Broadway Rhapsody, a celebration of Broadway musicals with music from Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, Guys and Dolls, Show Boat, Porgy and Bess, Anything Goes and more, blending the golden age of Broadway with classical flair.

This is very much a passion project for Hovhannisyan and she describes it as "a bold, artist-led, no-safety-net adventure, which means no big backers, just us, the music".

She is joined by Scarborough-born jazz pianist and vocalist Sam Jewison whose performances have included sold-out EFG London Jazz Festival shows in 2022 and 2023, as well as appearances at the West End’s Crazy Coqs, Camden’s Jazz Café, Westminster Abbey and, not least, the Royal Opera House.

Tickets are available from the Opera Holland Park website, and what better way to spend a summer evening.

Looking for people who have experience in the music industry to help shape the work of a charity improving health & wellbeing through the healing power of live music

Music in Hospitals & Care

Music in Hospitals & Care is looking for people to join its Board of Trustees 

Music in Hospitals & Care is a charity that brings live music to people in hospitals, care homes and communities across the UK, improving the health and wellbeing of children and adults through the healing power of live music. Their professional musicians share live music with people from across the UK, who may not otherwise get to experience it. This includes those living with dementia, who have mental health problems, or who are seriously ill.

The charity is looking for trustees and would like to find people who have experience in the music industry to help shape their work. You don’t need to have experience as a trustee or being on a board before - they offer a comprehensive induction programme and training and development opportunities as appropriate.

The Board of Trustees provides guidance, advice and support to the Chief Executive and the Senior Leadership Team. Meetings are normally held in London or online via Zoom. The role is unpaid but reasonable travel and subsistence expenses are provided. It is likely that virtual meetings will remain a regular feature of the organisation in the future. 

Full details from Music in Hospitals & Care's website. 

The fires of passion, immediacy & intimacy: Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt in Lera Auerbach, Golijov, Janacek & Mahler at Wigmore Hall

Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

The Fires of Love: Lera Auerbach, Janacek, Osvaldo Golijov, Mahler; Hugo Ticciati & O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra; Wigmore Hall
Reviewed 28 April 2026

One of O/Modernt's usual freewheeling programmes juxtaposing Golijov's klezmer inspired clarinet with Mahler giving with speaking intensity, Lera Auerbach remarkable dialogue with Pergolesi and Janacek's intimate confessions writ large

Hugo Ticciati and O/Modernt's concert at Wigmore Hall on Tuesday 28 April 2026 was the final one of their residency. Entitled The Fires of Love the programme was supposed to feature the performance of a new commission featuring Iranian vocalist Haleh Seyfizadeh, but she has been unable to travel from Iran. The war thus spreading its tentacles to even the hallowed halls of Wigmore Street. Rather oddly, given the political circumstances, Hugo Ticciati replaced the planned work with Osvaldo Golijov's 1994 work, The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind where Jewish klezmer clarinet is the focus. Around this, the other works in the programme considered different types of love with Lera Auerbach's Sogno di Stabat Mater (2005), Janacek's String Quartet No. 2 'Intimate Letters' (1928) and Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5 (1901-2).

Amidst the hills of Southern Tuscany, a new music festival with local roots and British connections

Forum Bertarelli front entrance with glass canopy at dusk.

This summer a new festival is launching in Tuscany embedded in the wine-growing area. Amiata Music is an annual festival which has evolved from the Fondazione Bertarelli’s successful Amiata Piano Festival which since 2015 has been based at the Forum Fondazione Bertarelli, a contemporary concert hall designed by architect Edoardo Milesi and situated in the province of Grosseto. The Forum Fondazione Bertarelli is located amongst the Bertarelli family’s award-winning wine estates and the Montecucco agriturismo which has been lovingly restored over the last two decades. 

Looking after the new Amiata Music festival are creative director Nicholas Chalmers and executive director Rosenna East. East and Chalmers previously worked together at Nevill Holt Opera where they oversaw the significant growth of the summer opera festival, its charitable education and community programme, and the build and opening of its multiple award-winning opera theatre in 2018.

Amiata Music's 2026 season opens on 26 July with a gala where Nicholas Chalmers conducts Sinfonia Smith Square Orchestra in collaboration with the Florence-based opera training and performance company, Mascarade Opera with young singers including Floriana Cicio, Claudia Perreira, Garrett Evers and Charles Buttigieg. Other events include tenor Laurence Kilsby with Alessandro Quarta and Concerto Romano for Care Gemme, a programme exploring the birth of Italian opera through music by Claudio Monteverdi, Alessandro Scarlatti and Domenico Sarro.

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato brings her project Emily — No Prisoner Be. This genre-defying collaboration with Time for Three, featuring music by Kevin Puts inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson. DiDonato's residency also includes masterclasses and the launch of the Italian Songbook
Project, working with young singers from Mascarade Opera Academy and local ensembles.

Other visitors include bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado and his jazz sextet, Fabio Biondi and Europa Galante in Vivaldi, baritone Luca Micheletti and pianist Malcolm Martineau, and pianist Alice Sara Ott in Field and Beethoven. In the autumn, the young Italian ensemble Trio Concept is in residence as part of a week-long, creative retreat, with a public concert at the end of the process.

Alongside its concert and talent developments programmes, Amiata Music is committed to education and community engagement through initiatives for schools across the Grosseto region and a programme of concerts for the whole family.

Full details from the Amiata Music website. 

Britten's unrealised plans for a follow-up to Noyes Fludde inspire a new intergenerational community opera from Errollyn Wallen & Mahogany Opera

Britten's Noyes Fludde at Orford Church

In 1958, Britten premiered Noyes Fludde the archetype of community opera with its mix of amateur and professional performers using an approachable text derived from the Chester Mystery Plays. In 1974, Britten was approached by the head of Pimlico School in London for another such opera for performance at the school. Britten went back to the Chester Mystery Plays and created A Christmas Sequence. Sadly the libretto remained in typescript as Britten was too ill to translate it into music.

Now, Errollyn Wallen is writing a new opera for children, adults and professional artists with a libretto based on Britten's A Christmas Sequence. Wallen's A Christmas Miracle is being developed by Mahogany Opera, co-produced by Britten Pears Arts and supported by Jubilee Opera and Orkney Music and Culture. The world premiere performances will take place in Orford Church on 20 and 21 November, where Noye’s Fludde was premiered. A Christmas Miracle will then travel to Wallen’s home of Orkney for performances in St. Magnus Cathedral on 4 and 5 December.

A Christmas Miracle includes settings of much-loved Christmas carols for everyone to sing and is designed to be bespoke for each performance. The production will tour with a small professional cast (4 singers and 10 instrumentalists) and production team, which will work with a large community cast of around 80–100 participants of varying ages, backgrounds and skills in each location.

A Christmas Miracle will be Wallen's third collaboration with director Frederic Wake-Walker who was responsible for her operas The Lighthouse Wave and Dido’s Ghost [see my review]. The piece combines high levels of community participation with more complex material for professional artists. Designer Ruth Paton will work alongside an emerging designer (supported by the Jerwood Foundation) and the cast includes Hilary Cronin, Emma Tring, Andrew Watts, Idunnu Münch and Nick Mercer. The performances will be conducted by John Andrews, with Ensemble X who regularly collaborate with Errollyn Wallen, and they can be supported in certain sections by amateur musicians at any level who will be recruited in each location.

Britten conceived of the idea of writing a children's opera based on a biblical story in 1947, suggesting the idea to Eric Crozier. Nothing happened immediately, but Britten and Crozier collaborated on the cantata Saint Nicholas (1948) which uses children's choirs and has congregational hymns incorporated, then Britten fused amateur and professional forces in his opera The Little Sweep which is part of Let's Make an Opera (1949) again with Crozier.  

Noyes Fludde began as an idea for television, though Britten was keen not to go over the ground covered in Let's Make an Opera. For the first time, Britten used a large complement of child performers in Noyes Fludde and the work was finally premiered in Orford Church as part of the Aldeburgh Festival in 1958, and it became the first of Britten's operas to be shown in television when it was broadcast by ATV in June 1958. The success of the work meant that it has become almost an archetype for community and children's opera.

Further information from the Mahogany Opera website. There is currently an open call-out for performers for A Christmas Miracle with events at Orford and Snape on 8 and 9 May, full details from the Mahogany Opera website.

Berlioz, Bartok, Bach and a focus on Beethoven: Scottish Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season

Maxim Emelyanychev & Scottish Chamber Orchestra (Photo: Christopher Bowen)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra's 2026/27 season continues their profitable relationship with principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev and his concerts with them feature Berlioz, Bach, Schnittke, Bartok, Poulenc, Faure, Brahms and more. Another focus of the season is Beethoven as part of the Scotland-wide Beethoven 200 celebrations, and the orchestra continue its association with composer Jay Capperauld.

Maxim Emelyanychev’s contract has been extended till at least 203, continuing what has proved to be a very dynamic partnership. Emelyanychev opens the 2026/27 season with an all-Berlioz programme, Harald in Italy with viola player Timothy Ridout and Symphonie Fantastique. Other Emelyanychev programmes in the season include Bach's St Matthew Passion with Nick Pritchard, Matthew Brook, Hilary Cronin, Tim Mead, Robert Murray and Roderick Williams, and a Mendelssohn celebration with the Lobesgesang and Piano Concerto No. 1 with Stephen Hough. Emelyanychev directs from the piano in a fascinating programme featuring Schnittke's Concerto for piano and strings, Bartok's Music for strings, percussion and celeste and Dvorak's Serenade for winds. Carolyn Sampson is the soloist in Poulenc's La voix humaine which Emelyanychev conducts in a programme with Ravel and Stravinsky, and a second programme with her features Faure's La bonne chanson and Poulenc's La courte paille. Baroque inspirations are featured in Emelyanychev’s programme with Ravel and Ades inspired by Coupering plus Rebel and Telemann. The season finale features Emelyanychev, violinist Nicola Benedetti and SCO's principal cellist Philip Higham in Brahms's Double Concerto plus music by Weber and Schumann.

The Beethoven 200 celebration features the SCO, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera in a historic, Scotland-wide Beethoven 200 celebration, marking the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death. All nine of the composer’s symphonies are to be performed, as well as a number of his concertos and choral works. Andrew Manze conducts the SCO in Symphony No. 3 'Eroica' and Missa Solemnis, Rachel Podger directs Symphony No. 1 from the violin, Lorenza Borrani directs Symphonies Nos. 2 & 4 from the violin, Sunwook Kim directs Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5 from the piano, Håkan Hardenberger directs excerpts from The Creatures of Prometheus and Brett Dean's arrangement, Adagio molto e mesto, and Pekka Kuusisto directs the Violin Concerto from the violin.

SCO continues its association with Scottish composer Jay Capperauld [see my interview with him] with the premiere of his Sinfonietta written for the combined forces of the SCO and the young musicians of SCO Academy. His The Great Grumpy Gaboon returns to Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow in 2027 for more fun-packed, family-friendly and BSL-interpreted performances. His new work Silent Teachers was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh as part of the Edinburgh Medical School’s anniversary programme, and the work will also form part of two short films including an online performance of Silent Teachers and interviews with Jay Capperauld and Edinburgh Medical School staff. And Immerse, SCO's orchestral experience for secondary pupils blending music and visual art, will feature Jay Capperauld’s The Origin of Colour.

Brooklyn Rider will join the Orchestra for the premiere of Nico Muhly’s new work for string quartet and orchestra. The SCO will give the UK premiere of two new orchestrations of works by Fanny Mendelssohn, arranged by composer Detlev Glanert. SCO will collaborate with the iconic Icelandic band Sigur Rós for two major cross-genre concerts at the Edinburgh Playhouse and at Glasgow’s SEC Armadillo.

Other contemporary composers whose works feature in the season include Max Richter, Philip Glass, John Adams, Missy Mazzoli, HK Gruber and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. 

Full details from the SCO website. 

Invincible: Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida & composer Saunder Choi mark 10 years since the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida

Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida

On 12 June 2016, a gunman opened fire at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The attack killed 49 people and wounded 53 others, making it one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history at the time. The victims were predominantly young Latino LGBTQ+ individuals.

Almost ten years to the day, on 19 June 2026 the Gay Men’s Chorus of South Florida (GMCSF) will present the world premiere of Amor Eterno: A Requiem for Pulse, a choral work by composer Saunder Choi commissioned to mark 10 years since the Pulse nightclub shooting. Choi's work is part of the programme Invincible: A Pride Concert of Remembrance, Resilience, and Song that the choir is presenting at the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

Choi's Amor Eterno: A Requiem for Pulse is a 45-minute choral work, featuring soloists bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca and soprano Elisse Albian. Choi sets poetry by LGBTQ+ writers Amir Rabiyah, Leo Herrera, Andrea Assaf, and Brian Sonia-Wallace, whose work traces grief, longing, frustration, and the persistence of love across the decade since the shooting. 

Saunder Choi is a Los Angeles-based Filipino composer and performer who has written a wide variety of works, from contemporary classical instrumental, vocal and choral works to jazz charts and popular music arrangements. He is the winner of the 2024 American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Raymond Brock Prize for professional composers. His music is performed by groups such as the LA Master Chorale Chamber Singers, Philippine Madrigal Singers, and the Crossing Choir. He studied at Berklee College of Music, and USC.

Choi explains, "Inspired by the humanistic vision of Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, the work shifts the focus from ritual prayers for the departed toward solace for the living. Through the voices of contemporary poets and the stories of families and survivors, the piece honours a community forever changed by violence while affirming that love, joy, and remembrance remain acts of resilience."  

Further information from the Broward Center website. 

Transatlantic vision: American conductor Irene Messoloras on working with her British choir, Meridian, on their latest disc Finding Light

Irene Messoloras

Following on from their debut EP, Serenity (2024), and A Meridian Christmas (2025), London-based professional chamber choir Meridian, founder and director Irene Messoloras, have released their debut album on Signum Classics. Finding Light features John Shepherd's Libera nos as part of a programme that has a focus on contemporary composers including music by Vytautus Miškinis, Hanna Havrylets, Rihards Dubra, Henryk Górecki, Benedict Sheehan, Karl Jenkins, Thora Marteinsdottir, Alexander L’Estrange, Stephen Paulus and Morton Lauridsen. 

Irene describes the disc as "a shared act of expression that spans centuries, cultures, and traditions." 

Irene is a Greek-American conductor based in California where she is the Director of Choral Activities at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and currently serves as the Associate Chair of the Music Department. In 2025, Irene’s UCI Chamber Singers received first place in The American Prize for Best Choral Performance, university division.

The focus of Finding Light is deliberately spiritual in a more general sense. Irene's choice of music focuses on intimate expression. She herself uses prayer and meditation, and she wanted the disc to make people feel connected to what they feel close to, to reflect. She hopes that the listener will bring their own meaning and reflections to the music, where sacred repertoire can have a sense of meditation and stillness even for the non-religious.

Irene Messoloras & Meridian recording Finding Light at All Hallows Church 

Still handsome: Hansung Yoo, Robyn Allegra Parton & Liparit Avetisyan in Verdi's Rigoletto at Covent Garden

Verdi: Rigoletto - Royal Opera (© ROH 2023 Photo: Tristram Kenton)

Verdi: Rigoletto; Liparit Avetisyan, Robyn Allegra Parton, Hansung Yoo, director: Oliver Mears, conductor: Sir Mark Elder; Royal Opera House
Reviewed 23 April 2026

With some new faces alongside the old, Oliver Mears' handsome production remains in good health with Mark Elder celebrating 50 years of conducting at the Royal Opera

The Royal Opera's most recent run of Verdi's Rigoletto has been one of those with a rather mix and match cast, made the more complex by illness. We caught the final performance of the run of Oliver Mears' still handsome 2021 production, designed by Simon Lima Holdsworth and Ilona Karas. Rigoletto was sung by Sout Korean baritone Hansung Yoo (a replacement for Daniel Luis de Vicente) with Robin Allegra Parton as Gilda (a role she sang in Jonathan Miller's production at ENO in 2024), and Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan as the Duke. Avetsyan previously at the Royal Opera he sang Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (in 2024), Alfredo in La traviata and the Duke (in 2021/22). He has more recently been singing the Duke widely. Sir Mark Elder was conducting, marking his 50th anniversary as a conductor at the Royal Opera.

Mears' artful production moves between Renaissance Italy and contemporary to create a particular world with a female nude reminiscent of Titian's Reclining Venus or Giorgione's Sleeping Venus providing a very particular aura for the opening scene. 

Liparit Avetisyan proved to be an elegant yet dangerous Duke, in the opening scene adding a vein of viciousness to the stylishness of his singing (and with looks to match). Avetisyan never pushed his voice and he combined the Duke's seductive swagger with an elegance of bearing. As the opera developed there was something deliberately theatrical about him. In the scene in Act One with Robyn Allegra Parton's Gilda he seemed to be deliberately putting on a persona, and this sense carried through. This Duke was all things to all men. Avetisyan never made you think the role was simply a series of well-known arias, his performance was dazzling throughout, and I was completely captivated.

Verdi: Rigoletto - Liparit Avetisyan - Royal Opera 2021 (© ROH )

Gluck in French, Sullivan & a contemporary focus on Kaija Saariaho, Elena Langer, Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun & Philip Glass: ENO's 2026/27 season

English National Opera has announced its 2026/27 season and as with the last couple of seasons the miracle is that the season exists at all. As it is, there are nine operas with six new productions. Eight events in London (one a double bill) and two events in Manchester. At first this does not quite seem the mass migration that was promised, but the season's plans in the North-West include projects such as Creative Incubator and The Artists’ Table along with Greater Manchester Youth Opera Company and working with Factory Academy on vocational training 

It is an interesting season with a continuing focus on the new and the contemporary. Inevitably perhaps, large-scale romantic drama is missing, but there are works by Kaija Saariaho, Elena Langer, Missy Mazzoli, Du Yun and Philip Glass alongside Puccini, Gluck, Verdi and Sullivan. 

There is a certain focus on non-British singers with a French Tosca, German Adriana Mater, American Bess in Breaking the Waves and American Violetta; a trend that you can regard as worrying or exciting depending on your point of view. If you pair up the significant number of singers whose first language is not English (and whose hard-work I do credit in learning a role in English), allied to the introduction of a Gluck opera in French and you rather wonder whether 'Opera in English' is still at the forefront of the company's philosophy.

Artistic director Annilese Miskimmon is directing a pair of thematically and theatrically connected productions, Puccini's Tosca and Kaija Saariaho’s Adriana Mater. 

America's 250th, 50 years since Britten's death, Miles Davis's centenary, anniversaries for Weber's Oberon & Varèse's Amériques: BBC Proms 2026

Suddenly it's that time of year and the BBC Proms programme has been launched again. This year there are 72 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall from 17 July to 12 September 2026, with further events across the UK - Bristol, Gateshead, Mold, Middlesbrough, Sunderland. 

Visitors include the Los Angeles Philharmonic (at the Proms for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century), the Berlin Philarmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, the Mahler Academy Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and The Met Orchestra making its first visit. There are nearly 20 premieres (world or UK). The festival is marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with music by Barber, Copland, Feldman, Gershwin, Jessie Montgomery and Steve Reich, and the 50th anniversary of Britten's death with the Cello Symphony, Simply Symphony, Violin Concerto, Les Illuminations and more. There is also a focus on Richard Strauss centred around Glyndebourne's visit with its new production of Ariadne auf Naxos, along with four major tone poems, the final scene of Salome (with Elza van den Heever) and the Four Last Songs with Natalya Romaniw.

It is a year for pianists. Yunchan Lim plays Ravel at the First Night, Yuja Wang plays Barber's fiendish Piano Concerto (the first version of which was declared unplayable by Horowitz!) at the Last Night. In between Alexandra Dariescu makes her Proms debut in Nadia Boulanger, as do siblings Lucas and Arthur Jussen in Poulenc. Martha Argerich plays Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 and Kirill Gerstein plays Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini.

send back the echo: exploring marginalised voices through the stories and music of deaf composers

Julian Azkoul and United Strings of Europe make their Southbank debut on 9 May at the Purcell Room with send back the echo, a concert exploring marginalised voices through the stories and music of deaf composers together with Deaf BSL actor Vilma Jackson. The event explores hearing loss and the nature of listening through the lived stories and music of Deaf composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Dame Evelyn Glennie, alongside works by contemporary composers Jasmin Rodgman, Jessie Montgomery and Gareth Farr. 

Vilma Jackson is a Deaf performance artist, actor, filmmaker, and advocate of Mozambican origin based in the United Kingdom  

British-Malaysian Jasmin Rodgman’s send back the echo is the focal point of the evening. Blending musical performance, dramaturgy and modulated sounds of nature, the work draws on Ludwig van Beethoven’s confessions to shed light on issues around disability and social alienation, movingly communicated in BSL by Vilma Jackson. 

Rodgman's piece was originally conceived for the ensemble’s 2020 film of the same name which premiered on BBC Arts and was selected for the London Short Film Festival amongst others. Beethoven’s personal letters and memoirs reveal a human story of intense passion, fear and joy as he reconciled solitude and deafness with a deep love of nature and music, however send back the echo is not an homage to the legend of Beethoven but rather a journey inspired by a deaf musician, which drives the overarching theme of this concert.

Julian Azkoul explains: "We are continually seeking ways to re-imagine string playing and the concert experience. Our interdisciplinary projects challenge us to stretch our thinking and to find new ways to engage and enthral. Every performance we give is a chance to tell a story, an opportunity to re-examine the familiar and discover something new. We invite you on a moving journey rooted in meaningful lived experiences, engaging with voices and perspectives too often overlooked."

The entire concert and spoken introductions will be signed in British Sign Language through the work of interpreters Kathryn Green and Hannah Marsden. There will be a pre-concert workshop at 6:30 PM open to ticket holders led by Deaf musician Ruth Montgomery of the charity Audiovisability introducing the evening’s programme and performers.

Further details from the Southbank Centre's website. 

The War Requiem, Gerontius, a complete Sleeping Beauty, Tippett's fourth: the London Philharmonic Orchestra's 2026/27 season at Southbank Centre

Edward Gardner (Photo: Jason Bell)

The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) has announced its 2026/27 season at the Southbank Centre. Under the title In Search of Purpose, the season explores the human spirit’s resilience and the quest for meaning. The season also includes a celebration of the London Philharmonic Choir’s 80th anniversary year with some major choral masterpieces.

The season opens with Edward Gardner conducting Britten's War Requiem with soloists Natalya Romaniw, Allan Clayton and Benjamin Appl, and Gardner brings the season to a close with Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with soloists American mezzo-soprano Natalie Lewis, American tenor Michael Spyres and Norwegian baritone Yngve Søberg bringing a somewhat different perspective to the work. 

Other major choral works include Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with Gardner conducting and soloists Louise Alder and Gerald Finley in a programme that also includes the premiere of Judith Weir's Respire, Inspire; and a relative rarity in Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri with Samantha Clarke, Christiane Karg, Beth Taylor, Robert Murray, Lunga Eric Hallam and Thomas Oliemans.

Major symphonic utterances include Tippett’s Fourth Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s Manfred Symphony and Zemlinsky’s The Mermaid. There is a cycle of Beethoven's piano concertos along with Symphony No. 5.

New music includes the premiere of Mark Simpson's Piano Concerto with soloist Víkingur Ólafsson, conducted by Gardner, Karina Canellakis conducting a Dai Fujikura new work, Anja Bihlmaier conducting Jacob Mühlrad's Kavanah, for clarinet and orchestra with Martin Fröst. Tianyi Lu conducts the European premiere of Kevin Puts' The Brightness of Light with soprano Renee Fleming.

Other contemporary music includes a semi-staging, directed by Dan Ayling, of George Benjamin's Lessons in Love and Violence, conducted by Gardner with soloists Nathaniel Sullivan, Gyula Orendt, Georgia Jarman, Toby Spence and James Way, and later in the season Gardner also conducts Benjamin's Concerto for Orchestra. Unsuk Chin's subito con forza is conducted by Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

Conductor Emeritus Vladimir Jurowski returns for two concerts. Wagner’s Prelude to Parsifal, Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7, and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Mitsuko Uchida. Then a complete concert performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty. The LPO is also welcoming Paavo Järvi in his new role as Chief Conductor & Artistic Advisor Designate with Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, plus music by Veljo Tormis and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 (‘Emperor’), performed by Benjamin Grosvenor.

New cohorts are welcomed to the LPO's talent development programmes with 16 early-career musicians in the Future Firsts programme, two Fellow Conductors, five Young Composers, and a fresh intake of LPO Junior Artists, the LPO's trailblazing mentorship programme for talented teenage musicians from under-represented backgrounds, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. AN the LPO's social impact programmes reach 30,000 people annually through diverse education and community initiatives. Key projects this season include the FUNharmonics family concert series, the Crisis Creates programme for adults experiencing homelessness, and the award-winning OrchLab programme, as well as many other projects with schools and communities in London and beyond. The LPO is now working with 15 partners across East and West Sussex to champion inclusion, nurture local talent, and support wellbeing through music. This season marks a significant geographic expansion of the Orchestra’s South Coast activity, extending its award-winning community work into Bognor Regis, Dover and Folkestone.

Full details from the LPO's website.

In his music for Daudet's L'Arlésienne, Bizet demonstrated his dramatic talent, yet the original is almost unknown: the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is set to change that

Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) and Georges Bizet (1838–1875)

Bizet's L'Arlésienne suites are well-known with some movements representing some of the composer's most played music. Yet the original score for Alphonse Daudet's play, from which the suites are drawn, remains virtually unknown. 

In his biography of the composer Winton Dean argues that the original L'Arlésienne was one of the first examples of Bizet's short creative maturity. Dean has high praise for the dramatic qualities of the score, arguing that it is best appreciated in the theatre rather than the concert hall. Now we are getting a chance to do so as part of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's 2026/27 season at the Southbank Centre, when Daudet's play will be presented in a new translation by Jeremy Sams.

Alphonse Daudet's L'Arlésienne was based on the author's short story of the same name inspired by a real life event. [The play would also be the source for Francesco Cilea's 1897 opera L'arlesiana, which was performed by Opera Holland Park in 2019, see my review]. Daudet's play was planned for the Théâtre du Vaudeville in 1872 where the director was Léon Carvalho, who was previous at the Théâtre Lyrique where he commissioned The Pearl Fishers (1863) and The Fair Maid of Perth (1867). 

Winton Dean argues that Daudet's play was far better than any libretto that Bizet had set so far and the composer responded. Bizet's original incidental music consists of 27 numbers for chorus and small orchestra, ranging from mélodrames only a few bars long to entr'actes. Restricted to a small orchestra for reasons of economy, Bizet reacted creatively. The resulting integrated drama was perhaps not quite what Carvalho had in mind. When considering the play he said "The piece is a little too sombre for my theatre, but I think the music will be a powerful attraction, and it will soften somewhat the cruelty of the play."

The production was rushed, and the play was not a success. Bizet was persuaded to create a suite for full orchestra and the success of this led to a second suite, four years after Bizet's death. Then in 1885 L'Arlésienne returned to the theatre, this time the Théâtre de l'Odéon where the music mixed the original version with the suite. Though coolly received initially, it eventually ran for over 400 performances. But like Carmen success came too late for Bizet.

Sir Mark Elder conducts the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Daudet's L'Arlésienne translated by Jeremy Sams with Bizet's original score to open the OAE's 2026/27 Southbank Centre season. Called Music Speaks, the season also features Václav Luks conducting Bach's complete Christmas Oratorio, Vladimir Jurowski conducting Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, John Butt conducting Bach's St John Passion, Handel sung by Mark Padmore and Carolyn Sampson, along with much more. 

Full details from the OAE website. 

 

B:Classical - B:Music's 2026/27 classical season in Birmingham mixes local and home-grown talent with international visitors

Martha Argerich (Photo: Adriano Heitman)

B:Music is the charity responsible for Birmingham Symphony Hall, home of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO), and Town Hall, the city's most iconic historic building, each year welcoming more than 500,000 visitors to enjoy our programme of over 700 concerts featuring local, regional and international music. Alongside a wide-ranging programme of concerts, B:Music presents a classical season that complements the home-grown CBSO with international ensembles.

B:Music's 2026/27 classical season opens with a bang as Martha Argerich is the soloist in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor Lahav Shani, in a programme that includes music by Louise Farrenc and Brahms.

The NDR Radiophilharmonic Hannover, in their first visit to Birmingham since 2017, perform Beethoven and Brahms under conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky. British conductor Duncan Ward [who I chatted to in 2023, see my interview] brings the Flanders Symphony Orchestra in a programme that includes French violinist Alexandra Soumm in RVW's The Lark Ascending and Mozart's Violin Concerto no. 5 Turkish. There are more British visitors in the form of the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor Marin Alsop performing Bernstein's Serenade with violinist Esther Yoo and Mahler's Sixth Symphony. Aziz Shokhakimov conducts the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra in Prokofiev, Saint-Saëns, and Rachmaninov, with violinist Maria Ioudenitch as soloist.

Ben Palmer brings his Covent Garden Sinfonia to celebrate the centenary of Fritz Lang's iconic Metropolis with a screening of the film with a live performance of the newly restored orchestral version of Gottfried Huppertz’s original symphonic score. Still on a film theme, the Taiwan Philharmonic is conducted by Jun Märkl in a programme that combines John Williams' music for Star Wars with music from Holst's The Planets and Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra.

British conductor Alpesh Chauhan is music director of Birmingham Opera Company and principal guest conductor with Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, and he brings the latter in a programme of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Brahms's Violin Concerto with soloist Hyeyoon Park. There is more local talent when Jeffrey Skidmore conducts Birmingham-based ensemble Ex Cathedra Choir, Baroque Orchestra & Academy of Vocal Music in Bach's St Matthew Passion.

The season concludes with a pair of blockbusters. Opera North, conductor Anthony Hermus, brings their concert staging of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde with John Matthew Myers and Wendy Bryn Harmer, then there is a visit from The Hallé, conductor Kahchun Wong in Walton's Belshazzar's Feast.

Birmingham Town Hall

A series of six Sunday morning recitals the Jennifer Blackwell Performance Space is launched by soprano Camila Mandillo in Monteverdi, Mozart, Poulenc, Ligeti and Bushra El-Turk. Mandillo has been selected as a Rising Star by ECHO (the European Concert Hall Organisation). The other Sunday morning recitals, all ECHO Rising Stars feature cellist Petar Pejčić, the Javus Quartet, the Amelio Trio, soprano Elionor Martínez and violinist Ava Bahari.

Thomas Trotter celebrates the 900th recital of his tenure as Birmingham City Organist as part of his programme of lunchtime concerts at Symphony Hall and Town Hall, giving you a chance to compare and contrast the 2001 Klais organ in Symphony Hall with the historic William Hill organ in Town Hall which dates back to the 1830s with a rebuilding in the 1890s and a more recent 1983 reconstruction by Mander to return it to its 1890 state. As part of the more recent work, bells were added to the organ. The original specification when the organ was built by William Hill included a set of bells, but no record remains as to what form these bells took. A set of handbells were obtained from the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and these were set in a frame with hammers activated by electric solenoids with dampers for the larger bells, which have been well received.

Full details from the B:Classical 2026/27 webpages.

Winners of the National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award 2026

NCEM Young Composers Award - Edward Tait, joint winner of the 19 to 25 years category(Photo: Charlie Kirkpatrick)

Winners of the National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award 2026, presented partnership with BBC Radio 3, were announced at the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM) in York last week. BBC Radio 3 invited aspiring young composers to compose a new song setting for soprano, cornett and keyboard, to be performed by The Gonzaga Band (Jamie Savan cornett; Faye Newton soprano; Steven Devine keyboard).

The composers took inspiration from the music of Claudio Monteverdi and his contemporaries, evoked in The Gonzaga Band’s recently released recital programme Love’s Labyrinth. The song setting explored the theme of love through the relationship between the voice and instruments, setting a poem by Lady Mary Wroth (1587-1651), published in 1621 as part of the sonnet cycle A Crown of Sonnets Dedicated to Love – one of the earliest by a female poet.

In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn?
Ways are on all sides, while the way I miss:
If to the right hand, there, in love I burn;
Let me go forward, therein danger is.
If to the left, suspicion hinders bliss;
Let me turn back, shame cries I ought return,
Nor faint, though crosses with my fortune kiss;
Stand still is harder, although sure to mourn.
Thus let me take the right, or left hand way,
Go forward, or stand still, or back retire:
I must these doubts endure without allay
Or help, but travail find for my best hire.
Yet that which most my troubled sense doth move,
Is to leave all, and take the thread of Love. 

NCEM Young Composers Award - Kat Farn, joint winner of the 19 to 25 years category(Photo: Charlie Kirkpatrick)

The eight young finalists took part in a day of workshops at the National Centre for Early Music’s home St Margaret’s Church, a popular year-round music venue. The sessions were led by composer Professor Christopher Fox, composer and Honorary Professor of Music at the University of York, and The Gonzaga Band, who performed the pieces in a public performance at the venue.

This year there were two winners in the 19 to 25 years category:

Kat Farn with LABYRINTH and Edward Tait with My troubled sense doth move.

The winner in the 18 years and under category was Laura Kesiak with In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn.

The winning compositions will be premiered by The Gonzaga Band in a lunchtime concert at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on Tuesday 27 October 2026, which will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3's Early Music Show and BBC Sounds.

NCEM Young Composers Award - Laura Kesiak, winner of the 18 years and under category (Photo: Charlie Kirkpatrick)

The final was live-streamed an is available on the NCEM website, and on YouTube.