Something for the weekend - Mendelssohn chamber music

Whittington Castle

This year's Whittington International Chamber Music Festival is devoted to the still rather undervalued chamber music of Mendelssohn. The Werther Ensemble and friends will be performing six concerts in the period form 12 to 17 May 2015, all based in Whittington Church. This will be a chance to hear, not just the Octet but quartet, piano quartets, string quintets, solo chamber music and piano trios by both Felix and his sister Fanny. There will also be a lecture by Mendelssohn's great....niece Sheila Hayman.

The London-based Werther Ensemble consists of four young musicians Jamie Campbell (violin), Hannah Strijbos (viola), James Barralet (’cello) and Simon Callaghan (piano), and James Barralet is the artistic director of the festival. Guest artists this year will include violinists Bogdan Bozovic and Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, viola player Francis Kefford, cellist Julian Arp and pianist Caspar Frantz.

Whittington is in Shropshire in some lovely countryside with plenty to see, including Whittington Castle.