Somewhere for the weekend - Sacconi Chamber Music Festival in Folkestone

The Sacconi Quartet Chamber Music Festival in Folkstone runs from 20 to 22 May 2016, and this year the quartet (Ben Hancox, Hannah Dawson, Robin Sahwell, Cara Berridge) and their friends explore the various chamber combinations from duets and trios, through quartets and quintets to an octet, and a triple quartet. 

The opening night features the world premiere of Jonathan Dove's In Damascus for tenor and string quartet, which will be premiered by Mark Padmore and the Sacconi Quartet, Dove's string quartet Out of Time and Piano Quintet also feature in the festival. Other highlights include Steve Reich's Triple Quartet, and a concert for ten violas featuring music dedicated to the great violist Lionel Tertis by John Ireland, Frank Bridge, York Bowen, Benjamin Dale and Gordon Jacob.

Other composers in the festival include Haydn, Mendelssohn, Martinu, Bartok, Elgar, Mozart, and Brahms. Concerts take place at the Church of St Mary and St Eanswythe, Folkstone, and the festal church service there on Sunday 22 May includes Mozart's Mass in G Major and Stainer's anthem I saw the Lord. The Sacconi Quartet are joined during the festival by friends including the Royal College of Music Chamber Orchesra, Morgan Szymanski (guitar), the Royal College of Music Viola Quartet, Charles Owen (piano), Roger Chase (viola) and Pierre Doumenge (cello).

Full information from the festival website.