Barnes Music Festival in full swing

The Barnes Music Festival got underway on Saturday, with the festival running until 26 March 2017 in venues in and around Barnes including St Mary's Church, St Michael's Church, the OSO Arts Centre, Olympic Studios, the London Wetlands Centre and The Bull's Head. 

Tonight violinist Madeleine Mitchell is joined by pianist Marc Vertner and poet David Harsent at St Mary's Church, Church Road, Barnes for a programme of music and poetry on the theme of night. David Harsent (a Barnes resident), reading poems from his award winning collection 'Night' and a new poem by Harsent 'River Fragments' with Mitchell improvising solo violin sounds. Mitchell will also be playing music by Copland, Lili Boulanger, Elgar, Michael Berkeley and Ned Rorem.

Further ahead the festival highlights include an evening with Sean Rafferty of BBC Radio 3 , a cabaret evening with Kit and McConnel, the Rautio Piano Trio performing a London themed programme, including Jim Parker’s arrangement of Betjeman poems with a celebrity narrator.  The first ever classical concert at the London Wetlands Centre is on 21 March and there is a performance of the Brahms Requiem with the English Chamber Choir on 22 March.

Additionally there will be jazz and blues at the famous Bull's Head, and the screening of Tony Palmer's film on Aldeburgh & Britten with Elly Oldroyd.

Full information from the Barnes Music Festival website