Little Venice Music Festival

The Berkeley Ensemble and James Baillieu who open the
Little Venice Music Festival on 19 October.

The Little Venice Music Festival returns 19 October 2017, with the Berkeley Ensemble curating the festival for the second time, having taken over from the festival's founder Sylvia Rhys-Thomas in 2016. Based at St Saviour's Church, Warwick Avenue, the programme (which runs to 22 October) showcases chamber music and song with Schubert's Trout Quintet, Brahms String Sextet in G and Schumann's Dichterliebe alongside contemporary works by Thomas Ades, Michael Berkeley, Misha Mullov-Abbado and Rachel Stott. 

Pianist James Baillieu joins the ensemble to perform Schubert's Trout Quintet at the opening concert, and pianist Imogen Cooper performs Beethoven's Piano Sonata in A flat, Op.110 at the closing concert. Baritone Benedict Nelson with pianist Simon Over will be performing programme of Schumann song cycles.

BBC New Generation Artist Misha Mullov-Abbado is Artist-in-Residence this year and will be performing with his Misha Mullov-Abbado Group for the festival's first jazz event, as well as writing a new work to be premiered by the Berkeley Ensemble. A second world premiere is provided by Michael Berkeley who writes a piece for solo double bass in collaboration with the Berkeley Ensemble's double bassist Lachlan Radford. Other works in the festival include Thomas Ades' Darknesse Visible, Rachel Stott's Serendipity and Household Objects

Husband and wife actors, Edward Fox and Joanna David will be joined by their daughter Emilia and son Freddie to read a selection of Tales from Beatrix Potter, specially adapted by pianist Richard Sisson.

The Berkeley Ensemble was formed in 2008 from members of the Southbank Sinfonia, it is a flexible chamber ensemble based around Sophie Mather and Francesca Barritt, violins, Dan Shilliday, viola, Gemma Wareham, cello, Lachlan Radford, double bass, John Slack, clarinet, Andrew Watson, bassoon, and Paul Cott, horn.

 Full details from the festival website