Small but mighty: Music at Paxton 2024

Paxton House

Based at the delightful 18th-century Paxton House in the Borders, Music at Paxton is a chance to hear international, national and local artists in the famous early 19th-century Picture Gallery hung with paintings from the National Gallery of Scotland. This year, Music at Paxton runs from 19 to 28 July 2024, and features a sequence of concerts curated by violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen and pianist Cordelia Williams, including a concert at Duns Parish Church preceded by a guided Festival Walk.

This year's festival Associate Ensemble, the Consone Quartet will be appearing with an array of guests including composer Gavin Bryars, violist Francesca Gilbert, cellist Alexander Rolton, and mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, with music including the Scottish première of Gavin Bryars’s String Sextet ‘The Bridges of Königsberg’.

Violinist Viktoria Mullova makes her festival debut with Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson, whilst tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Jocelyn Freeman present an evening of song and host a masterclass. Other artists include Ensemble Hesperi, Kosmos Ensemble, and Mithras Trio who are joined by narrator Gerda Stevenson for Rothschild’s Violin by Anton Chekov and Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2.

Northumberland-based Coquet Concert Band plays swing, Scots Singer of the Year 2022 Beth Malcolm and guitarist Heather Cartwright form a modern folk-inspired duo, Roo Geddes, fiddle and Neil Sutcliffe, accordion combine music and storytelling to introduce traditional Scottish tunes and songs to young children and their families. 

And during May and June there are free taster concerts in association with Live Music Now Scotland featuring pianist Matthew Shiel and Silver Keys clarinet quartet.

Full details from the festival website.