Echoes of war: Salomon Orchestra, Cathal Garvey & Charlie Lovell-Jones in Walton, Britten & Vaughan Williams

This year is the 80th anniversary of the ending of World War Two, and organisations are finding a wide variety of ways to create events that reflect this. 

For their concert at Smith Square Hall on 14 June 2025, Salomon Orchestra are joined by conductor Cathal Garvey and violinist Charlie Lovell-Jones for three 20th century English works that resonate with the anniversary in different ways - Walton's Orb and Sceptre, Britten's Violin Concerto and Vaughan Williams' Symphony No. 3 'A Pastoral Symphony'.

Walton's march was written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and whilst the work is influenced by earlier marches by Walton himself and Elgar, it also reflects the more confident atmosphere of post-War Britain. 

By contrast, Britten's Violin Concerto was written in 1938/39 and completed in the USA and Canada where Britten and Peter Pears were in self-imposed (and temporary) exile during the war. The premiere was conducted by John Barbirolli in New York and it only reached England in 1941 (at the Queen's Hall). Often lyrical and elegiac, the work is in rather contrast to Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem (of 1940) which reflected a darker more intense view of the international situation.

Soloist Charlie Lovell-Jones was a Christ Church Prize Scholar at Oxford University, he graduated in 2020 with a Gibbs Prize in Music. He received a Bicentenary Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music and graduated in 2022 with the Strings Postgraduate Prize. He was the youngest-ever member of the John Wilson Orchestra and has since led the orchestra on occasion.

Whilst Britten would write the War Requiem in the aftermath of the World War Two, an intriguing fact about the earlier world war was the several of the composers who participated in it failed to write such intense, angry works in the aftermath, composers such as Ravel, Bliss, Holst and Vaughan Williams. RVW began ideas for A Pastoral Symphony whilst he was a stretcher bearer in the Royal Army Medical Corps and rather than the English cow gazing over a fence of Constant Lambert's jibe, the works initial genesis reflected the bleak landscape of war torn Northern France, with a bugler's slip in playing the Last Post. The whole tone of the work is reflective. RVW completed the work in 1922 as A Pastoral Symphony, only later numbering it (until his Symphony No. 4 he seemed to push against numbering his symphonies).

Full details from the Sinfonia Smith Square website.

A near-perfect triptych: at Opéra Bastille, Paris, Christof Loy conjures atmosphere inspired by film for Puccini's Il Trittico conducted by Carlo Rizzi

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi - Opéra Bastille (Photo: Guergana Damianova/OnP)

Puccini: Il Trittico; Asmik Grigorian, Alexey Neklyudov, Misha Kiria, Enkelejda Shkoza, Joshua Guerrero, Roman Burdenko, Karita Mattila, director Christof Loy, conductor Carlo Rizzi; Opéra Bastille, Paris
Reviewed by Andreas Rey, 29 April 2025

An excellent evening. A near-perfect triptych. Our Paris correspondent enjoys Puccini's trilogy directed by Christof Loy with Asmik Grigorian in three soprano roles

From April 29 to May 28, the Opéra Bastille presents a new production of Puccini's Il Trittico (Triptych), directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Carlo Rizzi. This was a co-production with the Salzburg Festival where the production debuted in 2022 with substantially the same case [see review on Bachtrack]. Three operas of different natures, all juxtaposed to demonstrate the breadth of the Italian composer's genius. Contrary to Puccini's own instructions, the German director begins the work with the opera buffa Gianni Schicchi, continues with the verist opera Il Tabarro and finishes with the Puccinian opera Suor Angelica (Sister Angelica), allowing star Lithuanian soprano Asmik Grigorian to build up the dramatic intensity before ending with a climactic finale.

We must begin by saluting the excellent work of the director's team, namely set designer Étienne Pluss, costume designer Barbara Drosihn, lighting designer Fabrice Kebour and dramaturg Yvonne Gebauer, who give each opera a different atmosphere, inspired by a film genre.

Puccini: Il Tabarro - Opéra Bastille (Photo: Guergana Damianova/OnP)

To capture the atmosphere of the opera buffa, the German director drew inspiration from the Italian comedy films of the 1960s and 1970s. 

English National Opera - new season, new music director: Dead Man Walking, Mahoganny, Cenerentola, Albert Herring & more

André de Ridder
Courtesy of English National Opera © Hugo Glendinning 

English National Opera's announcement of its 2025/26 season (good news in itself, there is a season and it is far stronger than might have been anticipated) has come along with the news that the company finally has a music director again. 

German conductor André de Ridder has been appointed as ENO music director with his first engagement as music director designate in February 2026.

The good news is that the season includes 12 productions and concerts across London and Manchester, including five new productions, with the London Coliseum still seeing a significant number of performances. The company still does not seem to be able to see a way to performing regularly in London at a smaller venue, so the season includes a number of operas more suited to medium size theatre. 

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

The number of London performances are rather reduced and the announced season takes us only to February in London so London opera goers (and those for whom Manchester is harder to get to), need to get the dates in their diaries. However, less of the moaning.

André de Ridder previously conducted for ENO the premieres of Gerald Barry’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant in 2005 [see my review], and Michel van der Aa’s Sunken Garden in 2013 [see my review]. In 2007, he led the world premiere of Damon Albarn’s and Chen Shi-Zheng’s animation opera, Monkey: Journey to the West at the Manchester International Festival, and conducted David Fielden's production of Prokofiev's The Gambler at Grange Park Opera [see my review]. He also curated the Spitalfields Festival in 2017 and 2018.

September 2025 sees a new production of Rossini's La Cenerentola opening at the London Coliseum. I might be wrong but I think that the last time the company staged the opera, Della Jones sang the title role and the production was one of those banished under David Pountney's regime. This time, Julia Burbach directs with Yi-Chen Lin making her ENO debut. Also debuting at ENO is Omani-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny, performing the lead role of Angelina, plus Aaron Godfrey-Mayes, Charles Rice, Simon Bailey and David Ireland.

In October, London sees just two performances of what promises to be a terrific new production of Britten's Albert Herring, directed by Antony McDonald, conducted by Daniel Cohen with Caspar Singh in the title role, Emma Bell as Lady Billows, plus Mark LeBrocq, and Willard White. The production then transfers to the Lowry.

Annilese Miskimmon's new production of Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking will open at the London Coliseum in November 2025, conducted by Kerem Hasan and starring Christine Rice, Michael Mayes and Sarah Connolly. I think this will be the first professional UK production in a theatre, previous performances of the opera have either been semi-staged or at conservatoires. The production is being shared with Opera North and Finnish National Opera.

Jamie Manton directs a new production of Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny at the London Coliseum in February 2026. André de Ridder conducts with a cast including Rosie Aldridge, Kenneth Kellogg, Mark Le Brocq and Danielle de Niese.

Angel's Bone, the 2016 opera by Chinese-born American composer and vocalist Du Yun will be receive its UK premiered in Manchester in May 2026, produced by ENO in collaboration with Factory International and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and presented at Aviva Studios, directed by Kip Williams, with Marg Horwell as designer.

Revivals include Calixto Bieto's production of Bizet's Carmen with Niamh O'Sullivan and John Findon, the revival directed by Jamie Manton with Haruka Kuroda, conducted by Clelia Cafiero and Olivia Clarke. Christopher Alden's production of Handel's Partenope returns with both Christopher Alden and conductor Christian Curnyn returning to the production and a cast including Nardus Williams, Hugh Cutting, Rupert Charlesworth and Jake Ingbar.

Cal McCrystal's somewhat over the top production of Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore is back with Matthew Kofi Waldren conducting and a cast including Neal Davies, John Savournin, Thomas Atkins and Henna Mun. Phelim McDermott's production of Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte is back with Dinis Sousa conducting and starring Samantha Clarke, Bethany Horak-Hallett, Joshua Blue, Darwin Prakash, Andrew Foster-Williams and Ailish Tynan. And the cast then move to Manchester for semi-staged performances conducted by Alexander Joel.

Concerts include Mozart’s Women: A Musical Journey at the London Coliseum and Opera Favourites at Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

In celebration of opera and community football in Greater Manchester, PERFECT PITCH, co-created by ENO and Walk the Plank, presents a large-scale participation programme exploring the impact of mass singing on team performance and spectator experiences. Since January 2025, PERFECT PITCH has welcomed over 250 football fans and choir members from the boroughs of Bury, Manchester and Wigan to perform football chants and operatic repertoire. A series of large-scale mass engagement opportunities will take place over Summer 2025, with a spectacular finale performance in Spring 2026.  

Further details from the ENO website.

The fight to protect music and the arts in Norfolk’s schools: Anguish’s Educational Foundation & Into Opera to explore solutions & drive meaningful change

Bizet: Carmen - Norfolk Into Opera Festival 2023 (Photo: Richard Hubert Smith)

As Norfolk's primary schools grapple with an escalating crisis in arts education funding, Anguish’s Educational Foundation and Into Opera are inviting local stakeholders, educators, philanthropists, trusts, foundations, and advocates for creative learning to a pivotal event in Norwich on Friday 23 May 2025 at The Auditorium in the Forum, Norwich to explore solutions and drive meaningful change to protect music and the arts in schools.

Named after Thomas Anguish, a Mayor of Norwich who lived between 1536 and 1617, Anguish’s Educational Foundation is one of the 4 Registered Charities in the Norwich Charitable Trusts group of Charities. The Charity makes grants to individuals and to other charities for educational purposes. Into Opera has been awarded a grant by Anguish’s Educational Foundation to partner with three local primary schools: The Bawburgh School, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School, and Sprowston Junior School, with further support from Durham University and the team behind Arts Council England’s “Durham Commission on Creativity and Education".

However, with tightening budgets and shifting priorities, the significant impact witnessed in these schools calls into question how we, as a community, can continue to nurture creativity amid dwindling financial support. This event on Friday 23 May is designed to spark a vigorous dialogue on these pressing issues and chart a collaborative path forward. Attendees will hear directly from the pupils whose lives have been transformed, as well as educators, head teachers, and representatives from Durham University, Into Opera, and Anguish’s Educational Foundation. 

"This gathering challenges us to confront the stark decline in funding for creative arts support and explore transformative solutions to safeguard the future of our children’s creative and cultural development." David Hynes, CEO Norwich Charitable Trusts 

For additional information or to register your attendance, please contact: Genevieve Raghu genevieve.raghu@into-opera.org.uk

Music on a summer’s day. How lovely! Avid Prommer Tony Cooper explores the 2025 BBC Proms

Bliss' The Beatitudes performed in Coventry Cathedral for the first time, the building for which it was commissioned and written; Orla Boylan (soprano), Andrew Kennedy (tenor), Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus, BBC Philharmonic, Paul Daniel (conductor) in 2012

The BBC Proms eight-week season features over 3000 artists and the first ‘all-night’ Prom in almost half a century. Avid Prommer, Tony Cooper, reports on the world’s largest classical-music festival that helps to make summer tick.

When the BBC Proms arrives, summer, in my humble opinion, arrives, too. A feast of music like no other, the Proms (running from Friday 18th July to Saturday 13th September) offers so much over its packed eight-week season with a total of 86 concerts at the Royal Albert Hall. 

This is the first complete Proms series that Sam Jackson, who took over the post of controller of BBC Radio 3 and director of the Proms from David Pickard a couple of years ago, is responsible for. He has most certainly come up with an interesting, varied and attractive programme that should find widespread appeal among hard-headed Prommers while helping to attract new audiences. 

Branching out, too, the Proms takes off to Bradford as part of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture as well as Sunderland while returning to Bristol and Gateshead for two three-day weekend residencies with a special Prom in Belfast to mark the centenary of Radio 4’s popular ‘Shipping Forecast’ focusing on music inspired by the sea. 

A carefully curated programme rather than a disc to dip into: Christopher Gray on his first disc with the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge

Christopher Gray (Photo: Richard Marsham)

Christopher Gray has been director of music at St John's College, Cambridge since 2023. He was formerly director of music at Truro Cathedral and took over at St John's from Andrew Nethsingha (now at Westminster Abbey). During May 2025, Christopher's first recording with the choir is released on the St John's Cambridge label (in conjunction with Signum Classics); Lamentation & Liberation features the premiere recording of Joanna Marsh’s triptych Echoes in Time, Gray’s first commission for the Choir – setting poetry by Malcolm Guite. Two other recent commissions for the Choir feature on the recording, Helena Paish’s The Annunciation and Martin Baker's organ prelude Ecce ego Ioannes, alongside Sir James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados and works by Roxanna Panufnik and Dobrinka Tabakova.

Contemporary music has played a significant role at St John's over the last few years whilst Christopher has done quite a bit at Truro Cathedral including releasing albums of music by Dobrinka Tabakova and Gabriel Jackson. Christopher wanted to continue this, yet felt the new album should be seen as a whole, rather than simply individual tracks. He had not collaborated with Joanna Marsh before and her new triptych consists of three pieces, commissioned for key dates in the liturgical calendar - The Hidden Light was premiered at the Choir’s Advent Carol Service in 2023, Refugee for the Epiphany Carol Service, and final movement Still to Dust for the Lent Meditation service.

For Joanna Marsh's triptych, she worked with two of Malcolm Guite's existing poems and they commissioned a third poem. The idea was to take the Biblical narrative of Advent, Epiphany and Ash Wednesday and find resonance in the world of 2025, tying the Biblical story to today because of the associations Guite makes. Seeing the Holy Family as refugees from Herod as dictator provides a lot of resonance with contemporary situations. [see my interview with Joanna Marsh at the time of the premiere of The Hidden Light]

Christopher Gray & the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge (Photo: Keith Heppell)

A Hoffmann to remember: Angela Denoke's production of Offenbach's final masterpiece at Oldenburg Staatstheater with Jason Kim

Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann - Dorothee Bienert, Jason Kim - Oldenburgisches Staatstheater

Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann: Jason Kim, Dorothee Bienert, Penelope Kendros, Adréana Kraschewski, Raffaela Lintl, Eleonora Fabrizi, Seungweon Lee, dir: Angela Denoke; cond: Vito Cristofaro; Oldenburgisches Staatstheater, Oldenburg, Germany
Reviewed 4 May 2025

A production that certainly punched above its weight, Angela Denoke & Vito Cristofaro get so much right, with an ardent Hoffmann from Jason Kim

Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann is such a minefield that there are many ways a director can fall foul. It is certainly not one of those works that plays itself. Even beyond the editorial nightmare that the work represents [see my article 'A fascinating conundrum'], there is the fact that Offenbach habitually over wrote, creating too much material and cutting and shaping at the last minute. So, if we have a musically satisfactory edition (a big ask in the first place), we then have to create a satisfying dramatic structure.

We caught The Tales of Hoffmann at the Oldenburgisches Staatstheater partly because our holiday itinerary enabled us too. It took place in the Oldenburg State Theatre, built in 1893 as the Grand Ducal Court Theatre and most recently renovated in 1998. It is a small, but perfectly formed building seating something over 500. But the performance was indeed a welcome treat with a sure hand both in terms of direction and conducting. 

The production debuted on 26 April 2025 and we caught the performance on 4 May 2025. The director was Angela Denoke, the soprano who has recently added direction to her credits, and the conductor was Vito Cristofaro. Jason Kim was Hoffmann with Dorothee Bienert as Niklausse/Muse, Penelope Kendros as Olympia, Adréana Kraschewski as Giulietta, Raffaela Lintl as Antonia, Eleonora Fabrizi as Stella, Seungweon Lee as the four villains, Seumas Beggg as the four comic tenor roles, Arthur Bruce as Schlemihl, Johannes Leander Maaas as Spalanzani and Nathanael, Irakli Atanelishbili as Lutter and Crespel. Designs were by Susana Mendoza with choreography by Fabio Toraldo.

Offenbach: The Tales of Hoffmann - Jason Kim, Penelope Kendros, Dorothee Bienert, Seungweon Lee - Oldenburgisches Staatstheater

The programme book was vague as to exactly what we were hearing though Schott's (publishers of the most recent edition from Kaye & Keck) were credited and indeed textually this was one of the most satisfactory versions that I have seen in a long time with an extremely convincing Giuilietta act. There were discreet cuts, we got rather less of the students (thankfully) than usual. But the outstanding Niklausse/Muse of Dorothee Bienert benefited from an expansive version of her role.

Requiem A is much more influenced by Swans, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Sigur Rós: composer Sven Helbig in his new Requiem A

Premiere of Sven Helbig's Requiem A at the Dresdner Kreuzkirche (Photo: Oliver Killig)

The composer Sven Helbig has been on my radar since at least 2013 when his disc Pocket Symphonies came out [see my review] and I saw him live in Hamburg at the Reeperbahn Festival that year [see my review]. More recently he was one of the three composers to debut the Three Continents cello concerto (created with composers Nico Muhly and Zhou Long) at the 2019 Dresden Music Festival [see my review]. And I have interviewed him twice, first back in 2016 talking about I Eat The Sun And Drink The Rain [see my interview] and again in 2022 to chat about his album, Skills [see my interview].

His most recent work, REQUIEM A was created to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, honouring the victims of war and sending a profound plea for peace. The work was premiered in February 2025 at the Dresdner Kreuzkirche, with Sven Helbig’s live electronics, bass Rene Pape, the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Dresdner Kreuzchor conducted by Martin Lehmann. The work is being performed in Vienna at Vienna’s annual memorial event on 8 May 2025 in Heldenplatz at the heart of the city, with the Wiener Symphoniker and the Dresdner Kreuzchor, plus live visuals by Icelandic film artist Máni M. Sigfusson, adding an immersive and dynamic visual dimension to the experience.

Also on 8 May 2025, the work will be released on disc by Deutsche Grammophon and further ahead there will be a performance in the UK in October 2025. We are pleased to include a short interview with Sven exploring the work further.

Sven Helbig( Photo: Claudia Weingart)

Requiem – not the easiest subject to approach. How did you find your way into it?

The classical requiem moved me even before I had experienced deep grief or fully understood its religious content. Its compelling, unmistakable form and overwhelming intensity have always captivated me. Right now, I feel a profound sense of mourning for the ideals I grew up with—ideals of Humanism, the Renaissance, and the Enlightenment. It felt only natural to turn to the form of the requiem as a way to engage with that loss.

The title REQUIEM A is intriguing. What does the “A” stand for, and how did you come to choose this title?

The “A” in the title stands for the German words Atem (breath) and Anfang (beginning). Requiem A dwells at the edge of grief. It seeks a path back into life. “Beginning” is not meant here as a tabula rasa—that would imply forgetting. After deep, despairing sorrow, forgetting is not possible. Rather, this is a beginning that follows a process of intense, Jungian inner work.

Here, beginning is first a decision—a first note, a first sound, which means nothing yet, only the idea of something new. And this newness inevitably carries the past within it. This beginning starts with a breath.

I found a beautiful passage on the letter A in the Grimm’s Dictionary:

“A, the noblest, most original of all sounds, resounding fully from chest and throat, the sound a child first and most easily learns to produce—rightly placed at the head of the alphabet in most languages.”

Britten Sinfonia, Sinfonia Smith Square and the Choir of Merton College, Oxford, unite for a thrilling and exhilarating concert concluding with Olivier Messiaen’s Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum.

Messiaen: Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum - Britten Sinfonia, Sinfonia Smith Square, Nicholas Daniel - St George's Cathedral, Southwark (Photo: Britten Sinfonia)

Stravinsky: Symphonies of wind instruments; Poulenc: Timor et tremor, Vinea mea electa, Tristis est anima mea; Duruflé: Ubi caritas et amor; Stravinsky: Mass; Messiaen: Vocalise-etude, O sacrum convivium, Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Choir of Merton College, Oxford, cond. Benjamin Nicholas; Britten Sinfonia, Sinfonia Smith Square, cond. Nicholas Daniel; St George’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark, London
Reviewed by Tony Cooper, 30 April 2025

This concert marked Nicholas Daniel’s final performance with the Britten Sinfonia as principal oboist, a post he has held since being one of the founding members of the orchestra in 1992. 

I think it’s fair to say that this concert featuring a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s monumental work Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum performed by the Britten Sinfonia, and Sinfonia Smith Square with music by Poulenc, Duruflé and Stravinsky with the Choir of Merton College, Oxford, could well be described as a ‘once-in-a-decade’ musical experience.  

For sure, a tremendous piece, Et exspecto is rarely performed nowadays because of the sheer scale of the musical forces required such as the huge sections of wind and brass (no strings) needed alongside an extraordinary range of percussion and ‘knocking’ instruments comprising three sets of cowbells, three tam-tams and six tuned gongs were part of the hardware as well as a set of tubular bells all safely in the strong and skilful hands of half-a-dozen percussionists aka the ‘Heavy Metal Boys’.  

Commissioned by the French Minister of Cultural Affairs, André Malraux, to honour the Fallen of the First and Second World Wars, Messiaen conceived the work to be performed in large spaces such as churches and cathedrals and, indeed, in open-air performances. He found inspiration in writing the piece by the countryside of the Hautes-Alpes (a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region of south-eastern France) and by the imposing images of Gothic and Romanesque churches. 

‘I feel that Et exspecto presents a rare opportunity for an unforgettable musical journey for audience and performers alike,’ enthused Nicholas Daniel, who conducted the work while marking his final performance with the Britten Sinfonia as principal oboist, a post he has held since being one of the founding members of the orchestra in 1992. 

He further added: ‘The unique soundscape is immense and powerful and bringing Et exspecto to life in the stunning surroundings of Augustus Pugin’s St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, beautifully designed in the Gothic style, is a lifetime’s ambition for me. I’m tremendously excited to share this experience with some of the great musicians in the UK including the exceptional and gifted young artists of Sinfonia Smith Square.’ 

A conversation between similarities & differences: Jonathan Sells on his disc of Bruckner & Gesualdo with the Monteverdi Choir

Jonathan Sells (Photo: Paul Marc Mitchell)

In April, the Monteverdi Choir released a disc of motets by Bruckner and Gesualdo conducted by Jonathan Sells on the Soli Deo Gloria label. Recorded live in concert in October last year, this release marks the Monteverdi Choir’s 60th birthday and the 200th anniversary of Bruckner’s birth and represents Jonathan's first disc with the choir. Jonathan is perhaps best known as the artistic director of Solomon's Knot, the conductor-less ensemble known for singing everything from memory. As a singer, Jonathan was also a member of the Monteverdi Choir, but more recently has been conducting them and has now been appointed Choir Director.

The new disc interweaves sacred motets by Bruckner and Gesualdo in a programme that begins with Palestrina's Stabat Mater and includes Lotti's Crucifixus a 8. Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) whose motets are influenced by the Cecilian movement for church music reform, and Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613), whose sacred music is notoriously intense and chromatic, might not seem obvious disc fellows, but Jonathan makes a real case for the pairing.

For him, both composers' music triggers similar things and the programme became a conversation between similarities and differences. Amongst their similarities he includes that both wrote motets for the Catholic Church, using similar texts and the motets on the disc focus on the cross, the Crucifixion and Mary. Jonathan finds that both composers have what he calls an expressionist approach to the harmonic language.

An anti-depressant for all: introducing Soundabout, the UK's Learning Disability Music Charity

Joint Workshop with National Children’s Choir of Great Britain in April 2025

'absolute magic, the only side-effect is joy'

Until Thursday (1 May 2025) I had not really heard about the work of Soundabout the UK's Learning Disability Music Charity but at an event in the City of London, trustees, staff and other personnel from the charity along with parents of children who participate, told us about the charity and its work.

Soundabout is 28 years old, they began with just one musician and one teacher, yet during the 2023/24 year they held nearly 1000 sessions with over 3,300 attendees, over 1,500 learning disabled participants and 750 parents/carers. 

They believe that everyone should be able to access music and they use music, sound and silence to develop communication, increase self-expression, health and well-being. improve connectedness. They offer Soundabout Choirs, a national network bringing Learning Disabled people together to share their voices, along with Sounds Virtual which are online music-making sessions accessible live and on demand. There are other projects such as Sounds Together, face-to-face community music making sessions with small groups of Learning Disabled people where they design the project.

Key to this are the young people on their Graduate Emerging Leaders programme. Emerging Leaders is a one-year programme where Learning Disabled people (aged 14+) enhance their leadership skills and confidence while preparing to become the music practitioners of the future. After completing the one-year Emerging Leaders programme, they become a Graduate Emerging Leader with several pathways to follow, including voluntary and paid Work Experience.

Four of Graduate Emerging Leaders (plus a large soft toy) bravely stood up on Thursday and rather than talking about what they do, they demonstrated it, leading a room full of adults in a sing-along session session that began with the 'Hello song' and included 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' supplemented by an array of noise makers.

Anna, who joined a Soundabout Choir in 2020, described how taking part made her happy to make music with her friends. She takes place online, where they sing along or sign, and described being in Soundabout as fantastic and joyful.

We heard from two parents, a film of George with his mother, Davina, where she found that music had a transformative effect on him, 'music starting is like a magic wand creating a sparkle in him'. Whilst the mother of a girl with a complex brain injury, cerebral palsy and blindness, talked about how transformational discovering Soundabout's online resources was, 'completely and utterly life-changing', 'an anti-depressant for all', with the sessions helping her daughter feel seen, reducing her isolation.

You can find more about Soundabout from their website, and pleas do think about supporting them.

The sheer joy of performing together: Music in Secondary Schools Trust's 12th Annual Concert

MiSST Together Orchestra in rehearsal at the Barbican

The Music in Secondary Schools Trust's 12th Annual Concert; Barbican Centre
Reviewed 23 April 2025

Over 300 students from beginners to Grade 8 come together to celebrate 12 years of MiSST with students from 28 different schools across the country demonstrating the sheer joy of performing together

The Music in Secondary Schools Trust (MiSST) was celebrating last month with its 12th Annual Concert at the Barbican on 23 April 2025. The organisation began 12 years ago with just one school and now 30 schools across the UK take part, with over 22,000 students reached through their Andrew Lloyd Webber programme.  The evening involved students from some 28 different schools across the country, ranging from those who only started playing last September to those who have reached Grade 8.

We began with the MiSST Symphony Orchestra, a large ensemble which rose to the challenge of playing movements five and six from Mahler's Symphony No. 3. The orchestra inevitably reflects the players, with a mass of flutes and a single bassoon, with section leaders from the adult teachers. The results were nonetheless impressive. 

Making connections between styles & eras: violinist Holly Harman & friends launch their album Ground with a mix of 17th century violin virtuosity, folk directness & sheer imagination

Holly Harman

Ground: Nicola Matteis, Heinrich Biber, Turlough O'Carolan/James Oswald, Marco Uccellini, Alice Zawadzki, Sid Goldsmith; Holly Harman, Carina Cosgrave, Oliver John Ruthven, Kristiina Watt, Sid Goldsmith; Stone Nest
Reviewed 30 April 2025

Launching her album, Ground, violinist Holly Harman & friends entrance with their mix of Baroque and folk, virtuosity and directness.

Violinist Holly Harman says of her new album, Ground on Penny Fiddle Records that the name might be seen "...as a reference to ground bass, those beguiling, repeating bass lines, present in so much of the music I love, whether it's baroque or folk music. It's also a reference to feeling, at times, ground down by life and industry. This has made me question head-on the expectations I feel the industry has of me, and the expectations I have of myself.... This album is my response to exploring these ideas, and consequently starting to feel a bit more grounded in myself." 

Harman launched the album with a pair of concerts and we caught the second, at Stone Nest on 30 April 2025. For the recital, Harman was joined by the instrumentalists from the recording, Carina Cosgrave (violone), Oliver John Ruthven (harpsichord), Kristiina Watt (theorbo) and Sid Goldsmith (cittern) for a repertoire that moved from Baroque violin to folk and contemporary, with music by Matteis, Biber, and Uccellini alongside Harman and Goldsmith's arrangement of a tune by Turlough O'Carolan as collected by James Oswald and some of Goldsmith's own folk melodies and a new piece by Alice Zawadzki.

Harman began unaccompanied with the Scots reel Balfour Road, a catchy and engaging way to draw us in. Then she followed this with the Passagio Rotto & Fantasia by the Italian composer Nicola Matteis (c1650-1713) who travelled to London in the 1670s and had success with his published music and this piece comes from a collection published in 1676. Harman explained that it was designed to sound improvised, and is began with rather rhapsodic passagework before becoming more strenuous including plenty of double stopping. 

Opinion: Physical music shops have an instrumental role to play for rising musicians

A Major Music Supplies

In this guest posting, Roger Foxcroft of A Major Music Supplies in Staffordshire talks about the important role that physical music shops have to play for rising musicians.

Roger Foxcroft

It’s no secret that the world is moving increasingly online, and music is no exception to that. From streaming services replacing vinyl and CDs to buying sheet music and instruments online, I’ve witnessed the shift first-hand.

At the same time, music education in schools is in decline. A lack of funding and an ever-increasing focus on STEM subjects over the arts is letting our young musicians down.

What we cannot do is let music shops disappear from our high streets. The next generation of musicians depends on them.

UK schools are playing a bum note

It’s widely recognised that musical education is beneficial for cognitive ability. Learning an instrument comes with an extensive rap sheet of benefits, including improved memory, engaging various brain areas simultaneously, and even improved social connection and healthier mental wellbeing.

Yet, according to Ofsted, the trajectory of music education in recent years has been one in which schools have reduced key stage three (11-14 years) provision, and trainee primary teachers have been offered shrinking amounts of music training. The uptake of music education in key stage five, the final two years of secondary school education where many pupils begin to plan their future careers, has fallen over the last ten years.

At our music shop, 40% of our business used to be with schools – that number has fallen significantly. In fact, a 2025 report by independent think tank Demos identified a £161.4m shortfall in the government’s budget for music education.

In Stoke-on-Trent, where A Major is based and where my children live, we struggled to find many schools which even offer a music GCSE. Feedback from schools in the area shows they’re having to cut entire subjects, including music, due to costs.

So, what does this mean for young musicians? Limited access to instruments and equipment, fewer classes and learning opportunities, and loss of specialised teachers.

Why do we need music shops?

Physical music shops are in no way a replacement for well-funded music education in schools. What they do offer young musicians is the opportunity to talk to experts, since most music shops are owned by musicians themselves.

They can give tailored advice, demos of instruments, and troubleshoot problems on the spot.

Musicians can gain hands-on experience with equipment that they may never have seen before. They can touch, play, and hear instruments. They can feel the weight of a guitar, test the keys of a piano, or hear how a saxophone sounds in real life.

Balancing the scales

For all these reasons, it’s vital that music stores maintain a physical presence on UK high streets. That said, having a solid digital presence isn’t just helpful, it’s a game changer for shop owners trying to fill the gaps and keep their business moving forward.

For example, road works outside the A Major store in 2024 caused a noticeable dip in sales. Without an online presence, events that limit in-person sales can be detrimental to the business.

There are clear benefits of an online touch point for customers. We stock over 10,000 SKUs, and offering these online too means the customer base immediately expands from people in your local area to musicians all over the country. That increase in sales supports the physical business financially.

Another benefit is that customers can more easily compare prices. It’s often presumed that online giants like Amazon sell products cheaper, so people don’t even bother making the trip to the shop. In our case, it’s most often not true. So, by listing our products online, customers can clearly compare our stock and prices with other sellers.

Aligning online and physical presence

Currently, our shop strikes about an 80/20 profit ratio, with 80% being in-person sales. It’s our goal to bring this to 50/50, so we can continue to offer a vital in-person service to customers, supporting young musicians and those seeking expert advice. Meanwhile, we can build an online income stream which maintains financial stability during quieter in-store periods.

Last year, we brought on DMAC Media, a digital marketing agency, to help with the shop’s website. We wanted customers to receive the same level of professionalism and expertise that A Major provides in our physical store and reach a wider audience than we’re able to in person.

In one year, our online sales increased by 17% and the value of each order increased by 12%. Sessions rocketed by 109%, meaning there’s more people browsing our products and aware of the business when they’re ready to make a purchase. When profit margins are minimal, this makes a huge impact on our ability to keep the physical store running.

Physical music shops are vital for the industry and for helping fill the gap left by the decline in music education in schools.

But they must move with the times and recognise the role played by having an online presence.

These are not competing business models; they are complementary approaches to achieving the ultimate goal - better access to musical education and instruments.

Roger Foxcroft