 |
| Dr Joshua Ballance, founder of the High Barnet Chamber Music Festival |
The High Barnet Chamber Music Festival is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a series of concerts celebrating the world of song. Beginning on Saturday 7 June 2025 the festival runs until 5 July at various locations in High Barnet. Founder, Dr Joshua Ballance explains, "When we launched this festival, in the middle of Covid, we were attempting to bring really high quality performances to High Barnet, to offer work to young musicians at the start of their careers and to invigorate the artistic life of the area. Five years on I’m pleased we’ve achieved those aim."
Things being with a flute and piano recital from Hannah Gillingham and Luke Lally Maguire. Birdsong, a Playful Introduction for Families is a family friendly afternoon concert with an emphasis on introducing over-sevens to chamber music. At the opposite end of the spectrum, baritone Jonathan Eyers joins Ballance and his ensemble Mad Song for Peter Maxwell Davies' iconic Eight Songs for a Mad King plus music by Berio, Lolavar, Benjamin, and Palmer.
Baritone Hugo Herman-Wilson and pianist Richard Gowers, feature music by Vaughan William, Madeleine Dring, Britten and Ives at their afternoon concert at Queen Elizabeth's School, and the festival ends with Ensemble Pro Victoria and music by Monteverdi, Strozzi and le Jeune.
Full details from the festival website.
%20in%20Trial%20by%20Jury.%20Credit%20Mihaela%20Bodlovic..jpg)
.jpg)
%20Britten%20Pears%20Arts%20(1).jpg)
%20Ali%20Wright.jpg)
A terrific music festival that is varied, refreshingly challenging in its choice of contemporary music, superb performers and among the best listening/informative notes about the music/concerts in the free brochure that accompanies the concerts. Adventurous and meticulously-planned concerts like this deserve our support and offer rare introductions, guidance to and the opportunity to listen contemporary 'serious' music. The recent (20 June 2025) concert which included Peter Maxwell Davies' Eight Songs for a Mad King was a wonderful, immersive performance of a most challenging piece, to perform as well as well listen to!
ReplyDelete