The Academy of St Martin in the Fields was founded by Sir Neville Marriner

in 1958 and is currently led by Music Director Joshua Bell. In 1967, the Academy Chamber Ensemble was formed to perform the larger scale chamber music repertoire with players who customarily worked together, instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. Drawn from the principal players of the orchestra, the Chamber Ensemble’s touring commitments are extensive and include regular tours of Europe and North America, whilst recording contracts with Philips Classics, Hyperion, and Chandos have led to the release of over thirty CDs. The Chamber Ensemble now performs in multiple configurations, including the Academy Wind Ensemble, which returns to North America with wind quintet repertoire in April 2026.

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Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Wind Ensemble

Albuquerque Academy

The concert begins with Demon by the British-American composer Freya Waley-Cohen (born 1989) – a co-commissioned work by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra premiered in 2023 by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She found inspiration in old folk tales from the British Isles, chilling stories where a demon can manifest anywhere - here as both menacing and playful orchestral music.

Demons, Sorrow and a Duel

Stockholm City Hall

Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is a musical love letter, one of the tenderest, most lyrical creations for the instrument ever conceived, with heartbreaking melodies and a furiously fiery finale. Kuusisto contrasts Tchaikovsky’s poignant creation with young British composer Freya Waley-Cohen’s contemplation of nothing less than the workings of the universe, and Beethoven’s most compact and cheerful Symphony.

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto

The Usher Hall

Buchanan Galleries

In the hands of the star pianist, performing with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Brahms’ tempestuous First Piano Concerto is all poetry and emotion.

Víkingur Ólafsson Plays Brahms

Southbank Centre

‘Magical’. ‘Flawless’. ‘A hypnotic presence at the keyboard’. We’re thrilled to welcome Víkingur back for Brahms’s tempestuous First Piano Concerto: a volcano of poetry and emotion from the wounded heart of a young genius. It could have been written for Ólafsson – but there’s no letting up after the interval, as Edward Gardner conducts Bartók’s kaleidoscopic ballet, and celebrates the special magic of one of the 21st century’s true sonic alchemists: Freya Waley-Cohen.

Víkingur Ólafsson plays Brahms

Royal Festival Hall

Volti presents a program of groundbreaking new works for unaccompanied voices: Brazilian composer Marcos Balter’s spectacular setting of color-themed poems by 20th-Century literary giant Fernando Pessoa; San Francisco composer Mark Winges sets three poems by California poet Jane Hirshfield; Yu-Hui Chang, a native of Taiwan, sets two poems by Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the US; Singaporean composer Emily Koh, sets a patchwork of Teochew (a Chinese dialect) phrases from childhood; British-American composer Freya Waley-Cohen sets texts from Milton and Pushkin; and LJ White, a graduate of Volti’s young-composer residency program, explores concepts of love.

Volti

Paul Mahder Gallery

St. Paul's Episcopal Church Oakland

Noe Valley Ministry

Three witches, three muses, three little pigs: The “rule of 3” suggests that humans find groupings of three more satisfying and meaningful than other number combinations. A Far Cry puts that theory to the test with a program of string trios. This sensuous assortment of 20th and 21st century works highlights the intimate and intensely collaborative nature of the genre.

A Far Cry | Ménage à Trio

Longy School of Music of Bard College

Music in the Round’s Singer-in-Residence Roderick Williams returns with a programme of heartrendingly beautiful English song, including Vaughan Williams’ glorious cycle Songs of Travel.

Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel

Sheffield Theatres

London can have many faces. William Blake portrayed it as a dark, gloomy city full of inequality, suffering, and moral unease. Edward Elgar saw it quite differently. In his 1901 concert overture Cockaigne (In London Town), Op. 40, he depicted the English capital with evident tenderness and humour.

Freya Waley-Cohen

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 17, 2026

Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel · Sheffield Theatres

Jun 11, 2027

From England With Love · Polish National Opera

Past events

Apr 12, 2026

Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Wind Ensemble · Chamber Music Albuquerque

12 - 13 Mar, 2025

Demons, Sorrow and a Duel · Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra

About

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