The British Isles boast a magnificent anthology of music grounded in lush, poetic landscapes and thriving cities. This concert will transport you there. British violin and viola virtuoso Lawrence Power makes his ACO debut directing music from Thomas Tallis’ evocative theme - made famous by Vaughan Williams - to the genre-defying exuberance of Kate Bush.

Isles of Light

ACO On The Pier

The Jette Parker Artists offer a rare opportunity to enjoy the work of three women composers in one production, directed by Talia Stern making her Royal Opera debut, and conducted by Peggy Wu. Haunting explorations of lost love feature in Elizabeth Maconchy’s The Departure (1961) and Charlotte Bray’s Making Arrangements (2012). In Elena Langer's Four Sisters, the three daughters of a deceased Manhattan business tycoon dream of spending his fortune, but their plans prove premature. This marks the world premiere of Langer’s chamber version of this comedy.

Roh Linbury Theatre: Three Chamber Operas

Royal Opera House

This year’s Featured Artist, baritone Roderick Williams OBE, will perform a unique recital in the round with pianist Christopher Glynn at Westminster Hall. For his program, entitled An English Song Winterreise, Williams has chosen English songs which reflect each of the 24 individual songs that make up Franz Schubert’s Winterreise to craft a unique musical journey. This curated song cycle will include works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Benjamin Britten, and Gerald Finzi, as well as more modern works by Judith Weir and Errollyn Wallen.

EPSG:4326

Roderick Williams OBE, baritone and Christopher Glynn, piano: Recital in the Round

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Bard Conservatory Graduate Conductors, together with The Orchestra Now (TŌN) and the Bard Chamber Singers, present a program of old and new works exploring themes of internal and external transformation.

Reflections and Refractions: A Sonic Kaleidoscope

Fisher Center at Bard

With this concert, we’re here to amplify the work of women who composed despite the gatekeeping and patriarchal hurdles. These works are not “forgotten gems”, they are acts of resistance and of creative expression, and they will be heard with the volume and visibility they deserve at the RNCM in 2026. What makes this concert even more special is that our soloists, Alexandra Dariescu, Alex Mitchell, and Rachel Clegg, are all Alumni of RNCM.

One Damn Thing After Another

Royal Northern College of Music

Clarinet Quintets

Royal Academy of Music

Join the London Symphony Orchestra and their new Chief Conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano, for this celebration of early 20th-century works.

LSO: Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony

Usher Hall

LSO: A Sea Symphony

We’re delighted to welcome back the stunningly gifted violinist Miranda Liu, to perform Korngold’s masterpiece. Why isn’t this delightful work, written by the great Hollywood film composer before he emigrated from Europe, not better known?

Miranda Liu plays Korngold

Cañada College

Maconchy’s Nocturne for Orchestra is mysterious and dream-like, shifting gently and sometimes uneasily in its night-time landscape. Walton’s Cello Concerto seems to inhabit the same musical universe. It starts with a ticking clock and ends by drifting into a reverie. In between is a restless, energetic sequence of thoughts before the calm of the finale.

London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano

Barbican Centre

**Maconchy, Walton, and Vaughan Williams 1 with the London Symphony Orchestra**

Join us for an unforgettable evening of British music at the Barbican on Sunday, 9 February 2025, at 7pm, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, with Rebecca Gilliver on cello. This concert promises to be a night of evocative music, portraying enigmatic nightscapes and the awe-inspiring power of the sea.

**Programme:**
- Elizabeth Maconchy: Nocturne for Orchestra (7 mins)
- William Walton: Cello Concerto (27 mins)
- Interval
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: A Sea Symphony, Symphony No. 1 (63 mins)

**Performers:**
- Sir Antonio Pappano, conductor
- Rebecca Gilliver, cello
- Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, soprano
- Will Liverman, baritone
- London Symphony Chorus
- London Symphony Orchestra

The concert will conclude at approximately 9:05 pm, including a 20-minute interval. 

**Tickets:**
Prices range from £70 to £18, with a £4 booking fee per online/phone transaction. Special discounts are available, including Wildcards for guaranteed entry with seat allocation on the day, multibuy discounts of up to 40%, and special rates for groups, students, and under-18s.

**About the Music:**
The evening begins with Maconchy's mysterious and dream-like Nocturne, followed by Walton's meditative Cello Concerto, which takes the audience on a journey from a ticking clock to a serene reverie. The night culminates with Vaughan Williams' monumental First Symphony, an awe-inspiring tribute to the sea's power, painted with rich orchestral colors and the words of Walt Whitman.

**Venue:**
Barbican, Silk Street, London

For an immersive experience of British music that explores the beauty, majesty, and metaphysical aspects of the sea, book your tickets now and be part of this extraordinary musical journey.

Maconchy, Walton and Vaughan Williams 1

“With phenomenal expressive flexibility, the Vertavo moved from warmest sensuality to knife-edge brittleness,” declares The Guardian. Since their founding in 1984, the Vertavo String Quartet has captivated audiences the world over, winning Norway’s Grieg Prize as well as taking First Prize, the Audience Prize, and the Critics’ Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. The quartet has toured extensively throughout Europe, the US, and Japan, and the group’s collaborations have included pianists Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Leif Ove Andsnes, clarinetist Sabine Meyer, and violinist and violist Isabelle van Keulen. Their 2000 recording of Debussy and Grieg quartets received the Diapason d’Or.

Vertavo String Quartet

Northwestern University

A national treasure in their native Norway, the Vertavo Quartet has firmly established itself as one of today’s most exciting ensembles. Experience their “flair, physicality, and communicative urgency” (Daily Telegraph) in a PCMS debut program that includes works well known to us by Ravel and Britten as well as English composer Elizabeth Maconchy’s String Quartet No. 3, a 10-minute psychological thriller that goes deep into the complexities of family relationships.

Vertavo Quartet

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

All concerts are FREE of admission charge and are held at the Bridges Hall of Music.

CYSO 2024 March Concert

Pomona College

Superstar Ben Goldscheider joins LCO to perform two outstanding works for French horn. It’s easy to see why Mozart’s Fourth Horn Concerto is one of his most enduringly popular works: full of cheerful tunes and upbeat accompaniments, the last movement must be one of the most recognisable melodies out there.

LCO & Friends: Ben Goldscheider plays Mozart & Higgins

Four players and five remarkable composers, as the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s Equilibrium Quartet champions neglected gems and newly-minted classics by Grace-Evangeline Mason, Elizabeth Maconchy, Florence Price and more.

Equilibrium

The Music Room

Join us for an inspiring afternoon of orchestral music, spanning the drama of Beethoven, the craftsmanship of Elizabeth Maconchy and the lyrical charm of EJ Moeran.

BBC Radio 3 Concert: Heroism, Elegance and Discovery

Ulster Hall

This is orchestral music at the highest possible level. The legendary London Symphony Orchestra joins Sir Antonio Pappano—one of the great musicians of our era—for a program of emotional depth and sweeping grandeur. Alisa Weilerstein brings extraordinary intensity to Elgar’s Cello Concerto, a work of aching beauty and introspection, while Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony surges with passion, drama, and triumph. A landmark event of the season.

London Symphony Orchestra

College of the Desert

Violist Lawrence Power has gathered a group of the finest young players in Europe for this Collegium concert, which includes the UK premiere of Garth Knox’s Viola Concerto, a dramatic narrative work inspired by the tale of the Ancient Mariner, in which the players become the ‘boat’ carrying the soloist. Matthew Locke’s Curtain Tune from The Tempest helps to set the maritime tone.

Lawrence Power and Collegium Orchestra: Odyssey

Milton Court Concert Hall

In their matinee performance, the LSO will be joined by star cellist, Alisa Weilerstein, and their illustrious Chief Conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano. The program includes Elgar’s lyrical and passionate cello concerto— premiered by the LSO in 1919— and Richard Strauss’ famous autobiographical tone poem, Ein Heldenleben.

Alexander W. Dreyfoos Concert Hall

Recital 3 moves through a range of voices and moods. Kevin Lau’s Third Quartet opens with a fresh, contemporary sound, followed by Elizabeth Maconchy’s compact and intense Quartet No.3. Robert Schumann’s Quartet in A minor closes the program, warm and lyrical, with that sense of intimacy and emotional pull that sits right at the heart of his music.

Elizabeth Maconchy

Events

Upcoming events

Aug 26, 2026

BBC Radio 3 Concert: Heroism, Elegance and Discovery · Ulster Hall

Feb 26, 2027

London Symphony Orchestra · Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic

Mar 3, 2027

Lawrence Power and Collegium Orchestra: Odyssey · Barbican Centre

Mar 7, 2027

London Symphony Orchestra · The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

Mar 7, 2027

Recital 3 · Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra

Past events

13 - 23 Jun, 2026

Isles of Light · Australian Chamber Orchestra

1 - 8 May, 2026

Roh Linbury Theatre: Three Chamber Operas · Britten Sinfonia

About

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