Name: Véronique Gens soprano; Fleur Barron mezzo-soprano; Laurence Kilsby tenor; Stéphane Degout baritone; Susan Manoff piano; Julius Drake piano
Start: 2024-09-12T19:30:00
Location: Wigmore Hall

London is set to enchant classical music lovers with a series of extraordinary concerts highlighting the works of Gabriel Fauré. From the BBC Symphony Orchestra's performance at the Royal Albert Hall to intimate recitals at Wigmore Hall and grand showcases at the Barbican Centre, this musical journey promises to celebrate Fauré's legacy in style. Highlights include Fauré's Requiem, Barcarolle, Nocturne No. 12 in E minor, and much more.

Celebrating Gabriel Fauré: A Musical Journey Through London's Iconic Venues

Stéphane Degout

Julius Drake

Fleur Barron

Laurence Kilsby

Véronique Gens

Susan Manoff

Wigmore Hall

Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk’s pianism is rooted in the great traditions of the Russian keyboard school, supercharged with virtuosity yet, as The Times put it, ‘emotionally gripping, structurally thoughtful, and deeply musical’. His recital embraces a striking range of musical styles and moods, from the Sonata in C K330, described by Alfred Einstein as ‘one of the most lovable works Mozart ever wrote’, to the deeply affecting romance of Rachmaninov’s capricious Second Piano Sonata.

Alexander Gavrylyuk piano

Nils Mönkemeyer’s exquisite artistry and innovative programming have won plaudits worldwide. ‘This great violist can build a tremendous sense of anticipation’, notes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag, ‘and his magnificent range of colours is seemingly infinite’. He returns to Wigmore Hall with regular duo partner William Youn for a recital in which Brahms’s mellow viola version of his Second Clarinet Sonata forms the ideal companion to beautiful works by Rebecca Clarke, who studied composition with Charles Villiers Stanford and viola with Lionel Tertis.

Nils Mönkemeyer viola; William Youn piano

On Fancies and Goodnights, Richard writes: ‘As a curious traveller will collect objects that catch his eye, these short pieces are among the many that have caught my ear with their beauty, strangeness, and unpredictability. I have borrowed the title “Fancies and Goodnights” from a book of bewitching tales by the English writer, John Collier.’

Richard Goode piano

In celebration of the centenary of John Coltrane and Miles Davis, pianist Emmet Cohen brings together an all-star quintet to explore the fundamental questions that shaped their artistry: Why are we here? What are we reaching for? Where does the music take us?

Emmet Cohen Quintet

This programme is a celebration of John Dowland and Johann Sebastian Bach’s legacy for the lute which the guitar is very fortunate to have inherited. Dowland and Bach were deeply inspired by the sensibilities of their time and their music offers a soundscape that retains the plucked nature of the lute whilst presenting these sensibilities with a different palette of colours unique to the guitar.

Samrat Majumder guitar

Hannes Minnaar’s ‘adroitness in the most virtuoso pieces is matched by his patient expressivity in the more brooding ones’, wrote Gramophone in its review of the Dutch pianist’s utterly engrossing recording of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues Op. 87. His sensitive, perfectly judged interpretation draws out the astonishing inventive wealth of one of the last century’s greatest keyboard compositions.

Hannes Minnaar piano

In 2026, Jupiter celebrates John Dowland on the 400th anniversary of his death. Born in 1563, the composer and lutenist left us one of the most complete repertoires for his instrument, as well as numerous lyrical pieces contained in songbooks: the Songs of Ayres. Following the recording of Songs of Passion, an album released in September 2025 by Warner Classics and devoted in part to the composer’s passion arias, the ensemble honours him with a major programme that will include several excerpts from the songbooks and Lachrimae – compositions for viol consort – at the crossroads of poetry, lyricism and instrumental music. It will be performed by four singers, five gambists and lutenist Thomas Dunford, for whom ‘John Dowland was the John Lennon of the 16th Century.’ The popular dimension of his compositions is thus honoured, with a desire to highlight the different characters of music that is at once joyful, playful, mysterious, introspective, meditative and even amorous...

Thomas Dunford artistic director, lute; Jupiter Ensemble

Internationally acclaimed British violinist Alex Redington leads The Purcell School Chamber Soloists in a performance of George Enescu’s monumental Octet. Redington is Head of Strings at The Purcell School of Music and is widely known as the founding first violinist of the Doric String Quartet, as well as for his distinguished solo and teaching career.

The Purcell School Chamber Soloists; Alex Redington director

The Elias String Quartet marks Sally Beamish’s 70th birthday year with a performance of two of the three quartets the group commissioned from her, each of which takes one of Robert Schumann’s string quartets as its point of creative departure. Its programme also includes a sequence of folk songs arranged by Donald Grant, Elias Quartet violinist and a master of the Scottish fiddle tradition.

Elias String Quartet

A special showcase celebrating Samling Institute’s 30th anniversary. This recital brings together all the strands of Samling’s internationally recognised expertise in training young voices and pianists and features a glittering line-up of alumni from across the decades in an evening of song.

Samling Showcase

Yellow Barn’s Showcase continues with a compelling double bill. Ligeti’s 3 Pieces for 2 pianos, composed in 1978, opens with the thunderous chords of ‘Monument’ and includes the pulsating rhythmic energy of ‘Self-Portrait with Reich and Riley (and Chopin is there, too)’. The concert concludes with the eight movements of the Quatuor pour la fin du temps, composed and first performed in 1940, while Messiaen was a prisoner-of-war.

Yellow Barn Showcase Day

Vermont’s Yellow Barn, based in the heart of Putney Village Historic District, has become a chamber music haven, where international artists gather to work together with extraordinary rising talents and engage in a lively exchange of ideas. Wigmore Hall trains the spotlight on the Yellow Barn’s adventurous programming with a concert that explores the nature of spiritual transcendence and intercultural dialogue, complete with sounds from The Golden Record, two copies of which began their interstellar journey on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977.

The concert will now be approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes in duration, including an interval.

Véronique Gens soprano; Fleur Barron mezzo-soprano; Laurence Kilsby tenor; Stéphane Degout baritone; Susan Manoff piano; Julius Drake piano

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