Vaughan Williams and the English tradition
2022-03-25 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Natalia Lomeiko violin
Yuri Zhislin conductor
Bristol Ensemble
Vaughan Williams Concerto Grosso
Fantasia on Greensleeves
The Lark Ascending
Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Bristol Ensemble celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of England’s greatest composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Their programme will include some of his most popular works, two of which have local connections.
The orchestra is joined by the renowned Russian violinist Natalia Lomeiko to perform Vaughan Williams’ treasured work, The Lark Ascending. Inspired by a George Meredith poem of the same name and always tops the Classic FM Hall of Fame, it was originally written for solo violin and piano, and first performed at Shirehampton Public Hall in 1920. Two Fantasias make up the programme, the second of which is based on a psalm tune written by Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis, and was premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester Cathedral ten years before The Lark’s first outing.

Stroud Choral Society
2022-03-26 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Stroud Choral Society
Bristol Ensemble
Julie Cooper soprano
Elisabeth Irvine mezzo soprano
Nathan Vale tenor
Alan Fairs bass
Simon Bell conductor
Bristol Ensemble joins forces with Stroud Choral Society to perform Handel’s Judas Maccabeus.
Tickets £25, £20, £10, under 18s free

Bath Minerva Choir: A Jubilee Celebration
2022-04-02 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Bath Minerva Choir
Bristol Ensemble Baroque
Join Bath Minerva Choir and Bristol Ensemble Baroque at Bath Abbey for a Jubilee Celebration as only the great Mr Handel can provide: three of his magnificent Coronation Anthems, including Zadok the Priest, the celebrated Hallelujah Chorus and the epic final chorus from Messiah, plus a selection of his most ravishing solo arias for female voice.
With Bristol Ensemble Baroque providing stylish accompaniment and two extraordinary soloists on the verge of major careers, this will be an uplifting and truly celebratory paean to Her Majesty in this, her Platinum Jubilee year.

Malmesbury Singers
2022-04-02 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Bob Chilcott Aesop’s Fables
Bob Chilcott A Little Jazz Mass
Howard Goodall Eternal Light
Malmesbury Singers
Bristol Ensemble
Charlotte Woodward soprano
Michael Burgess tenor
Tim Meunier baritone
Join Malmesbury Singers and Bristol Ensemble for an evening of contrasting English music by living composers.
Bob Chilcott has enjoyed a lifelong association with choral music, first as a chorister and choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and as a member of the King’s Singers. Written in 2008, Aesop’s Fables is a charming and witty setting of four of the famous fables including The Hare and the Tortoise. Meanwhile, A Little Jazz Mass is probably the most performed of Chilcott’s works, and blends the traditional text of the mass with upbeat jazz rhythms and harmonies to great effect.
Howard Goodall is an Emmy, Brit and Bafta award-winning composer, best known for his TV Themes, notably to Blackadder and The Vicar of Dibley. Goodall’s Eternal Light intersperses the Requiem text with settings to poetry including Mary Elizabeth Frye’s poignant poem: “Do not stand at my grave and weep”. The piece is both dramatic and lyrical, and will provide plenty of tunes for you to hum on your way home following a wonderful evening’s entertainment.
Tickets £15 for adults, £5 for students/children, plus Eventbrite fees, available from Eventbrite

Handel's Messiah
2022-04-02 19:30 - 22:00 | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
City of Bristol Choir conducted by David Ogden
Bristol Ensemble
Keri Fuge – soprano
Felicity Buckland – mezzo soprano
Gavan Ring – tenor
Alex Ashworth – bass
City of Bristol Choir joins forces with Bristol Ensemble and a fabulous line up of soloists to perform Handel’s masterpiece, Messiah, at St George’s Bristol.
The work is full of drama as it tells the story of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection through majestic and thrilling choruses, heartrending and passionate arias, and theatrical recitative, ensuring its enduring popularity.
Conductor David Ogden reinvigorates the masterpiece with the excitement and power of an 80-strong choir and a crack team of soloists who will fill St George’s Bristol with vocal fireworks, excitement and passion. Given as part of the choir’s 30th anniversary season, the performance will bring the work alive to those both new to the work and seasoned listeners.
Tickets are £18, £22, £25 and £30, available from St George’s box office online and by phone on 0845 40 24 001
Keri Fuge – soprano
Fast becoming acknowledged as being among the “future generation of superb sopranos,” Keri Fuge’s voice has been described as having “splendid clarity” and “silvery fire” that “sparkles in glittering numbers.” Her strong stage presence and ability to create “spellbinding pathos” has won her acclaim in the Baroque and mainstream concert and opera repertoire both internationally and in the UK.
Felicity Buckland – mezzo soprano
Felicity Buckland is a versatile and energetic mezzo-soprano, with a busy schedule of professional opera and concert work, educational projects and corporate and private events. She is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, went on to train on the ENO Opera Works programme and has recently appeared in ENO’s production of Philip Glass’s opera Satyagraha. She has appeared as a soloist in a wide variety of oratorios including Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man, conducted by the composer at Royal Festival Hall. She also performs and records as a professional consort and session singer, including appearing on Eric Whitacre’s Grammy Award-winning choral disc, Light and Gold.
Gavan Ring – tenor
Hailing from Cahersiveen in County Kerry, the Irish tenor Dr Gavan Ring studied at the Schola Cantorum at St Finian’s College Mullingar before reading education and music at Dublin City University. Concert highlights include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra at the BBC Proms and Lucerne Festival under Sir Simon Rattle, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Royal Festival Hall under Sir Mark Elder and the Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Prinzregententheater under Keri Lynn-Wilson. Recital work includes regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and RTÉ Lyric FM plus appearances at Wigmore Hall, the Oxford Lieder Festival and the Ludlow English Song Festival collaborating. Opera highlights include leading roles at Opéra Royal de Versailles, Glyndebourne, Welsh National Opera, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, Wexford Festival Opera and Opera Holland Park.
Alex Ashworth – bass
Alex Ashworth studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has sung with opera houses including Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera. Alex sings regularly on the concert platform and has worked as a soloist for conductors including Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Colin Davis and Paul Mc
Creesh. Alex’s recordings include Œdipus Rex, Stravinsky, with the London Symphony Orchestra, Monteverdi Vespers with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Bach’s B Minor Mass for Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists and Handel’s Giulio Cesare for Glyndebourne Festival Opera (DVD).

St John Passion
2022-04-09 19:30 - 21:30 | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
J.S. Bach St John Passion
Choir of Royal Holloway
Bristol Ensemble Baroque
Christopher Willoughby Evangelist
Rupert Gough Conductor
Bristol Ensemble Baroque ushers in Easter with a performance of Bach’s glorious setting of the St John Passion. Bach’s interpretation of the Passion of Christ is one of the most moving and emotive set to music. The Choir of Royal Holloway joins the period instruments of the Bristol Ensemble Baroque for what promises to be a moving rendition of this great Baroque masterpiece. The performance will be given against a backdrop of wonderful period paintings depicting the scenes of the St John Passion.

Passiontide Prayer in Music & Words
2022-04-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Pergolesi Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater by G B Pergolesi, sung by members of the Abbey Girls Choir with members of the Bristol Ensemble. Directed by Huw Williams.
https://www.bathabbey.org/lent-holy-week-and-easter/

Bath Choral Society
2022-04-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Somerset
J.S. Bach Mass in B minor
Bath Choral Society
Bristol Ensemble
Ruth Provost soprano
Gwen Martin mezzo soprano
Hugh Cutting countertenor
Nick Pritchard tenor
Darren Jeffery bass
Shean Bowers conductor
Bach’s Mass in B Minor is the high point of his musical art. It combines dramatic choruses in four to eight parts and full orchestration with subtle solos where the voice is accompanied by complementary instruments.
Tickets go on sale on Monday 7 February at Bath Box Office

Bristol University Student Recordings
2022-05-09 09:00 - 15:00 | Somerset
Recording student compositions at the University of Bristol.

Henleaze Concert Society: American Connections
2022-05-14 19:30 - 21:30 | Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol, BS9 4BT, United Kingdom
Barber Adagio for String Quartet
Gershwin Concerto in F
Mozart Piano Concerto No.11 in F, K413
Viv McLean piano
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
We’re delighted to welcome back the virtuoso pianist Viv Mc
Lean, a firm favourite in Henleaze Concert Society’s seasons of concerts. In this programme, postponed from 2020, he’ll be performing Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F, a jazzy, optimistic, richly-textured work packed full of fabulous tunes and toe-tapping rhythms. It was commissioned by Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony Orchestra, the day after he had heard the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue. By contrast, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.11 in F is as delicate, elegant and heartrendingly beautiful as you’d expect. Completing the American connection is Barber’s passionate Adagio, in its original version for string quartet.
Tickets
Season ticket for six series concerts £75 including membership
Annual Society Membership £12
Tickets for members £13.50
Tickets for non members £16.50
Under 25 year olds £5
How to book
Buy tickets now
Tickets are available from Opus 13 music shop, by telephone on 0117 923 0164, and from the shop at St Michael’s Hill, Bristol. Card payments accepted. The shop is open from 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday.
Tickets are also on sale at Henleaze Post Office.
You can also book by sending a cheque payable to Henleaze Concert Society, covering note and SAE to 2 Saville Mews, Kingsdown Parade, Bristol BS6 5UL
Season Tickets and Annual Society Membership
Season tickets are only £75 including Society Membership and admission to all six concerts from September to July. Alternatively, becoming a member of Henleaze Concert Society for £12 entitles you to book tickets for individual concerts at the members’ discounted rate. Season tickets and membership are available to buy by post by returning the Ticket Order Form with your payment and a stamped addressed envelope.

Exultate Singers: Mass in B minor
2022-05-14 19:30 - 21:30 | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Exultate Singers
Bristol Ensemble
August Hebbert – soprano
Martha McLorinan – alto
Bradley Smith – tenor
Peter Harvey – bass
David Ogden – conductor
Bach – Mass in B minor
Bach’s crowning achievement expresses the full range of human emotions from intense sadness to great joy and zest for life.
Exceptional Baroque-specialist soloists join the choir for to perform “the greatest work of art of all times and all peoples.”
Tickets £14 to £28 for adults, half price for students in full time education and under 18s, available from St George’s Bristol box office online and on 0845 40 24 001

Taunton School
2022-05-20 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Mozart Clarinet Quintet
Dvorak Piano Quintet No.2 in A
Bristol Ensemble’s professional musicians perform Dvorak’s Piano Quintet together with Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet. One of the master composer’s best-loved works, it was written to showcase the clarinet’s beautiful tone and lyrical quality.

Sadie Harrison recording
2022-05-23 09:00 - 15:00 | Somerset

University of Bristol lunchtime concert
2022-06-08 13:15 - 14:00 | Somerset
Bristol Ensemble
Emma Tring soprano
John Pickard conductor
John Pickard Verlaine Songs (premiere)
Anthony Payne The Undiscover’d Country
Lim Kang Ning Hues (premiere)
Bristol Ensemble performs new works by John Pickard and Lim Kang Ning as part of the University of Bristol’s lunchtime concert series. The programme also features Anthony Payne’s work of 2010, inspired by words in the most famous monologue from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: ‘Death, the undiscover’d country from whose bourne no traveller returns’. Free entry, retiring collection.

Henleaze Concert Society: Summer Serenade
2022-06-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol, BS9 4BT, United Kingdom
Roger Huckle violin
Paul Israel piano
Beethoven Sonate for Violin and Piano No.5 ‘Spring’
Liszt Sonetto 104 del Petrarca S.161
Arvo Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel
Gershwin Three Preludes
Monti Csárdás
Pre-concert talk with David Bednall at 6.45pm
A programme of music for solo violin and piano ranging from Beethoven’s zesty ‘Spring’ sonata to Pärt’s hypnotic Spiegel im Spiegel and Gershwin’s bluesy Three Preludes.
Tickets
Season ticket for six series concerts £75 including membership
Annual Society Membership £12
Tickets for members £13.50
Tickets for non members £16.50
Under 25 year olds £5
How to book
Buy tickets now
Tickets are available from Opus 13 music shop, by telephone on 0117 923 0164, and from the shop at St Michael’s Hill, Bristol. Card payments accepted. The shop is open from 9am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday.
Tickets are also on sale at Henleaze Post Office.
You can also book by sending a cheque payable to Henleaze Concert Society, covering note and SAE to 2 Saville Mews, Kingsdown Parade, Bristol BS6 5UL
Season Tickets and Annual Society Membership
Season tickets are only £75 including Society Membership and admission to all six concerts from September to July. Alternatively, becoming a member of Henleaze Concert Society for £12 entitles you to book tickets for individual concerts at the members’ discounted rate. Season tickets and membership are available to buy by post by returning the Ticket Order Form with your payment and a stamped addressed envelope.

Bristol Choral Society: Schubert
2022-06-11 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Schubert Mass in A flat
Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture
Bristol Choral Society
Bristol Ensemble
Imogen Russell soprano
Angharad Lyddon alto
Thomas Elwin tenor
Thyemba Mvula bass
Hilary Campbell conductor
Michael Butterworth organ
This summer concert with Bristol Choral Society and Hilary Campbell will be an unforgettable experience. Schubert wrote such wonderful music for singers, and this is a rare chance to hear his Mass in A flat. It’s a beautiful piece, full of heart and awash with melodies. On this occasion it is coupled with another lyrical, romantic piece of orchestral music which will be more familiar to some – Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. You will be singing to yourself as you step outside Bristol Cathedral, into a warm June evening.

Tea-Time Concert
2022-06-12 15:00 - 16:00 | Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth, GL6 0DQ, United Kingdom
Roger Huckle violin
Paul Israel piano
Beethoven Sonate for Violin and Piano No.5 ‘Spring’
Liszt Sonetto 104 del Petrarca S.161
Arvo Pärt Spiegel im Spiegel
Gershwin Three Preludes
Monti Csárdás
A programme of music for solo violin and piano ranging from Beethoven’s zesty ‘Spring’ sonata to Pärt’s hypnotic Spiegel im Spiegel and Gershwin’s bluesy Three Preludes. Tickets £10 on the door.

Voices for Life: Stardust Oratorio
2022-06-16 19:30 - 20:30 | Somerset
Jools Scott and Sue Curtis Stardust Oratorio
Directed by Francis Faux
Jon Monie presenter
Following the hugely successful 2021 premiere of Stardust, Voices for Life returns to take you on this musical journey through space written by Jools Scott and Sue Curtis.
200 local primary school children will perform accompanied by the Bristol Ensemble, narrated by Jon Monie and directed by Francis Faux.
The concert will include the premiere of We Are Every Child, a new Voices for Life commission written by Francis Faux and Jamila Gavin in celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee.
“The musical arrangement was excellent – first class. We were delighted to be able to support this event. To see the children take part in such a wonderful concert in such a great venue must have been a real treat for all. Well done on a great job!” The Roper Family Trust, 2021
Tickets from Bath Box Office

The Walled Garden Concerts
2022-06-19 14:00 - 16:00 | Somerset
Mozart Divertimento in D
Elgar Serenade for Strings
Albinoni Oboe Concerto
Vivaldi Summer from the Four Seasons
Piazzolla Summer from the Four Seasons
Join us in the Walled Garden of the stunning Belmont Estate for an afternoon of open-air music and food in the summer sun.
Located just a stone’s throw from Bristol in the North Somerset countryside, discover the idyllic setting of Belmont Estate and soak up the atmosphere all afternoon with street food including wood-fired pizza and plenty of wine, local organic cider, soft drinks and Bristol-brewed beers on offer.
Music comes from Bristol Ensemble, comprised of experienced professional musicians who under the direction of artistic director and violinist Roger Huckle will serenade and delight with pieces by Mozart, Elgar and Vivaldi, joined by Oboe soloist Imogen Triner.
The perfect chance to gather with friends and family for a unique, relaxed outdoor concert experience.
Ticket price includes admission, with food and drink sold separately.
Ages: All ages, under 18s accompanied by an adult
Event times
Gates open: 12 noon
Music starts: 2pm
Finish: 4pm
Presented by Bristol Beacon in partnership with Belmont Estate

If Opera: La Rondine
2022-08-26 19:00 - 22:30 | Somerset
Giacomo Puccini La Rondine
Bruno Ravella director
La rondine (The Swallow) is a moving tale of young love and heartbreak – and what else, you may ask, is opera about? Arguably Puccini’s most modern opera, La rondine was premiered in Monte Carlo in 1917, and includes one of Puccini’s most gorgeous creations, the quartet, ‘Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso’ (I drink to your beautiful smile).
Magda is our ‘rondine’ , the bird who flies towards the sun, and Ruggero is the shy country boy who eventually becomes her lover. We witness their relationship unfold in the colourful locales of Paris and the balmier climes of southern France. The love ‘quadrangle’ is made complete by Prunier, a centre-of-attention poet and Magda’s fiery maid, Lisette. Amidst waltzes, foxtrots, and soaring melodies, join us for an unmissable evening of sophistication and glamour in the enchanting surroundings of Grade 1 listed Belcombe Court.
Tickets
Members’ pricing £40 – £90Non-members’ pricing £45 – £95Under 18s go free – enquire at box office, children aged 7 and older welcome
Book tickets online at www.bathboxoffice.org.uk

If Opera: Rita & Il Segreto di Susanna
2022-08-27 19:00 - 21:00 | Somerset
Gaetano Donizetti Rita (in English)
Directed by Lysanne Van Overbeek
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari Il Segreto di Susanna (in Italian)
Directed by Daisy Brown
This duo of one act comedic operas presents a glorious representation of married life in one form or another – each with their own dark shadows lurking in the background.
Rita, the somewhat tyrannical inn-owner and wife of Peppe is shocked by the return of her former husband Gasparo whom she had thought dead by drowning (he had run away to far-off lands). Gasparo is back to acquire Rita’s death certificate so he can remarry – because he, in turn, thought she had died. In the middle is poor Peppe who wants out, and perhaps Gasparo’s return provides the opportunity? The opera is a comedy of deceit and ill-manners (it was originally called The Beaten Husband which tells you something of Rita’s inclinations) but it glitters with Donizetti’s trademark vivacity, formed around eight core musical ‘numbers’ connected by spoken dialogue. The opera has, in the past few decades, become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s short operas.
Il segreto di Susanna (Susanna’s Secret) is a simple comedy of confusions. Conte Gil returns home to the smell of tobacco – and suspects his beautiful wife Susannah has a lover. The outrageous ways in which Gil seeks to discover the existence of another man whilst his wife tries desperately, with the help of their servant, to conceal her real secret, produce a riotous evening suffused with some absolutely gorgeous music. Wolf-Ferrari shot to fame with this perfect little opera and it remains a popular part of the repertoire across the world.
Tickets
Members’ pricing £39 – £74
Non-members’ pricing £44 – £79
Under 18s go free – enquire at box office, children aged 12 and older welcome
Book online at www.bathboxoffice.org.uk

If Opera: Dido and Aeneas
2022-09-02 19:00 - 21:00 | Somerset
Henry Purcell Dido and Aeneas
Libretto by Nahum Tate
If Opera concert performance with guest conductor Christian Curnyn and the Bristol Ensemble.
The course of true love runs far from smooth for Dido, Queen of Carthage, and Trojan hero Aeneas in Purcell’s famous opera. We are thrilled that our If Opera Company singers will be working with leading Baroque specialist and former Iford Arts regular Christian Curnyn. Intimate in scale, this timeless tale of love and anguish, sorcery, war and betrayal punches well above its weight and includes one of the most beautiful arias in all Baroque opera – When I am Laid in Earth.
Tickets
Members’ pricing: £24 – £55Non-members’ pricing: £29 – £60Under 18s go free – enquire at box office, children aged 7 and older welcome

Tea-Time Concert: Piano Trios
2022-09-25 15:00 - 16:00 | Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth, GL6 0DQ, United Kingdom
Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor
Frank Bridge Miniatures
In 1839, when Mendelssohn produced his Piano Trio in D minor, Op 49, Robert Schumann immediately proclaimed it ‘the master trio of the age’. The beloved chamber work has a classical-era structure but is unmistakably Romantic, with its extended lyrical themes, often a dialogue between the cello and violin, whilst the piano part is both characterful and passionately virtuosic. Frank Bridge’s Miniatures were composed in the early 20th century, delightful cameos full of sparkling detail.
Tea and home made cakes served at 4pm.
Tickets £15 (£13 for those on low incomes), available on the door. Under 18s free of charge.

A celebration of the music of William Herschel
2022-09-30 19:30 - 22:00 | Somerset
Bristol Ensemble Baroque
The Vauxhall Players
Introduced by Dr Matthew Spring
This programme intermixes music composed by William Herschel during his years in Bath (1766-82) and in the six years he spent in the North of England, with music by those who worked with him and whose music he knew: Charles Avison, Thomas Linley, Venanzio Rauzzini and Benjamin Milgrove. We include music intended for the home, for the church and chapels, for the Assembly rooms, and for the Pleasure Gardens. Instrumental items are intermixed with vocal pieces, both unaccompanied and accompanied, to produce an introduced varied programme that charts the musical life of William Herschel.
William Herschel: Symphony di Camera no.4 in D minor (1760), Allegro moderato; Adagio ma non troppo; Allegro moderato
William Herschel: Three movements from 24 Capriccios for solo violin (1763), nos. 1, 11, 17William Herschel: Service Music – Te Deum in G major
William Herschel: Solo for harpsichord in G major, from Sei Sonate per il Cembalo (1769): allegro grazioso
Charles Avison: trio sonata no.2, op.1, in G minor: Andante, Adagio, Allegro
Thomas Linley: Song with English guitar, ‘No flower that blows’;
William Herschel: Song with Eighteenth-Century Spanish guitar ‘Ah! non lasciami’;
Thomas Linley: Madrigal, ‘Let me careless and unthoughtful lying’
Venanzio Rauzzini – Opera Aria ‘Infelice! In tant orror’ from Pyramus and Tisbe (1775)
William Herschel; Serious Glee in three parts with band ‘We sing of love’; Duetto –‘with thee my Strephon; Pleasure Garden Patriot Song – ‘Let humble faithless France’ (1778)
William Herschel: Unaccompanied catches ‘You’r tipsy Tom’; ‘Pray let us sing a merry catch’; ‘Today I am just 29’;’ Echo catch’ (1778)
Benjamin Milgrove: ‘Funeral Hymn on the death of George Whitfield’; ‘The rose had been washed’ – pleasure garden song with band
William Herschel: Symphony no. 9 in F (1761): Allegro assai, Andante assai, Allegretto
Tickets at £14 may be purchased from Bath Box Office or at the door and are available now.

Henleaze Concert Society: German Orchestral Classics
2022-10-08 19:30 - 21:30 | Trinity-Henleaze URC, Waterford Road, Bristol, BS9 4BT, United Kingdom
Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture
Bruch Violin Concerto
Beethoven Symphony No.1
Emil Huckle-Kleve violin
Mendelssohn’s lyrical and dramatic Hebrides Overture (also known as Fingal’s Cave) opens this concert of music by German composers. Bruch’s iconic Violin Concerto is one of the most popular in the genre, full of sustained emotion, stunningly beautiful melodies, and romantic themes. The concert’s finale is Beethoven’s sparkling Symphony No. 1, the composer’s first foray into the form which was described at its premiere as a work of ‘considerable art, novelty and wealth of ideas’.
Tickets
Season ticket for six series concerts £85 including membership
Annual Society Membership £12
Tickets for members £15
Tickets for non members £18
Under 25 year olds £5
How to book
Book tickets online now at Eventbrite
Tickets are available from Henleaze Post Office.
You can also book by sending a cheque payable to Henleaze Concert Society, covering note and SAE to 2 Saville Mews, Kingsdown Parade, Bristol BS6 5UL
Season Tickets and Annual Society Membership
Season tickets are only £85 including Society Membership and admission to all six concerts from October to June. Alternatively, becoming a member of Henleaze Concert Society for £12 entitles you to book tickets for individual concerts at the members’ discounted rate. Season tickets and membership are available to buy by post by returning the Ticket Order Form with your payment and a stamped addressed envelope.

Thornbury Autumn Concert
2022-10-15 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Suite for Viola – Group 1
The Lark Ascending
On Wenlock Edge
Marking the 150th birthday of one of England’s best-loved and most distinctive composers, this programme features one of the nation’s most treasured works, The Lark Ascending, in an arrangement for solo violin, piano and string quartet. The ravishing and wistful Suite for Viola has three movements – an arpeggiotic Prelude develops into a soaring lyricism, and a simple Carol is followed by a hearty and celebratory Christmas Dance. The song cycle On Wenlock Edge, in which Vaughan Williams sets poetry from A.E. Housman’s quintessentially English collection A Shropshire Lad, completes this celebratory concert.
Tickets £18 (including a drink) are available from 01454 850933 or by email from AAGThornbury@gmail.com

Tea-Time Concert: Vaughan Williams at 150
2022-10-16 15:00 - 16:00 | Christ Church, Newmarket Road, Nailsworth, GL6 0DQ, United Kingdom
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Suite for Viola – Group 1
The Lark Ascending
On Wenlock Edge
Marking the 150th birthday of one of England’s best-loved and most distinctive composers, this programme features the nation’s most treasured work, The Lark Ascending, in an arrangement for solo violin, piano and string quartet. The ravishing and wistful Suite for Viola has three movements – an arpeggiotic Prelude develops into a soaring lyricism, and a simple Carol is followed by a hearty and celebratory Christmas Dance. The song cycle On Wenlock Edge, in which Vaughan Williams sets poetry from A.E. Housman’s quintessentially English collection A Shropshire Lad, completes this celebratory concert.
Tea and home made cakes served at 4pm.
Tickets £15 (£13 for those on low incomes), available on the door. Under 18s free of charge.

La Création du Monde
2022-10-22 19:30 - 21:30 | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
Milhaud La Création du Monde
Max Richter Nature of Daylight
Haydn Symphony no 6 Le Matin
Wagner Siegfried Idyll
Copland Appalachian Spring
This performance opens with Milhaud’s La Création du Monde, a jazz-inspired ballet and ends with a celebration of nature with Copland’s Appalachian Spring. In between, the ensemble explores more complex human emotions with Richter’s On the Nature of Daylight and the wonderful Siegfried Idyll by Wagner, all whilst audience members are enveloped gorgeous lighting and images.
Tickets from £15, available from St George’s box office.

Bristol Choral Society: Symphony of Psalms
2022-11-05 19:30 - 21:30 | Somerset
Bristol Choral Society
Bristol Ensemble
Hilary Campbell – conductor
Steven Kings – piano
Marija Struckova – piano
Vanessa Bowers – soprano
Jamie W Hall – baritone
Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms
Fauré Requiem
Not for Fauré the Requiem ‘shock and awe’ of a Mozart, Berlioz or Verdi. Refined over a decade, his Mass for the Dead sustains an abiding solace discharged in the luminescent hope and reassurance of the concluding In Paradisium.
First though there’s profound spirituality of a different order as glittering woodwind, brass, two pianos and harp queue up to reflect the laser-sharp light of Stravinsky’s triptych ‘symphonising the singing of Psalms’.
It’s prefaced by more Stravinsky, his time in black and white: his wartime Sonata for two pianos, a work shot through with crystalline neoclassicism.
Tickets from £11 to £28, under 25s £5. Seniors 10% discount. Available online from Bristol Beacon box office

Music of Remembrance
2022-11-13 18:00 - 20:00 | St George’s Bristol, Great George Street, Bristol, BS1 5RR, United Kingdom
City of Bristol Choir
Bristol Ensemble
David Ogden conductor
Amy Dickson saxophone
Richard Johnson piano
Rebecca Afonwy-Jones mezzo soprano
Felix Kemp baritone
Richard Blackford Pietà
Ralph Vaughan Williams Dona nobis pacem
Anatoly Avdievsky Ukrainian Lullaby
With its dramatic, visual quality, gripping narrative and vividly descriptive scoring, Pietà by Richard Blackford is a beautiful setting of the Stabat Mater text interspersed with poems from the Ukrainian born poet Anna Akhmatova.
Described as a modern masterpiece, this intensely moving work was inspired by Michelangelo’s sculpture in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and explores a mother grieving for her son. Since its premiere in 2019 the work has received an Ivor Novello award, and City of Bristol Choir is proud to be the first choir to bring this intensely moving and remarkable work to Bristol, joined by the internationally renowned saxophonist Amy Dickson, Bristol Youth Choir and the strings of the Bristol Ensemble.
The acclaimed tenor Jonas Kaufmann writes of Pietà: “Richard Blackford has created an outstanding choral work: a passionate and personal tribute in memory of all who suffer from violence, suppression and political persecution, which has deeply impressed me. A modern composer who is not afraid of writing beautiful and touching music!”
Marking the 150th anniversary of the composer’s birth, the choir performs Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem, a cry for peace which sets texts from the Bible and Walt Whitman to warn against the inevitability of an impending conflict. The composer’s service in the First World War gave him first-hand experience of the futility and suffering of war which he weaves into this dramatic and powerful piece.
City of Bristol Choir is pleased to present these two intensely moving pieces with their themes of consolation, peace, and reconciliation on Remembrance Sunday. Completing the programme is an arrangement of a tender Ukrainian Lullaby for saxophone and orchestra, remembering the casualties not only of World Wars but also of recent conflicts.
Tickets £18 to £25 (half price for students in full time education and under 18s) available from City of Bristol Choir box office, and St George’s box office.
