Events Calendar

​This September, OperaUpClose, in partnership with Manchester Camerata (‘Britain’s most adventurous orchestra’ The Times), present Wagner’s masterpiece The Flying Dutchman in an immersive production inspired by the original ghost story, re-told as a haunting, contemporary, political tale.

Glyn Maxwell’s re-imagined English version depicts an island nation struggling with its identity in a world of displaced people; with Laura Bowler’s new 8-piece chamber orchestration featuring recorded local community choirs from across the UK alongside a cast of internationally renowned opera singers.

A radical new Carmen… intelligently conceived and extraordinarily well-sung. ★★★★ WhatsOnStage (2015)
A thrilling, up-close encounter. ★★★★ The Stage on Mary, Queen of Scots (2019)

Lucy Bradley Director
Timothy Burke Conductor
Ana Inés Jabares-Pita Designer
Zeynep Kepekli Lighting Designer

​Mozart Quintet for piano and winds, K452

Mozart Horn Quintet in E flat, K407
Brahms Horn Trio in E flat, Op 40

A magical evening of chamber music.

Felix Klieser, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s Artist in Residence, is joined by pianist Danny Driver and principals of the orchestra.

Mozart composed his quintet for for piano, horn, oboe, clarinet and bassoon in 1784, a year in which he wrote six piano concertos. Mozart played piano for the first performance and wrote to his father afterwards that it was ‘…the best thing I have written so far in my life.’ Mozart’s Horn Quintet is scored for an unusual string combination including two violas. This gives it a deeper sonority than that of a regular string quartet. Full of gentle, amiable music, it has been compared to a miniature horn concerto: the horn frequently given a starring role.

Brahms’ Trio is regarded as one of his greatest chamber works. The instrumental combination (piano, horn, and violin) was almost unheard of before he wrote for it. Noble, with a hint of melancholy and mystery, it makes for a multi-faceted rather than a one-dimensional experience.

One of the most inspiring figures on the concert scene today. The Times on Felix Klieser

It would be impossible to overestimate Driver’s impeccable technique and musicianship. Gramophone

​Avant-pop from musician, composer, and producer Arthur Jeffes and his Penguin Cafe ensemble, performing music from their April 2022 rerelease A Matter of Life… and back catalogue favourites.

Combining folk, classical, and minimalism in a style distinctive to the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Arthur Jeffes and his cohorts craft a vivid series of panoramic sonic landscapes, as rich in cerebral poignancy as they are in emotional depth.

Following in his father Simon Jeffes’ footsteps, and performing music from both the Penguin Cafe Orchestra repertoire alongside the new Penguin Cafe material, this talented array of musicians make use of a variety of instrumentation: gut-stringed violins, viola, cello, bass, percussion, upright and grand pianos, synthesiser, harmonium and more – to bring an effervescent and thoughtful sound.

​Join us for a fascinating and inspiring talk as Emily shares her adventures and scientific insights.

Emily Penn is an ocean advocate and skipper who is dedicated to studying environmental challenges in the most remote parts of our planet. She has spent over a decade exploring plastic pollution from the tropics to the Arctic.

After rounding the globe on a record-breaking bio-fuelled boat, Emily spent 10 years at sea. She explored and discovered oceanic gyres – huge areas of plastic accumulation. Emily co-founded eXXpedition in 2014. The non-profit organisation runs pioneering all-female sailing research expeditions. The voyages investigate the causes of – and solutions to – ocean plastic pollution, so they can use their skills to solve it from sea to source.

‘There is no silver bullet solution to ocean plastic pollution. What’s needed is an engaged and empowered mix of people leading solutions to the issue from all angles, bringing different skills and expertise to turn awareness into action.’

Emily Penn

​Laura Jurd cornet, piano

Martin Lee Thomson euphonium
Danielle Price tuba
Alex Haines guitar
Ruth Goller bass
Corrie Dick drums

‘Let’s just call it social music.’ BBC 6 Music

She grew up in Hampshire. She loves The Beatles AND Stravinsky. She is an extraordinary musician, improviser and composer. Trumpet player Laura Jurd is back with music from her fourth album as band leader.

Celtic folk traditions, the blues and a sprinkling of alt-rock influence Laura’s distinctive sound. A brass-fuelled, party band of instrumentalists join her to bring this colourful new music to life.

Join Laura and her brilliant band for big friendly tunes and grooves-a-plenty.

​Mozart 12 Variations on Ah vous dirai-je, Maman, K265

Fanny Mendelssohn Easter Sonata
Debussy Children’s Corner, L 113
C Schumann Scherzo No 2 in C minor, Op 14
Chopin Ballade No 2 in F, Op 38
R Schumann Kinderszenen, Op 15

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!

Put your everyday worries aside tonight as brilliant young pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason calls us back to our childhood days.

Isata returns to Turner Sims with a programme inspired by the imaginations and experiences of childhood. She opens with Mozart’s playful variations on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. We hear the music of Clara and Robert Schumann, alongside a recently discovered work by Fanny Mendelssohn.

Debussy dedicated his Children’s Corner to his little daughter, Claude-Emma (known as ‘Chou-Chou’). The sweet dedication reads: ‘A ma chère petite Chouchou, avec les tendres excuses de son Père pour ce qui va suivre. C. D.’ (To my dear little Chouchou, with tender apologies from her father for what follows).

 The eldest of the world-famous Kanneh-Mason siblings, Isata has continued to make waves both on disc and in concert. In 2021, she received the 2021 Leonard Bernstein Award and was selected as a 2021–22 European Concert Hall Organisation Rising Star.

​Sara Bitlloch violin

Donald Grant violin
Simone van der Giessen viola
Marie Bitlloch cello

Haydn Quartet in F sharp minor, Op 50 No 4
Florence Price Quartet No 2 in A minor
Beethoven Quartet No 8 in E minor, Op 59 No 2 Rasumovsky

On 15 June 1933, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed a new piece by an unknown composer. The work had won first prize in a competition. The Chicago Daily News declared it ‘a faultless work, a work that speaks its own message with restraint and yet with passion… worthy of a place in the regular symphonic repertoire.’

The unknown composer was Florence Price. She was the first African American woman to have her music performed by a major symphony orchestra. Join us tonight as the Elias Quartet perform her Quartet No 2 as part of their programme.

The Elias Quartet begin with Haydn’s rarely heard quartet, one of a set of six written for the King of Prussia. The evening closes with Beethoven’s popular quartet, one of the set of three dedicated to Count Rasumovsky.

The Elias String Quartet is internationally renowned as one of the leading ensembles of their generation. Known for their intense and vibrant performances, the quartet has travelled the globe playing in the world’s great halls. The Elias Quartet were Turner Sims Associate Artists from 2012-15. They gave memorable cycles of the quartets of Beethoven and Schumann.

Playing of wonderful exuberance and fire. Guardian

​A rich tapestry of refugee stories, electric sarod, strings and animation.

Soumik Datta is an award-winning musician, producer and television presenter. He plays the 19-stringed sarod and combines Indian music with spoken word, arts activism and electronica.

As part of a national tour, Soumik brings his company’s full-length production Hope Notes to Turner Sims. The project is a sensory feast to challenge social injustice through an uplifting, musical lens. Hope Notes was made in collaboration with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Kenya, Bangladesh, Yemen, Cameroon and Uganda. It is a powerful tribute to the displaced communities of the world.

Soumik has collaborated with Beyonce, Jay-Z, Bill Bailey, Nitin Sawhney, Joss Stone, Anoushka Shankar, Arijit Singh, Akram Khan and Shankar Mahadevan to name a few.

Previous highlights include winning the Arts Council England Elevate Award and British Council’s COP26 x Climate commission. An Ambassador of Earth Day Network, Soumik’s work addresses urgent social and environmental issues through songs, music and film. He has presented television shows Rhythms of India (BBC4) and Tuning 2 You (Channel 4) and produced several radio shows for BBC Radio 3.

​Aurelius 3 Lyrical Pieces

Turina Fandanguillo, Op 36
Turina Sevillana, Op 29
Torroba Suite Castellana
Torroba Sonatina in A
Vincent Lindsey-Clark Shadow of the Moon
Mignone Six Etudes
Ulisses Rocha Desatino

A member of the highest echelon of living guitarists… fluent technique, great beauty and variety of sound, finely controlled emotional response, and stylistic sensitivity.

Gramophone

Fabio Zanon is one of today’s outstanding guitarists. As a solo and chamber player, author, conductor, teacher and broadcaster, he has sought to expand the perception of the guitar in the concert scene.

In 1996, Fabio won first prize in two of the most important international guitar competitions. He has since performed as a recitalist and concerto soloist in more than 50 countries.

Tonight, Fabio’s programme includes works by both Spanish and Brazilian composers. He also features a work by Vincent Lindsey Clark, who himself performed at Turner Sims earlier this year. Shadow of the Moon is a favourite with many solo guitarists, in part inspired by Lindsey-Clark’s discoveries as an amateur astronomer.

​David Owen Norris presenter, piano

plus guest speakers to be announced

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of England’s greatest composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams. Join David Owen Norris for a special discovery afternoon of music, insights and discussion.

You will be the first to hear new arrangements for piano chamber choir and ensemble of four movements from Vaughan Williams’s ballet Job. The one-act ballet is considered one of the composer’s mightiest achievements but is rarely performed.

The Discovery Afternoon includes a rare showing of the film The Passions of Vaughan Williams (winner of the FIPA Prix d’Argent in 2009). The film’s director, John Bridcut, joins the panel for the round table discussion. John has also made films on Parry, Elgar & Delius, and his recent film Janet Baker in her own words became an instant classic.

You will also have the chance to hear from Vaughan Williams experts on the composer’s life, music and legacy.

​Courtney Pine bass clarinet

Zoe Rahman piano
with guest string quartet

‘…this is seriously good music, beautifully played by two jewels of British jazz.’ London Jazz News

Join us as British Jazz stars, Courtney Pine and Zoe Rahman perform music from Courtney’s new album SPIRITUALITY.

Courtney Pine CBE OBE was one of the first black British jazz artists to make a serious mark on the jazz scene in the 80s. His debut album Journey to the Urge Within became the first serious jazz album ever to make the British Top 40. Zoe Rahman is a vibrant and individual pianist and composer. Her style is rooted in jazz, yet reflects her classical background, British/Bengali heritage and her very broad musical taste.

Courtney and Zoe last toured together with the sublime Song, The Ballad Book. The project saw Courtney on bass clarinet and Zoey on grand piano, performing beautiful, stripped back ballads. These were some of the most intimate shows of Courtney’s long and celebrated career.

This year, the duo reunite for a string of concerts to celebrate and debut brand new music from SPIRITUALITY, due for release in the Autumn. A string quartet joins them for a very special live experience.

Spellbinding, shimmers serenely with a breath taking beauty. MOJO

…the raw emotion they evoke is sheer magic. BLUES & SOUL – 10/10

​Get ready for an unforgettable night with one of the best banjoists in the history of New Orleans!

Don Vappie is a Creole banjoist and vocalist from New Orleans. He is the living embodiment of 300 years of the city’s music and unique melting pot of cultures. He is known for his nurturing approach to Creole culture and its preservation.

Honouring the tradition of his predecessor, banjoist Danny Barker, Vappie has kept the Créole songs of New Orleans alive . He has been honoured with awards from Créole society for preserving this cultural treasure.

Vappie is also the banjoist and guitarist in Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at the Lincoln Center band. He was winner of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize 2021 and inducted into the Banjo Hall of Fame 2022.

Expect an evening that combines all genres of New Orleans from traditional to modern day funk with the classic early tradition of a string band. The result is ‘Jazz Créole’.

The banjo has a Jimi Hendrix. The Times, Picayune US

The Sunday Times Jazz Album of the Year 2020

Don Vappie banjo, vocals
David Horniblow clarinet
Dave Kelbie guitar
Tom Wheatley double bass

​Beethoven Quartet in A, Op 18 No 5

Britten Quartet No 1, Op 25
Dvořák Quartet No 13 in G, Op 106

Join us for an exciting and passionate performance from one of the world’s great ensembles.

The Takács Quartet are praised for their flawless balance between rich individual playing and compelling sound. They are among the world’s most accomplished chamber ensembles – and one of its most musically distinctive.

Tonight’s programme opens with one of Beethoven’s first set of quartets. It continues with music by Britten and Dvořák written at significant moments in both composers’ lives. Initial ideas for Dvořák’s penultimate quartet came whilst he was living in America. The work itself was written and premiered after he returned to live in his native Bohemia.

Britten’s quartet was commissioned by the American patron Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. He composed the work in the humble surroundings of a garden tool shed during his stay in California. The work premiered in Los Angeles and Britten told his benefactress that he rated the quartet as ‘my best piece so far’.

Edward Dusinberre violin
Harumi Rhodes violin
Richard O’Neill viola
András Fejér cello

​Fasch Sonata a 4 for recorder, oboe, violin and continuo in B flat, N:B1

Vivaldi Trio for lute, violin and continuo in G minor, RV 85
Vivaldi Concerto da camera for recorder, oboe, violin, cello and continuo in D, RV 94
Pla Sonata for oboe, violin and continuo in D minor, DolP 3.2b
Fasch Concerto da camera for recorder, violin and bassoon (arr for cello) in C, FaWV L:C3
Vivaldi Concerto da camera for recorder, oboe, violin, bassoon (arr for cello) and continuo in G minor RV 107
Telemann Concerto da camera for recorder, oboe, violin and continuo in A minor TWV 43:a3

The award-winning ensemble El Gran Teatro del Mundo specialises in performing music from the 17th and 18th century.

Tonight their programme celebrates the genre of the ‘concerto da camera’. This means each instrumentalist performs a double role – as soloist and accompanist. The ensemble explore the different aspects of this particular genre, from its origins in Italy with Vivaldi to its later German form.

Claudio Rado violin
Michael Form recorders
Miriam Jorde oboe
Bruno Hurtado cello
Jonas Nordberg theorbo
Julio Caballero harpsichord, director

Presented in association with the National Centre for Early Music

​English indie rock band The Wedding Present formed in 1985 in Leeds. They have had eighteen UK Top 40 singles and seven Top 40 albums. Their music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock, influenced by bands such as The Fall, Buzzcocks and Gang of Four, to more varied forms. They have been led throughout by their only constant member, vocalist and guitarist David Gedge.

Tonight, David celebrates the release of the second volume of his memoir in comic book form Tales From The Wedding Present. Join us as he talks to long-time music associate Terry de Castro, plus an audience Q&A and a stripped-back, semi-acoustic set.

The boy Gedge has written some of the best love songs of the ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ era. You may dispute this, but I’m right and you’re wrong! John Peel

Presented by Mirrorman Agency in association with Turner Sims

​A very special night with visionary South African pianist, composer, and healer Nduduzo Makhathini.

Nduduzo Makhathini grew up in the lush, rugged landscape of umGungundlovu in South Africa. The area is historically significant as the site of the Zulu king Dingane kingdom between 1828 and 1840. Zulu, in fact the African warrior code, is deeply reliant on music for motivation and healing. Nduduzo’s experiences as a traditional Zulu healer are inseparable from his improvisational performance.

Nduduzo’s music draws influence from South African jazz legends such as Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, and Abdullah Ibrahim. He also blends flavours from the great American jazz canon – like John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, and Randy Weston. The result is a cross-continental, multilayered melodic groove.

Tonight Nduduzo performs music from his tenth studio album, released in 2022, In the Spirit of Ntu.

…what you’ll feel most acutely isn’t incorporeal but deeply human, a potent brew of fury, joy, and solidarity. Jazz Times

Nduduzo Makhathini (Un-de-doozo macker-teeny)

​An evening of captivating West African sounds.

Habib Koité is one of West Africa’s most popular musicians – and one of Mali’s greatest guitarists. He’s performed more than 1500 concerts around the world in a career spanning four decades. He enjoys international recognition – particularly in the US where he counts Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Eric Bibb and Jenny Lewis among his collaborators.

His fascination with Mali’s rich musical traditions and instrumentation is central to his continued success. These sounds permeate his latest album Kharifa. Recorded in Bamako in 2019, it features guests including Toumani Diabaté.

Tonight, Habib Koité and his band Bamada are supported by Gambian kora masters Sura Susso and Jally Kebba Susso. Cousins from the same family of griots, they are each prodigious talents in their own right.

Presented in association with African Night Fever

​Schubert Piano Sonata No 7 in E flat, D568

Schubert Piano Sonata No 14 in A minor, D784
Schubert Piano Sonata No 17 in D, D850

‘Lewis is one of the great Schubertians of our time.’ Gramophone

20 years on from his first survey of Schubert at Turner Sims, Paul Lewis begins a four concert series exploring the composer’s piano sonatas.

Paul Lewis is one of the leading musicians of his generation. His studies of piano works by Beethoven and Schubert have received worldwide critical and public praise.

Tonight opens with the E flat sonata left in unfinished form in D flat in 1817, then transposed, revised and completed by the composer around 1826. The A minor work dates from 1823, while the D major piece, sometimes called the ‘Gasteiner’ Sonata, was composed in the Austrian spa town of Bad Gastein in 1825. It would be the only one of the three works this evening to achieve publication in Schubert’s lifetime.

​Eliza Carthy fiddle, voice

Saul Rose melodeon
Dave Delarre guitar
Phil Alexander piano
Ben Seal bass
Willy Molleson drums

2022 marks the 30th career anniversary of outstanding English folk musician and President of the EFDSS, Eliza Carthy MBE.

To mark this significant milestone, she will be releasing a new album Queen Of The Whirl with her band The Restitution. The album features re-recordings of some of her ‘greatest hits’ and audience-favourites from past 30 years, including songs from her three Mercury Award nominated albums.

Eliza turned pro (or quit college, depending on if you ask her or her dear departed mam) in 1992. Since then she has toured all over the world. She has danced with Hugh Masekele in Ghana; crossed the Prairies, the Alps, and the waters of Lake Titicaca, playing the fiddle and spreading the word of English traditional music.

Queen Of The Whirl is her celebration of thirty years of silliness and profundity, with a crack team of brilliant musicians. Thirty years of music reimagined, from Billy Bragg to Peggy Seeger, from The Ratcatchers to Imagined Village, from bloody boots in Trafalgar Square to the moors of North Yorkshire, and everywhere between. It’s been quite a ride!

​Be moved and inspired by some of the greatest songs for peace ever written.

Throughout the 20th century, injustice and bloodshed inspired a powerhouse of songs. These songs express anger, pain and sadness, but also hope for a better future. Musical maestro Harvey Brough has arranged stunning new choral versions in this latest concert from USV.

Sheryl Crow wrote one of the great anthems for peace after visiting war-torn Bosnia in 1995. Her Redemption Day was reworked by Johnny Cash after the outbreak of the Iraq war eight years later. Nina Simone reframed Kurt Weill’s Pirate Jenny in the early 1960s as a cry for revenge in America’s Southern states. Rodgers’ and Hart’s wistful Spring is Here has moved many artists, including Ella Fitzgerald and the Supremes.

The USV perform with stellar soloists Christina Gill and Clara Sanabras. The band is headed by pianist Liam Dunachie and bassist Oli Hayhurst.

Altogether now (in the words of Nina Simone):

Everything must change,
Nothing stays the same.
Winter turns to spring.
Wounded heart will heal.

​Immerse yourself in Indian classical music through Khayal, Bhajan, Taraana and the energy and excitement of Sufi music.

Southampton-based Indian classical singer Pooja Angra leads a distinguished quartet of musicians as she premieres her new project.

Creative Unity explores both poetry and music compositions from medieval India (8th to 16th century). This period saw an influx of embracing languages, cultures, and music traditions from various other parts of the world. Great poets and composers of the era such as Meera, Baba Nanak, Tulsidas, Kabir, Bulle Shah and Amir Khusrow created many masterful works. These creations acted as a catalyst for social inclusion.

The poems were composed in a variety of languages including Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Avadhi, Braj and Urdu. They carried rich messages on moral values, social awakening and societal beliefs.

Pooja is joined by her brother Karan Rana, tabla player Mitel Purohit and sitar player Baluji Shrivastav, OBE. Their heartfelt music weaves medieval poetry into musical threads built on rich Indian classical music traditions. Tonight, the group’s captivating compositions showcase the art of improvisation.

​Haydn Quartet in B flat, Op 33 No 4

Haydn Quartet in D, Op 33 No 6
Schubert Quartet in A minor, D804 Rosamunde

‘a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music’

Gramophone

Our Associate Artists have a unique sound which comes from them performing on gut strings and with historical bows.

For their latest visit, the Chiaroscuro Quartet perform two of the Op 33 set of quartets which Haydn described as written ‘in a new and special way’. It has been suggested this was a marketing pitch to subscribers. However it was also a reflection of the fact that the works are lighter and less serious than their predecessors. Schubert’s work is the only one of his 15 quartets to be performed and published in his lifetime. It is so-called because it incorporates some of the incidental music the composer wrote for the play of the same name.

Playing with gut strings is one thing; playing with such assuredness and golden musicality on them is another. Scotsman

​Modern-day balladeers Chris Green and Sophie Matthews specialise in telling stories through song.

Following on from GreenMatthews‘ 10 years of successful touring Christmas shows, Gaudete! is an expanded lineup playing new and exciting arrangements of Chris and Sophie’s popular festive fare.

Featuring Emily Baines on early woodwinds and Richard Heacock on violin, their music is lush, rich and heartwarming . With repertoire spanning 600 years from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, they perfectly evoke the Spirit of Christmas Past.

Expect Christmas carols, winter folk songs, toe-tapping tunes, and weird and wonderful instruments. Gaudete! brings the festive season to life in a riot of sound and colour!