Thursday 21 June, 7pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Storm and Refuge
2024 Festival Programme
Love's Labours
Choral Evensong
Sunday 2nd June, 4pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Free Admission
The Solis Choir sets the tone for Summer Music in City Churches with a special Choral Evensong celebrating love.
Artists:
The Solis Choir
Programme:
Preces & responses: Smith
Canticles: Murrill in E
Anthem: S S Wesley - Blessed be the God and Father
Hymn: Love divine all loves excelling
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra plays Finzi, Chopin and Mendelssohn
Thursday 6th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £30 (£15 under-25s)
Finzi, Chopin and Mendelssohn at their joyful, romantic best with the world famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and acclaimed pianist Elizabeth Sombart. Pierre Vallet conducts.
Artists:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Elizabeth Sombart, piano
Pierre Vallet, conductor
Programme:
Finzi: Overture to Love's Labours Lost
Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor
Mendelssohn: Italian Symphony
The Food of Love: a glittering evening of Shakespearean music, verse and anecdote with Nigel Hess and friends
Friday 7th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £30 (£15 under-25s)
A celebration of the Bard’s love of music, devised and performed by composer and pianist Nigel Hess with actors Nancy Carroll and Richard Teverson and vocalists Michael Dore and Eleanor Grant.
Artists:
Nigel Hess, piano
Nancy Caroll and Richard Teverson, actors
Michael Dore and Eleanor Grant, vocals
Programme:
An uplifting and heart-warming evening celebrating musical settings of Shakespearean texts and the Bard's writings about music, together with backstage stories of the perils of performance down the years....!
Last Tango in London: Curve Ensemble with David Juritz (violin)
Saturday 8th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £20 (£10 under-25s)
A beguiling programme of music inspired by love, passion and tango. Featuring both Golden Age Tango and the Nuevo Tango of Astor Piazzolla, incidental music from Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone, and more.
Programme:
Purcell: Music for a While
Piazzolla: Michelangelo ‘70
Piazzolla: Soledad
Morricone: Love Theme from Cinema Paradiso
Piazzolla: Escualo
Piazzolla: Oblivion
Fauré: Après un Rêve
Piazzolla: Libertango
plus works by Charpentier, Hahn, Bardi, Poldowski, Bragato, Troilo, Ponce, Cobián and Sixto Ríos.
Artists:
David Juritz, violin
Curve Ensemble
English Piano Quintets and the Lim Fantasy of Companionship Chamber Suite – world premiere
Tuesday 11th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £20 (£10 under-25s)
Principals of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with pianist Mark Bebbington perform quintessentially English romantic piano quintets and the world premiere of the Lim Fantasy of Companionship Chamber Suite. With grateful thanks to the Vaughan Williams Foundation.
Artists:
Mark Bebbington, piano
Principals of the RPO
Programme:
Manu Martin: Lim Fantasy of Companionship Chamber Suite
Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet in C Minor
Elgar: Piano Quintet in A Minor
Heart Strings: love letters in string quartets by Mendelssohn and Dvořák
Wednesday 12th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £12 (£6 under-25s)
Lunchtime concert of love songs in string quartets by Mendelssohn and Dvořák, performed by Brother Tree Sound.
Artist:
Brother Tree Sound string quartet
Programme:
Mendelssohn: String Quartet No.2 Op. 13
Dvořák: Cypresses (selection)
Art Deco Trio: A Fine Romance – songs from the Great American Songbook
Thursday 12th June, 8pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £20 (£10 under-25s)
Fabulous arrangements of songs from the great American Songbook by pianist Iain Farrington, performed by his wonderful trio.
Artists:
Iain Farrington, piano
Kyle Horch, saxophone
Peter Kyle, clarinet
Programme:
Berlin: Let's face the music and dance
Berlin: Cheek to Cheek
Berlin: Always
Berlin: Blue Skies - Puttin' on the Ritz
Giacchino: Married Life
TRAD: My Love is like a red, red rose
Kern: All the things you are
Kern: A Fine Romance
Novello: I can give you the starlight
Novello: Glamorous Night
Novello: The Glo-Glo
Arlen: Right as the rain
Gershwin: Gershwinicity (Let's call the whole thing off, A Foggy Day in London Town, Fascinating Rhythm, Embraceable You, Lady Be Good)
From Russia with Love
Thursday 13th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £12 (£6 under-25s)
Lunchtime concert in which Tier3 Trio perform Tchaikovsky’s love duet, Arensky’s romantic trio, and a tribute to the mythical hero for whom love conquered all.
Artists:
Tier3 Trio:
Joseph Wolfe, violin
Jonathan Ayling, cello
Daniel Grimwood, piano
Programme:
Liszt: Orpheus
Tchaikovsky: Andante
Arensky: Trio in D Minor
Archangel: A Foray into Fauré
Thursday 13th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £20 (£10 under-25s)
A breath-taking love story in words and music, celebrating the centenary of Gabriel Fauré. Performed by Fenella Humphreys (violin), Viv McLean (piano) and author/narrator Jessica Duchen.
Artists:
Viv McLean, piano
Fenella Humphreys, violin
Jessica Duchen, author/narrator
Programme:
Viardot: 6 Morceaux extract - No. 1 Romance
Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre
Fauré: Violin Sonata in A Major, Op. 13
Fauré: Après un rêve
Chausson: Poème
Ravel: Berceuse sur le nom de Gabriel Fauré
Ravel: Tzigane
Die Schöne Müllerin
Friday 14th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £12 (£6 under-25s)
Perhaps the most celebrated of romantic song cycles, Schubert’s chronicle of the love of a young journeyman miller for a miller’s beautiful young daughter.
Artists:
David Greco, baritone
Gavin Roberts, piano
Programme:
Schubert: Die Schöne Müllerin
‘My true love said…’ – Shakespeare in Song
Friday 14th June, 6.15pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £10 (£5 under-25s)
Exactly on the 130th anniversary of the founding of City of London School for Girls, the City of London Schools’ Camerata perform settings of Shakespeare by Will Todd, John Rutter, Cecilia McDowall, Saffiya Chenaf (CLSG Music Scholar) and Richard Quesnel (Director of Music).
Artists:
City of London Schools’ Camerata
Richard Quesnel, conductor
Programme:
Jussi Chydenius: Fear no more the heat ‘o’ th’ sun
Will Todd: It was a lover and his lass
Cecilia McDowall: Sigh no more ladies
Richard Quesnel: Full fathom five
Will Todd: I sing because…
Saffiya Chenaf: Come away, Death
Richard Quesnel: This Love
John Rutter: When daisies pied (from Birthday Madrigals)
Rhapsody in Blue
Friday 14th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Viv McLean performs a kaleidoscopic programme of romantic music for solo piano, built around George Gershwin’s great love letter to New York, 100 years after its first performance.
Artists:
Viv McLean, piano
Programme:
Scarlatti: Sonata in D Minor K. 213
Scarlatti: Sonata in E K. 380
Scarlatti: Sonata in D K. 491
Beethoven: Sonata in C Sharp Minor Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight"
Chopin: Waltz in A Minor Op. 34 No. 1
Chopin: Waltz in C Sharp Minor Op. 64 No. 2
Piazzolla: Oblivion & Libertango
Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Then Sing We All!
Saturday 15th June, 6.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £30 (£15 under-25s, £5 under-12s)
The City of London Choir rounds off its 60th birthday season with Roderick Williams, Rachel Nicholls and Iain Farrington in uplifting music for all the family, celebrating love for the earth and its inhabitants, and for the gift of singing.
Artists:
Rachel Nicholls, soprano
Roderick Williams, baritone
Izzi Blain, alto
Max Robbins, tenor
Iain Farrington, piano
Andrew Pask, double bass
Matt Senior, drums/percussion
Hilary Davan Wetton, conductor
Daniel Hyde, conductor
City of London Choir
Programme:
Horovitz: Captain Noah & His Floating Zoo
Eric Whitacre: Cloudburst
Tippett: Five Spirituals
Dankworth: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day
Iain Farrington: Then Sing We All