Concerts 2018/19

The 2018/19 season of the London Chamber Music Society’s concerts presents another fine array of chamber music of all types. The Chilingirian Quartet with violist Prunella Pacey continue their cycle of Mozart’s astonishing six string quintets, and we have further concerts in our association with the Albion Quartet, including a concert exploring the theme of ‘counterpoint’, and culminating in a performance of William Walton’s String Quartet. Other quartets appearing in the series include the Brodksy, Dante, Allegri and Cansone – the latter joined by soprano Gillian Keith in a fascinating exploration of the relationship between the string quartet and lieder.

One of our themes from January is ‘Venus Unwrapped’, a celebration of women in music as composers and performers. Tamsin Waley-Cohen and Huw Watkins perform music by Rebecca Clarke and Lili Boulanger, and we welcome Noriko Ogawa and the English Symphony Orchestra, whose programme includes the exciting Partita for Piano & Strings by Czech composer Vítězslava Kaprálová. Another theme this year is Edward Elgar, marking the centenary of some of his best-loved chamber works, with performances of the Piano Quintet (Allegri Quartet and Martin Roscoe) and the Sonata for Violin & Piano (Philippe Graffin and Marisa Gupta).

Piano trios appearing include the Rosamunde, Aquinas and Rautio trios, with the period piano trio Trio Goya opening our season with one of our ‘Up-Close’ concerts in the intimate setting of Hall Two. Baroque music is featured by the inimitable Red Priest and also with a concert of concertos in April’s Bach Weekend. We host the Italian pianist Alessandro Vena, the choir Sonoro, and the London Conchord Ensemble with a concert of beautiful music for wind and piano. In addition, as a new departure, we have two concerts in collaboration with the Royal Over-Seas League in Piccadilly.

There will be much to enjoy, and I look forward to seeing you in our exciting new season.

Peter Fribbins

Professor Peter Fribbins
Artistic Director

London Chamber Music at Kings Place

The superb new concert hall at Kings Place – the first in London for 25 years – has opened an exciting new chapter for the London Chamber Music Society, which can trace its origins to Victorian music making in London in the 1870s, and the regular Sunday Concerts that developed at South Place and then the Conway Hall from 1929.

The inheritance of the Sunday Concerts is special, and our Concert Series aims to continue that rich legacy – which has long been part of the musical life-blood of the capital – by bringing the very best classical chamber music to London audiences at affordable prices.

The list of famous artists and ensembles appearing through the years reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of music history, and includes Henry Wood, Frank Bridge, Albert Sammons, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Goossens, Ysaye, Percy Grainger, Primrose, Harriet Cohen, Myra Hess, John Ireland and many more. Britain’s most celebrated string quartets have regularly appeared in the Series, from the Brosa and Amadeus to the Allegri, Lindsay and Chilingirian Quartets. In 2008 we moved to a beautiful new location, the Kings Place, and continue our theme of celebrating some of the best British chamber music for strings and also in commissioning new chamber works.

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