Thursday 21 June, 7pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Storm and Refuge
2026 Festival Programme
Around the World
Bella Vista: Concierto de Aranjuez with the RPO
Tuesday 16th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £35 (£17.50 under-25s)
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra opens the festival with lyrical music evoking the sights and sounds of Spain and Italy. Conducted by Gergely Madaras, with solo guitarist Jack Hancher.
Artists:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Jack Hancher, guitar
Gergely Madaras, conductor
Programme:
Rossini: The Barber of Seville (Overture)
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 4, 'Italian'
Smile of the Flamboyant Wings: Brother Tree Sound string quartet
Wednesday 17th June, 1pm
St Andrew by the Wardrobe
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Brother Tree Sound on a colourful journey from France to Spain with string quartets by Debussy, Elizabeth Maconchy and Bulgarian composer Dobrinka Tabakova.
Artists:
Brother Tree Sound string quartet
Programme:
Debussy: String Quartet
Elizabeth Maconchy: String Quartet No. 3
Dobrinka Tabakova: The Smile of Flamboyant Wings
Great British Choral Evensong
Wednesday 17th June, 6pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
No admission charge
Choral evensong celebrating the British cathedral tradition.
Programme includes:
Tallis: O nata lux
Smith: Preces and responses
Macmillan: O radiant dawn
Stanford: Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in B flat
Artists:
City of London Choir
Paul Greally, organ
Daniel Hyde, conductor
Ocean Road Home: Eleanor Grant and Gus McQuade
Wednesday 17th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £25 (£12.50 under-25s)
The award-winning young duo return by popular demand with enchanting music evoking travel overseas and home thoughts from abroad.
Programme:
Anon: The Cuckoo
Victor Hely-Hutchinson: The Owl and the Pussycat
Cécile Corbel: Neglected Garden
Bieito Romero: O Son do Ar
Robert Schumann: Seit ich ihn gesehen, Op. 42 No. 1
Clara Schumann: Ich stand in dunklen Träumen, Op. 13 No. 1
Benjamin Britten: Holiday Diary Op. 5, 'Sailing'
Charles Trenet/Jack Lawrence: Beyond the Sea
Agustin Barrios Mangoré: Vals Op. 8 No. 4
Luiz Bonfá: Perdido de Amor
Haroldo Lobo & Niltinho: Tristeza
Joni Mitchell: All I Want
Stephen Paulus: The Road Home
Eleanor Grant: Home is Where You'll Want to Stay
Artists:
Eleanor Grant, voice and double bass
Gus McQuade, guitar
Songs of South America: Sonas Quartet
Thursday 18th June, 1pm
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Clarice Assad’s homage to the sounds of Latin America, contrasted with Mozart’s darkly mercurial string quartet No. 15.
Artists:
Caroline Durham, violin
Isabelle Allan, violin
Eve Quigley, viola
Alice Abram, cello
Programme:
Mozart: String Quartet No. 15
Clarice Assad: Cançōes da America
New World: Brass of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Thursday 18th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £12 (£6 under-30s)
The ever-popular brass players of the RPO return for a thrilling tour of Europe and the Americas in music.
Artist:
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Brass Ensemble
Programme:
Finzi: God is Gone Up
Bruckner: Virga Jesse
Tomas Luis de Victoria: O Magnum Mysterium
Ireland: 'Elegy' from A Downland Suite
Gabrieli: Canzon Septimi Toni a 8
Schubert: Du Bist die Ruh
Prokofiev: 10 Pieces for Piano (4 movements)
Dvořák: 'Largo' from The New World Symphony
Piazzolla: Triunfal (Trombone Quartet)
Lauridsen: O Nata Lux
Sinatra: My Way of Life
Gershwin: Songbook
I, Clara: The Virtuosa of Europe
Friday 19th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £25 (£12.50 under-25s)
Juliet Stevenson joins pianist Lucy Parham for her acclaimed composer-portrait of Clara Schumann.
Artists:
Lucy Parham, piano
Juliet Stevenson, actor
Programme:
I, Clara by Lucy Parham
Look at the World! (family concert)
Saturday 20th June, 6pm
St Mary-at-Hill
Tickets £20 (£10 under-25s, £5 under-15s)
Youth choir Hackney Choral with City of London Choir and members of the RPO for John Rutter's London Town and music from across the UK and the world.
Artists:
City of London Choir
Hackney Choral with William Bruce, conductor
Members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Daniel Hyde, conductor
Programme:
Strauss (arr. Farrington): Tritsch tratsch polka
Rutter: London Town
Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Farrington): Flight of the Bumblebee
Forbes L'Estrange: For the beauty of the earth
Grieg (arr. Farrington): In the Hall of the Mountain King
Trad. (arr. Dunhill): The Ash Grove
Trad. (arr. Dunhill): Early One Morning
Thomas Morley: Now is the Month of Maying
Joplin: (arr. Farrington) Stoptime Rag
Lowry: (arr. Scott) How can I keep from singing
Rutter: Look at the World
Sicilienne: Cassatt Trio
Tuesday 23rd June, 1pm
St Stephen Walbrook
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Enchanting works for harp, flute and viola by Debussy, Ravel, Takemitsu and Fauré.
Artists:
Abigail Fenna, viola
Suzy Willison-Kawalec, harp
Emer McDonough, flute
Programme:
Debussy: Trio
Ravel: Sonatine
Takemitsu: "And then I knew 'twas wind"
Fauré: Sicilienne
Invitation to Journey: Rachel Nicholls and Michael Dussek
Tuesday 23rd June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £25 (£12.50 under-25s)
A journey in beguiling song from the City of London across the channel to France.
Programme:
Walton: A Song for the Lord Mayor’s Table
Debussy: Ariettes Oubliées
Duparc: L’invitation au Voyage | Exstase | Phydilé
Britten: On this Island
Poulenc: Montparnasse | Hyde Park | Les chemins de l’amour
Artists:
Rachel Nicholls, soprano
Michael Dussek, piano
A Pianist Abroad: Viv McLean
Wednesday 24th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Lyrical music by Beethoven, Grieg and Chopin evoking beloved homes in Vienna, Norway and Poland.
Programme:
Grieg: Lyric Pieces
Beethoven: Sonata in E Flat Op. 81a, 'Les Adieux'
Chopin: Mazurkas Op. 17 No. 4 in A Minor, Op. 7 No. 3 in F Minor
Polonaise-Fantasie in A Flat Op. 61
Artists:
Viv McLean, piano
Voices of the World: Art Deco Trio
Wednesday 24th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £25 (£12.50 under-25s)
Lyrical music by Beethoven, Grieg and Chopin evoking beloved homes in Vienna, Norway and Poland.
Programme includes:
Iain Farrington: A Sea Shanty Shake-Up | Lay my burden down
Voices of the World
Artists:
Iain Farrington, piano
Kyle Horch, saxophone
Peter Sparks, clarinet
A Bohemian Rhapsody: Tier3 Trio
Thursday 25th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
Dvořák's celebrated Dumky piano trio, full of Slavic folk melody.
Programme:
Henselt: Trio
Dvořák: Piano Trio No. 4, 'Dumky'
Artists:
Joseph Wolfe, violin
Jonathan Ayling, cello
Daniel Grimwood, piano
French Connections: Mark Bebbington and Alistair McGowan
Thursday 25th June, 1pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £15 (£7.50 under-25s)
BAFTA-winning actor and comic Alistair McGowan joins pianist Mark Bebbington to narrate Poulenc's enchanting setting of the story of Babar, in an entertaining programme of musical surprises.
Programme:
Satie: Sports et Divertissements
Ireland: The Island Spell
Debussy: Feux d’artifice (“Fireworks”)
Poulenc: Napoli Suite
Ravel: Mother Goose Suite
Poulenc: Babar the Elephant
Artists:
Mark Bebbington, piano
Alistair McGowan, narrator
Islands and Highlands: City of London Choir
Friday 26th June, 7.30pm
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
Tickets £30 (£7.50 under-25s)
Traditional songs rooted in the land - from the British Isles to Bavaria.
Programme:
English folksong, arr. Thomas Dunhill: Early one morning
Welsh folksong, arr. Thomas Dunhill: The Ash Grove
John Farmer: Fair Phyllis
Foulds: Keltic Lament
Shearing: Songs and Sonnets of Shakespeare
English trad., arr. Vaughan Williams: Greensleeves
Britten: The Evening Primrose
arr. Grainger: Londonderry Air
Finzi: My Spirit Sang All Day
Elgar: From the Bavarian Highlands (Op. 27)
Artists:
City of London Choir
Timothy End, piano
Daniel Hyde, conductor