“This year our programme has a special focus on French and British music. The concerts span 500 years from the choral works of Renaissance master Josquin to the Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel, right up to the present day, with a world premiere by award-winning British composer Charlotte Harding that we commissioned in partnership with the Faust Chamber Orchestra. 

We are also featuring the music of Frederick Delius including a new arrangement of his symphonic work ‘Paris—The Song of a Great City’, a performance of his cello sonata by Alexander Baillie and Nigel Yandell, his ‘Songs for Children’ performed by festival favourites Lucy Taylor and Jeremy Thurlow, and more.

We are delighted to be joined by so many wonderful artists from across the UK and Europe, with solo recitals and chamber music at the core of the festival. Highlights include the fascinating Swedish pianist Bengt Forsberg with an eclectic programme featuring Frank Bridge, Cécile Chaminade, Fauré, Elsa Barraine and others; the celebrated Chiaroscuro Quartet performing the sublime Mendelssohn String Quartet in E-Flat Major; and I will be joined by rising stars Joseph Shiner (clarinet) and Ben Tarlton (cello) for a late-night offering of Messiaen’s haunting ‘Quartet for the End of Time’. 

Our children’s concert is bound to excite, with Tasmin Little as narrator joining Mark Austin and the Faust Chamber Orchestra for Saint-Saëns’ ‘Carnival of the Animals’. Beyond the mainstream classical repertoire, Classico Latino will take you on a journey to Havana and beyond, and Junior Prime Brass is bringing us music by Quincy Jones. 

It will be truly exciting to experience live music again, and all of us at Cambridge Summer Music look forward to welcoming you to this wonderful programme of concerts.”

– Freya