Cambridge Summer Music Festival
July 2023
Our 2023 Festival presented world-class music to packed audiences in beautiful venues around the city. Thank you to all those who supported it.
Sounds Green in the Botanic Garden
5, 12, 19, 26 July, 6.15pm
The best in open-air music on Wednesday evenings in Cambridge Botanic Garden – with Prime Brass, Honey & the Bear, Arun Ghosh Quintet and Bones Apart
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Donizetti’s Elixir of Love
Friday 14 July, 6.30pm
Our very own mini Glyndebourne in the beautiful setting of Childerley Hall. Donizetti’s opera masterpiece is full of tunes, romance, and mischievous comedy!
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Ashley Wass: piano
Saturday 15 July, 1pm
Ashley Wass, Director of the Yehudi Menuhin School, opens our series of lunchtime concerts with a varied programme of Bach, César Franck and Alexey Shor’s arrangement of Mikhail Pletnev’s moving Piano Sonata.
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Britten Oboe Quartet
Saturday 15 July, 7.30pm
Nicholas Daniel and colleagues from the award-winning Britten Sinfonia present a delightful programme of works by Elgar, Britten, Mozart and more.
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Clara Sherratt
Sunday 16 July, 3pm
We regret that Clara Sherratt can no longer present this concert. Her place will be taken by Patrick Hemmerlé.
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Jazz on Sunday
Sunday 16 July, 7.00pm
Virtuosic fusion guitarist John Etheridge and jazz singer Vimela Rowe present our first Jazz on Sunday event in the iconic setting of the Footlight Cellars of the Cambridge Union.
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The Gesualdo Six
Tuesday 18 July, 7.30pm
Award-winning ensemble The Gesualdo Six perform a selection of William Byrd’s Latin works: triumphant statements of belief, power and tenderness.
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Northern Chords Ensemble
Thursday 20 July, 1pm
Piano trio Northern Chords presents a thrilling lunchtime concert of works by Schubert, Mendelssohn and contemportary composer Matthew Caner.
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Britten Sinfonia & The Bach Choir in King’s Chapel
Thursday 20 July, 7.30pm
Duruflé’s powerful Requiem is the centrepiece of a poignant programme that also includes moving tributes to the Aberfan disaster and Covid.
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Four Last Songs
Friday 21 July, 1.00pm
A lunchtime concert with Soprano Elinor Rolfe Johnson and pianist Ian Tindale performing Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs plus works by Gustav and Alma Mahler.
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Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha
Friday 21 July, 7.30pm
South African Soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, who has taken the operatic world by storm, performs Schubert, Berlioz and Gershwin with pianist Simon Lepper.
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Singing Masterclass with Ben Johnson
Saturday 22 July, 1.00pm
Festival Director and acclaimed tenor Ben Johnson gives a masterclass to some of the most promising singers of the next generation.
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Martin James Bartlett
Saturday 22 July, 7.30pm
2014 BBC Young Musican of the Year Martin James Bartlett performs a thrillingly varied programme ranging from Rameau and Couperin to Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and Debussy.
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Jazz on Sunday
Sunday 23 July, 4.30pm
Join us in the beautiful surroundings of Childerley Hall for an afternoon of classically-inspired jazz with the Art Deco Trio.
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Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius
Wednesday 26 July, 7.30pm
Gabrieli returns to Ely Cathedral to perform Elgar’s mammoth masterpiece, The Dream of Gerontius.
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Young Composers Workshop
Thursday 27 July, 11am-2.30pm
A chance to hear the work of up and coming young composers – and to gain an insight into a range of composing techniques.
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The Consone Quartet
Thursday 27 July, 7.30pm
The Consone perform quartets by Sibelius and Schumann. They are joined by viola player Francesca Gilbert to play Mozart’s last major chamber composition the String Quintet in E-flat major.
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Jack Hancher: Classical Guitar
Friday 28 July, 1.00pm
Award-winning clasical guitarist Jack Hancher presents a wide-ranging programme from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
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Handel’s Coronation Anthems
Friday 28 July, 7.30pm
Vocal and instrumental Baroque ensemble, La Nuova Musica, perform a Coronation-themed programme – a feast of pomp and lyricism to celebrate the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III.
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Alena Baeva: solo violin
Saturday 29 July, 1.00pm
Violinist Alena Baeva – one of the most exciting, versatile, and alluring soloists active on the world stage today – performs works by Bach, Ysaÿe and Telemann.
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Festival Finale: Schubertiade
Celebrating the music of Franz Schubert
Saturday 29 July, 7.30pm
Festival Director Ben Johnson introduces this special evening concert, celebrating the music of Franz Schubert and the end of the 2023 Festival.
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