Events coming soon

• 

  Friday 03 July 2026 at 1.00PM

  Fierce Tears at Deal Festival

  Fierce Tears I

  St. George’s Church, High Street, Deal, CT14 6ED

  Box office: The Astor Theatre, Tel: 01304 370 220

  This lunchtime concert highlights the soulful voice of the oboe in a sparkling programme featuring Michael Berkeley's 'Fierce Tears', Poulenc’s Oboe Sonata and romantic works by Robert and Clara Schumann. The pairing of exceptional young oboe soloist Ewan Millar, a BBC Young Musician finalist, with rising Welsh pianist Tomos Boyles, makes for a memorable start to the Deal Festival lunchtime concerts. There will be a pre-concert conversation between Luke Styles and Michael Berkeley.
  
  The Deal Festival runs from 3rd-12th July 2026. This annual arts and culture event in Kent showcases classical, jazz, and folk acts, and this year Michael is one of the featured "Composers in Focus," giving pre-concert talks throughout the festival.

• Thursday 09 July 2026 at 1.00PM

  Lament

  Lament

  Trinity Church, Union Road, Deal, CT14 6EA

  Box office: The Astor Theatre, Tel: 01304 370 220

  Jack Hancher, one of the UK’s finest young classical guitarists, returns to the Deal Festival. His concert includes performances of Lament by Composer in Focus Michael Berkeley, José’s Sonata for Guitar and Malcolm Arnold’s Fantasy for Guitar, written for Julian Bream. Also on the programme is music by Ravel, Albeniz and the contemporary composer Laura Snowden.

• Monday 31 August 2026 at 11.30AM

  Two Landscapes for harp at Presteigne Festival

  Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Bleddfa, Knighton, Powys, LD7 1PA, Wales

  A varied programme including the world premiere of Two Landscapes for solo harp by Michael Berkeley, performed by Sally Pryce. The two movements are entitled 'On Returning to the Welsh Hills' and 'Spring Tide at Morston'.

Past events

• 

  Saturday 30 May 2026 at 7.30PM

  First concert performance of 'The Queen of Spades'

  Symphonic Suite adapted from The Queen of Spades

  Smith Square Hall, London, SW1P 3HA

  Michael Berkeley's Symphonic Suite from 'The Queen of Spades' is performed for the first time as a concert piece by the Salomon Orchestra in London on 30 May 2026.
  
  An incomplete and unperformed film score by Sergei Prokofiev, unused for 70 years and largely forgotten, was rediscovered in London in 2007. Michael was commissioned to assemble and complete Prokofiev's incomplete fragments of music. The resulting dance work received its world premiere the following spring, performed by the Royal Ballet with a cast including company stars Carlos Acosta, Zenaida Yanovsky and Alina Cojocaru.
  
  Michael subsequently updated the work as a symphonic suite, which has been recorded by The Royal Scottish National Orchestra conducted by Neeme Järvi on Chandos 10519, and is now to receive its live premiere.

• 

  Tuesday 24 February 2026 at 7.30PM

  Things Invisible to See

  Things Invisible To See performed by Hamish McLaren (countertenor), Ana Beard Fernández (soprano) & Matthew Jorysz (piano)

  Temple Church, Temple, London, EC4Y 7BB

  This recital at Temple Church in the heart of the City of London centres on the world premiere of Things Invisible to See, a new cycle of John Donne settings by Michael Berkeley. Donne's vivid, metaphysical poetry has been an endless source of inspiration to composers. Commissioned by countertenor Hamish McLaren and performed with pianist Matthew Jorysz, the work explores themes of love, longing and mortality. Soprano Ana Beard Fernández joins them for selected songs by Shostakovich and Purcell, in a programme that traces powerful emotional threads across centuries and continents.

• Sunday 15 February 2026 at 3.00PM

  Kianush Robeson at Hertford Music Club

  Sonata in One Movement performed by Kianush Robeson (guitar)

  Quaker Meeting House, Hertford, SG14 1BA

  In a concert themed on 20th Century Guitar Music, Kianush performs a breathtaking selection of major works by Michael Berkeley, Spanish and other British composers at the Hertford Music Club. A prize winning classical guitarist, Robeson is a prolific performer and educator, much loved by audiences who praise his tone and musical sensitivity.