Events coming soon
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Friday 06 November 2026
Meditations in Yorkshire
Meditations
Royal Hall, Ripon Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, HG1 2SY
The Cuore Chamber Orchestra's new season will see the Yorkshire premiere of ‘Meditations’ by composer and presenter of Radio 3’s ‘Private Passions’ Michael Berkeley. The concert also features ‘Holberg Suite’ by Grieg and a double bill of Mozart. Alongside his Symphony No.29, the orchestra will perform Mozart's 3rd Violin Concerto alongside with one of Britain’s foremost violinists, Jennifer Pike.
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Wednesday 09 December 2026
Welcome, Welcome: Musicians' Company Carol Service
Carol service including the world premiere of 'Welcome, Welcome', performed by the Worshipful Company of Musicians/Choir of St Michael’s Cornhill directed by Jonathan Rennert.
Past events
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Wednesday 16 September 2026 at 7.30PM
The Splendour Falls at Westminster Cathedral
The Splendour Falls
Westminster Cathedral
The Grand Organ of Westminster Cathedral is considered by many to be the greatest achievement and crowning glory of Henry Willis III, one of England’s finest organ builders. Peter Stevens, who ‘at the helm of Westminster Cathedral’s mighty Willis organ delivers interpretations that resonate with both technical brilliance and spiritual depth’, will perform the world premiere of Michael Berkeley's new work, 'The Splendour Falls'. Also on the programme are works by Bach, Brewer, James MacMillan and Vierne. Peter has been Assistant Master of Music since 2011.
Michael Berkeley writes, "The Splendour Falls was commissioned by The Organ Club as part of the Club's centenary celebrations and is a companion voluntary to Wild Bells (1986) also commissioned by the Club. Both are influenced by French toccatas and carillons and both take their title from the Tennyson Poem that begins The Splendour falls on Castle walls and later has the line, Blow, bugle, blow, set the wild echoes flying.
As I was working on the music, various visual images came to mind and none more powerfully than El Greco’s Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple, a subject that captivated El Greco since he made four versions of it throughout his lifetime. The fusion of furious movement, vivid colour and even the elongation of the figures all seemed in accord with the music.
When I was a chorister at Westminster Cathedral in the 1950’s I used to play the mighty Father Willis organ at the West End and turn the pages for Nicholas Kyanston as he gloriously raced through the Widor Toccata and Henri Mulet’s Carillon-Sortie, so it is very much for this instrument that I conceived The Splendour Falls."
Tickets are £15 (£12 concessions) and are available on the door.Photo: Westminster Cathedral
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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'.
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Thursday 06 August 2026 at 6.00PM
Sonata in One Movement
Sonata in One Movement
Kianush Robeson performs a varied recital, including Michael Berkeley's 'Sonata in One Movement' for guitar, and works by Dale Kavanagh, Felix Mendlessohn, Andres Segovia, Lennox Berkeley and Mario Castelnuovo Tedesco at Whitchurch Classical, Cardiff, Wales, at 6pm on Wednesday 5 August. Free entry (donations welcome).
Further recitals featuring the same programme will be at The Place, Newport (tickets £5) on Thursday 6th, and Caerphilly Workmen’s Hall, Caerphilly, on Friday 7th, both at 6pm. -
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.
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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. -
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.
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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.
