<img src='' title='Event Category: Concerts' alt='' id='templ_icon_' width='' height='' /> Event Category: Concerts

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields reunite with internationally acclaimed cellist Steven Isserlis, having last toured together in 2016.

The programme will include Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, a concerto with Haydn’s signature joy, humour and warmth and showcases Isserlis’ virtuosic skills. Also on the programme is Tchaikovsky’s Andante Cantabile, originally from his String Quartet No. 1 and arranged separately by the composer for cello and string orchestra. This gorgeous piece became famous in its own right separate to the quartet and is based on a folk song.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields is the principal orchestral partner of St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is its historic home.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields present a stunning and varied programme of works by female composers, including a World Premiere from Eleanor Alberga, her Symphony No. 2 written for ASMF. The concert’s finale is with violinist Elena Urioste, who with ‘her airy, silvery tone and fine filigree detail’ (The Arts Desk) will perform Florence Price’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The concerto in D Major, which despite its reference to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in the violin’s solo entrance and references throughout, is distinctly Price’s own style and launches into new musical ideas with the last movement ending the evening on a flourish.

We also return to an ASMF favourite, Caroline Shaw’s Entr’acte, inspired by Haydn’s String Quartet Op. 77 No. 2, and will perform Grażyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra, often referred to as her magnum opus. The concerto earned Bacewicz the State Award of the 3rd Degree in 1950, with the piece going on to be one of her most loved and performed works.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields is the principal orchestral partner of the St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is its historic home.

Ahead of a tour together across Europe, the remarkable piano duo brothers Arthur and Lucas Jussen will join forces once again with Academy of St Martin in the Fields for a concert in London directed by Tomo Keller. The concert will feature Bach’s Double Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in C minor and Mozart’s beautiful and playful Piano Concerto for three pianos in F major, written for the Countess Maria Antonia Lodron and her two daughters. The Concerto was later rearranged by Mozart himself and another pianist, incorporating the music for the Countess’ youngest daughter Giuseppa into the two other parts, which is the version the Jussen brothers will perform.

ASMF will open the concert with Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives arranged for orchestra, a cycle of vignette-like miniatures which are whimsical and effervescent – perfect for the start to a Spring evening. ASMF will also perform Haydn’s ‘Farewell’ Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor as a (farewell) finale, where Haydn’s playful wit finds its way into this Symphony’s famous ending.

In 2015 ASMF first worked with the Jussen Brothers on their first orchestral recording under Sir Neville Marriner, an album of Mozart’s Double Piano Concertos. The piano duo and ASMF have enjoyed a special performance relationship with each other ever since, the joy palpable in every performance.

“The Jussens played as one, blazing along the keyboard with precision and breathtaking dynamism. Their energy and commitment carried over to the orchestra and drove the concerto to a cathartic conclusion, with the audience … rising to its feet with a roar, continually recalling them … to the stage.“ Bachtrack

Academy of St Martin in the Fields is the principal orchestral partner of the St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is its historic home.

The Academy of St Martin in the Fields celebrate the 70th Birthday of composer Sally Beamish with a programme including new commission from Sally, IZAKHI, a basset clarinet concerto featuring Michael Collins.

Sally writes: “This new work was written following an inspirational trip to South Africa in 2024, the original idea, conceived with dedicatee Michael Collins, was to write a ‘four elements’ work; but my entire concept of the elements was altered by the experience of visiting this extraordinary, beautiful and troubled country.

The title, IZAKHI, is the Zulu word for ‘elements’, in the sense of building blocks – or the materials used to create our habitats. It also refers to those who build – who create those habitats from assembled resources”

Sally Beamish is one Britain’s best-known contemporary composers and was the Academy of St Martin in the Fields’ first Composer in Residence. She also performed in the orchestra for several years as a viola player and her mother, violinist Ursula Snow, was a member of the orchestra before her.

IZAKHI is commissioned by the Tapiola Sinfonietta, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields is the principal orchestral partner of the St Martin-in-the-Fields, which is its historic home.