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

SANSARA: Choral reflections for World Homeless Day

Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet: on the eve of World Homeless Day, SANSARA performs Gavin Bryars’s ultimate outsider classic.

It starts on the streets of London, with a homeless man singing quietly to himself. It becomes…well, there isn’t really any way to describe what you’ll think or feel next, as Gavin Bryars weaves that broken scrap of human feeling into a sonic experience unlike anything else in modern music. There’s nothing quite like Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet, and no more fitting venue than the central London church that puts homeless people at the heart of its mission. SANSARA gives the UK premiere of Bryars’s new choral version.  Pulitzer prize-winning American composer David Lang writes: ‘Many religions profess that an important part of their belief is to care about how people who are comfortable should act towards people who are not…I live in New York, which has homeless people who need help all the time . . . the point of Poor Hymnal is, What would it be like to actually pay attention to the people who are around you?’

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

London Voices: Video Games Go Choral

Halo meets Howells and BioShock Infinite encounters Arvo Pärt, as London Voices explores the fantastic world where choral music meets video gaming.

Civilisations rise and fall, a lonely robot tends a lush new planet, and a princess of Hyrule strives to bring harmony. The universe of computer gaming has always gone hand-in-hand with choral music – with games like So Let Us Melt, Portal and Abzû inspiring some of the most original sounds of our time. Now composer Jessica Curry and conductor Ben Parry have created a sequence of choral music from great games, paired with the classics – by Pärt, Howells, Vaughan Williams and more – that influenced them. Performed by London Voices, these beloved scores have never sounded more vibrant.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

La Serenissima: Baroque Energy!

Adrian Chandler and La Serenissima returns to St Martin in the Fields! Expect off-the-scale virtuosity, as they explore music by Vivaldi, Corelli and their forgotten contemporaries.

Take the warmth of Italy. Now add the energy of the baroque, plus the very latest in musical technology, the violin. Result? The sunburst of creativity and sheer musical imagination that we call the Italian baroque concerto: music that took Europe by storm and revolutionised the way we listen. And 300 years on, who doesn’t love the showmanship and melody of Vivaldi and Corelli? But this is La Serenissima – the baroque ensemble that goes to the places other orchestras don’t dare – and forgotten masters like Locatelli, Valentini and the “cockney Corelli” William Corbett will all get an electrifying showcase. Entertainment without borders – or limits.

The Fire that Binds Us: Carice Singers at 15

The Carice Singers perform Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms – a thrilling conclusion to an evening that embraces five centuries of sacred music at its boldest and most vital, in celebration of their 15th anniversary.

“Let everything that has faith praise the Lord!” In the anxious 1930s, the one thing no-one expected was a ringing affirmation of religious belief from a modernist firebrand like Igor Stravinsky. But the bold new sounds of the Symphony of Psalms have their roots in centuries of choral tradition – a story that’s far from over. Tonight, The Carice Singers trace that tale back to the music of the Renaissance, through Rachmaninov’s glorious sacred music and on to the present, with vibrant new works by Daniel Kidane and Dobrinka Tabakova. And of course, Stravinsky’s extraordinary symphony ends the evening in a shout of praise, performed here with pianists Joseph Havlat and George Fu.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

LMP and Sean Shibe: Vivaldi reimagined

GRAMMY-nominated guitarist Sean Shibe joins LMP for a programme that journeys from Baroque masterpieces reimagined for guitar to Celtic-inspired contemporary music, capturing the captivating, folk-like beauty of traditional Scottish melodies. 

Vivaldi never wrote a concerto for guitar. In fact, the instrument as we know it today would not emerge until long after his death. Despite this, many of Vivaldi’s works for mandolin and lute translate naturally for the guitar, offering a fresh sound while keeping the essence of his writing. 

 

Sean Shibe has established himself as one of the most adventurous guitarists of his generation, equally committed to new music and to reimagining repertoire from the past, working closely with composers while continually finding fresh perspectives in earlier traditions.

The Journey: 25 years of Tenebrae

Tenebrae celebrates 25 years of world-class singing with highlights of their journey through the past, present and future of vocal music.

“Devastatingly beautiful” was how Gramophone described the chamber choir Tenebrae, and for a quarter of a century under its founder-director Nigel Short, it’s forged a reputation for performing choral music as perfectly – and as powerfully – as it can possibly be sung. Today, Tenebrae celebrates both the journey and the path ahead with music (by Glinka, Brahms and Bruckner) from some of its best-loved recordings, as well as new commissions, world premieres, and the winning entry of the group’s inaugural composition competition for emerging talent. This choral odyssey ends with one of the monuments of 20th century vocal music – Figure humaine, Poulenc’s mighty cry of freedom, defiance and hope in the future.

This concert is part of our 300th anniversary celebrations.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Sterling Elliott

“He is a star cellist who has risen beyond hopeful promise to astonishing maturity. If you see his name on an upcoming venue, take the leap, and hear what he is up to, no matter what the programme offers.” — The Millbrook Independent

Cellist and BBC New Generation Artist Sterling Elliott joins the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in a programme that celebrates the expressive voice of the cello. Joseph Haydn’s L’isola disabitata Overture opens the concert, before Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor. Elliott also performs Antonín Dvořák’s Silent Woods, and the evening concludes with Johannes Brahms’s Variations on a Theme of Haydn.

Academy of St Martin in the Field and Eric Lu

“Lu’s playing is in a rare class — sensitive and emotionally intuitive.” — BBC Music Magazine

Eric Lu, winner of the 2025 International Chopin Piano Competition and the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition, makes his debut with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in a programme that journeys from darkness to light, centred on Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor. Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 (Trauer) opens the concert, before Frédéric Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande polonaise brillante. The evening concludes with Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 3, bringing the programme to a buoyant close.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields and Augustin Hadelich

Grammy Award-winning violinist Augustin Hadelich joins the Academy of St Martin in the Fields in an all-Italian and Russian programme united by expressive lyricism.

Puccini’s I crisantemi opens the concert with a mournful elegy, written in memory of a close friend. The programme then turns to Niccolò Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 4, heard in a new chamber orchestration, combining virtuosity with lyrical moments and close interplay between soloist and ensemble.

The evening concludes with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence, bringing the concert to a vibrant and energetic close.

Bach St John Passion by Candlelight

Academy of St Martin in the Fields and St Martin’s Voices join forces to perform Bach’s sacred masterpiece. The St John Passion is an iconic musical retelling of the Easter story, featuring Bach’s vocal and instrumental writing at its most dramatic and poignant.