Anniversary year continues with 6 live June concerts

Six June events with live audience go on sale today, heralding a welcome return to (almost) normality for audiences and performers.

With only a few weeks to go, the line-up for the hour-long socially-distanced events at West Road Concert Hall has just been announced, and features the Festival’s trademark diverse programming and celebration of hugely talented young artists.

Sheku Kanneh-Mason shot to fameafter winning the BBC Young Musician competition in 2016 and performing at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in 2018. He features in two of this June’s concerts, one as soloist in Dvorak’s Cello Concerto alongside the full orchestra of the London Mozart Players (5 June) and the other as recital partner to his equally talented sister Isata in a programme for cello and piano of Rachmaninov, Bridge and Britten (28 June).

The Kanneh-Masons have both played with the celebrated Chineke! Foundation orchestras – Britain’s first minority ethnic orchestra – who appeared at the Festival in 2017 and 2018, and who return on 21 June in ensemble form with Schubert’s Trout Quintet and works by Florence Price. The 12 Ensemble – named after the number of players and described as having “spunk, originality & class” by The Strad – combines blistering Shostakovich (his Chamber Symphony) with works by Dowland, Caroline Shaw and Thomas Ades in their concert on25 June.

Matinee and evening performances along with a £8 ticket for under 18s will appeal to a broad audience; whilst a Covid-safe environment (along with no-questions-asked ticket refund policy) will give ticket-holders confidence to return to the concert hall for this mini ‘pop-up’ version of the annual Festival.