BOOKING NOW: MUST SEE EVENT

Harrogate International Sunday Concert Series

January to April 2024. Tickets via harrogateinternationalfestivals.com or call 01423 562303.

For 30 years, the Harrogate International Sunday Series has brought world-class chamber and classical musicians to the heart of Yorkshire – and the latest programme of Sunday morning coffee concerts from January to April 2024 has just been announced.

This year’s five concerts – featuring clarinettist Robert Plane with pianist Tim Horton, pianist Daniel Lebhardt, the Astatine Trio (piano, violin and cello), pianist Clare Hammond, and violinist Hyeyoon Park with pianist Zlata Chochieva – will blend tradition and innovation in a series of riveting programmes. The opening concert on January 28 sees clarinettist Robert Plane return by popular demand, having shone as a musician-in-residence at Harrogate’s summer music festival. Plane will perform a programme by 20th century and contemporary composers, complemented by Brahms’ Sonata in F minor, Op.120, No. 1.

In the first of two concerts featuring pianists, Daniel Lebhardt will take to the stage on February 18 with a programme that includes

Romantic works by Brahms and Scriabin alongside pieces by influential Hungarian composers Bartok and Ligeti. Pianist Clare Hammond will follow on March 24, playing innovative, diverse works by Hélène de Montgeroult, Clara Schumann, Ravel, Coleridge-Taylor, Spanish post-Romantic Isaac Albéniz, and contemporary composer Edmund Finnis, whose works span electronic and classical music.

Film fans amongst the audience might recognise Clare from The Lady in the Van, in which she played a young Maggie Smith.

On March 3, rising stars the Astatine Trio will perform. The award-winning trio of piano, violin and cello, formed at the Royal College of Music in 2021, will perform a programme comprising Haydn, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Tailleferre. The 2024 programme will culminate on 14 April 14, when acclaimed violinist Hyeyoon Park and pianist Zlata Chochieva will perform Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, sonatas by Mozart, Debussy and Grieg, and Distance de fée by influential 20th century Japanese composer, Tōru Takemitsu.

All of the Sunday Series concerts will take place at the Old Swan Hotel, which provides an intimate setting to enjoy a morning coffee and exceptional music with friends.