Ensemble 360 return to the Sheffield Chamber Music Festival (SCMF) as ensemble-in-residence this May.
Each concert in the festival illuminates a facet of the Ensemble’s work, from performances of wide-ranging canonical chamber music to performances of new repertoire, and eclectic instrumental collaborations to engagement with young artists from the community. Following their directorship of the festival in 2025, this year’s festival is directed by soprano Claire Booth, with whom Ensemble 360 released their critically acclaimed album ‘Pierrot Portraits‘ in 2024.
Together with Booth, they launch the festival with a programme of works by Weir, Birtwistle and Brahms on 15th May, which is followed the next day by a performance with jazz pianist Gwilym Simcock. On 17th May, Ensemble 360 present a pair of early morning concerts, ‘Birdsong at Dawn’ and ‘Birdsong at Breakfast’, performed in the magical natural setting of Sheffield General Cemetery. This programme features Ensemble 360 musicians Juliette Bausor and Tim Horton performing music for flute and piano spanning three centuries, and will be followed by a post-concert bird walk led by BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney. In the evening of the same day, the Ensemble turn their attention to quartets and quintets for winds and strings.
On 18th May, Ensemble 360 present ‘Feldman and Beckett: Words and Music’, directed by Vicky Featherstone. This concert celebrates the friendship of composer Morton Feldman and playwright Samuel Beckett, which led to the creation of some of the 20th century’s most significant art. The programme includes Beckett and Feldman’s Words & Music, originally conceived as a radio play in 1961.
The Ensemble’s Beethoven programme on 19th May ranges in scope from duo to septet, and on 20th May they invite young listeners and their families to two relaxed afternoon performances of ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and other stories. On 23rd May, they present the world premiere of Henny Penny, a children’s opera by Julian Philips performed in collaboration with a cast that includes a choir of Sheffield primary children.
‘This Sceptered Isle’ sees Ensemble 360 and Claire Booth explore the world of British song, and in ‘Songs Without Words’, they perform works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Knussen and Dohnányi. The festival closes on 23rd May with ‘Four Last Songs’, which includes Richard Strauss’ Sextet from Capriccio, a new work by Ellen Sargen and Ledger’s arrangement of Strauss’ Four Last Songs.
Full programme details can be found by clicking here.
