As part of her busy concert calendar, violist Rachel Roberts brings her diverse solo repertoire to audiences in Oxford and Cardiff this summer.

One of the most respected proponents of her instrument in Europe, Rachel enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. She started 2025 by recording a new concerto by Sir Edward Gregson with the BBC Philharmonic, and has since performed extensively with leading ensembles including the Wigmore Soloists, Nash Ensemble and Ensemble 360.

Together with pianist Sophia Rahman, Rachel will give a recital for Oxford Coffee Concerts on June 1st, presenting a programme that celebrates the work of three 20th century English composers. Benjamin Britten’s Lachrymae, op. 48, ‘Reflections on a Song of John Dowland’, composed in 1950 for William Primrose, is followed by Rebecca Clarke’s Viola Sonata, and the concert closes with Edwin York Bowen’s Phantasie, op. 54. Audience members at this concert are invited to enjoy a cup of coffee prior to the start of the concert at The King’s Arms, Oxford’s oldest pub dating from 1607.

On July 1st , Rachel turns her attention to unaccompanied repertoire in a concert for Cardiff Classical Lunchtime Recitals at the Eglwys Dewi Sant/Dewi Sant Church. The programme is bookended by transcriptions for solo viola of J.S. Bach’s Cello Suites no. 1 in G major, and no. 3 in C major, with Telemann’s Fantasia no. 1, from 12 Fantasias for Solo Violin, TWV 40:14–25 set alongside Britten’s Elegy for Solo Viola and Roxanna Panufnik’s Canto, a work that takes an Ashkenazi Cantorial chant as its inspiration.

Tickets and further details about these concerts may be found by following the respective links below. To learn more about all of Rachel’s upcoming engagements, please click here, and to read her solo recital proposals, please follow this link.

Oxford Coffee Concerts | 1 June 2025 | 11:15am
Cardiff Classical Lunchtime Recitals | 1 July 2025 | 1:00pm