Classical Vauxhall 2023

Comfort in Chaos, Songs of the Seasons, Elemental and The Sound of Film: Jazz in Hollywood are the themes of four very attractive concerts in this year's lively Classical Vauxhall.

The long weekend music festival, based at the beautiful St Mark's Church, Kennington, is in its fourth year, and has carved out a reputation for its freshness, warmth and innovative programming.

Festival director and pianist Fiachra Garvey is joined by violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, viola player Clifton Harrison and cellist Jamal Aliyev in piano quartets by Beethoven, Mahler and Brahms in the opening concert (Thurs 2 March, 8PM). This Comfort in Chaos programme also includes Shifting Landscapes, a portrait in music of Alberta, home of its composer Vivian Fung. You can actually hear the glaciers melting!

On Friday 3 March, Culture Whisper and festival favourite Nicky Spence is accompanied by pianist Sholto Kynoch in an entertaining programme of songs for tenor that reflect all corners of the year. Songs for the Seasons (8PM) includes pieces by British composers Benjamin Britten, Michael Tippett and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and there are show numbers and modern jazz numbers, including Johnny Dankworth's dreamy, Shakespeare-inspired 'Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day', Stephen Sondheim's 'The Girls of Summer' and George Gershwin's 'I Got Rhythm'.

Elemental is the title of Rakhi Singh's ground-breaking programme for violin and electronics, the first of two concerts on Saturday 4 March. His wide-ranging 1PM solo appearance includes music by the modern Italian composer Salvator Sciarrino, JS Bach's Partita in D minor, and a new take on bluegrass.

Later that day, the brilliant classical clarinettist Julian Bliss lets his hair down with the help of his Septet, in arrangements of music from movies as different as Midnight In Paris, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Alfie and Ocean's 11 (Sat 4 March, 8PM). The Sound of Film brings to an end the scheduled concerts of this year's festival. But the music continues when the London Philharmonic Orchestra collaborates with the local community in education projects on Overture Day (Sun 5 March).

Classical Vauxhall feels like the first rustle of spring. Click here to book.