28/08/2025
The West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival
With just three weeks to go before the start of the wonderful West Wycombe Chamber Music Festival, it's time to update you about the amazing music and musicians who will be performing at our five-concert series in Hambleden, Buckinghamshire over the three days of September 18 to September 20.
The Festival, now in its 15th year, was founded by the inspirational viola virtuoso Lawrence Power, a musician of international repute.
Each year he returns to our area in which he grew up, bringing with him a lineup of star-studded musicians.
This Year's festival is themed 'Across Mountains and Valleys' and features music written by some of our most intrepid musical explorers. Music that looks back to its national roots as well as being inspired by travel and adventure.
Writing about the Festival, Lawrence says:
"This year will be a rather deep dive into music that is somehow defined by the notion of homeland, travel and nostalgia. Composers such as Biber, Boccherini, Dvorak, Grieg, Bartok, Rebecca Clarke, Vaughan Williams, Liszt, Janacek, Berlioz and many others were inextricably linked to the music of their homelands but were also intrepid musical voyagers who forged new paths through their extensive travels.
"Joining us on our journey in September will be some truly spectacular musicians who are familiar to us by now, such as the pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips, lutenist Sergio Bucheli, cellist John Myerscough, the violinist Annabelle Meare and others, as well as a warm welcome back to the incomparable violinist Vilde Frang, cellist Nicolas Altstaedt and violist Tim Ridout."
The Festival was hailed by The Guardian newspaper in 2021 as “One of the top ten classical music events ..” Lawrence Power himself was recently feted by the New York Times as "A Musician on a mission to make us pay attention to the viola…. Power is redefining what the viola can do".
There are daytime concerts on September 19 and 20 and three evening concerts on September 18,19 and 20. All concerts take place in the delightful Church of St Mary the Virgin in the picturesque village of Hambleden, Bucks. RG9 6RX . Ample free parking is available.
Info about the Festival and all of the concerts, as well as booking information is available at https://westwycombemusic.org.uk or from 01494 528659 / 07948 897148
It is an extraordinary privilege for Hambleden to be able host these exclusive but accessible concerts and to give music-lovers the unmissable opportunity to hear these phenomenal world-class instrumentalists perform on our very doorstep.
https://westwycombemusic.org.uk
