Highgate International Chamber Music Festival

12/12/2025

As we prepare to hang up our hat for 2025, we wanted to remind people of all the ways to stay involved with HICMF between now and next year's winter festival.

𝟏. 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

Be the first to hear when the 2026 festival goes on sale, and get exclusive email content in the lead-up to each festival.

> Subscribe: https://www.chambermusicfestival.co.uk/contact/

𝟐. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫

Starting from £60 a year, benefits include an invitation to our private festival preview concert, priority booking, reserved seating and the opportunity to attend rehearsals.

> Sign up: https://www.chambermusicfestival.co.uk/support/

𝟑. 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚

We are active here on Facebook, and on Instagram and YouTube where you'll find the latest behind-the-scenes videos and photos.

> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hicmfest/
> YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/HICMFYouTube

𝟒. 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬

As a small team, we depend on wonderful volunteers to help us keep things running smoothly. Whether you'd like to promote the festival to the local community or lend a hand front of house, we are always glad to receive offers of support.

> Email: [email protected]

𝟓. 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤

Education has always been an integral part of HICMF. If you work with children and young people in the Highgate area and would like to explore how HICMF might enrich your pupils' arts education, please contact us.

> Email: [email protected]

𝟔. 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

Having been going strong since 2012, we have ambitious plans for the future of the festival - and that requires investment. We welcome the chance to meet with local businesses interested in sponsoring us, and can provide sponsorship packs upon request.

> Email: [email protected]

Thank you all for another wonderful edition of the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival. We'll see you in 2026! 🎶

11/12/2025

Some of the great reviews we've received this year 🙏

Thank you to Planet Hugill and Ham & High for joining us and sharing your thoughts.

10/12/2025

Tell us what you think!

Our audiences are hugely important to us and we are always eager to hear feedback, so we can continue to improve your festival experience.

We’d love you to have your say and complete our short post-festival survey. Not only will you be helping shape future editions of HICMF, you can also win two tickets to our 2026 Festival Gala Concert.

It only takes five minutes - click the link below to start:

https://tinyurl.com/HICMFsurvey

Photos by Hannah Lovell Film and Photography

08/12/2025

Our 2025 festival came to a joyous close last night.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to see the concerts, and to our loyal Friends, Supporters and sponsors without whom the festival simply could not happen.

We're looking forward to sharing more highlights this week before we wrap up until 2026.

07/12/2025

WHAT A NIGHT with this dream team! 😍

Some photos from yesterday's Baroque Night with Rachel Podger, Charlotte Spruit, Jane Rogers, Jonathan Byers, Ashok Klouda, Eddie Mead, Tom Foster and Sergio Bucheli.

We have one final concert left to go before we wrap up for 2025 - there are still some tickets available for tonight's 7.30pm finale featuring the phenomenal Alexander Sitkovetsky in a programme of Shostakovich, Beethoven, Dvořák and Brahms. Link below:

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/festival-finale/e-mqrjzk

Photos by Hannah Lovell Film and Photography

05/12/2025

It's a double bill tonight!

6pm: Not So Silent Cinema - a screening of Buster Keaton's 'College' with live piano quintet

8.30pm: Schubert the Poet - soprano Erika Baikoff and James Baillieu present Schubert songs while Ashok Klouda and Irina Botan perform the gorgeous Arpeggione Sonata

Not many tickets left - get them in advance at the links below or on the door.

6pm: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/not-so-silent-cinema-buster-keatons-college/e-joxzvb

8.30pm: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/schubert-the-poet/e-eromzy

04/12/2025

Opening concert, done and dusted!

Thank you so much to our brilliant audience who made last night's festival opener feel so celebratory, and hats off to our wonderful musicians Gemma Rosefield, Natalie Klouda, Ben Gilmore, Julian Bliss, Ashok Klouda, Ruth Gibson and Irina Botan for a corker of a concert.

Who's coming to our Folklore concert tonight?

03/12/2025

All smiles as we rehearse Schubert's String Quintet in C ahead of tonight's (sold out!) festival opener concert!

Left to right: Ben Gilmore, Natalie Klouda, Ruth Gibson, Gemma Rosefield and Ashok Klouda

26/11/2025

Cello lovers, listen up! 🎻

With only a week to go before we open doors, we're highlighting two chances to hear our festival co-founder and director Ashok Klouda in his element (or should that be cello-ment?)

𝑺𝒄𝒉𝒖𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝒐𝒆𝒕
Fri 5 Dec, 8.30pm

Ashok appears with fellow festival co-founder/director Irina Botan to perform Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata, an effortlessly beautiful sounding work which continues to endure despite the rapid extinction of the instrument for which it was written.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐
Sun 7 Dec, 3pm

Ashok will perform extracts from Bach's Cello Suites alongside Natalie Klouda's Suite for Solo Cello. Natalie, also an HICMF founder/director, wrote the piece for her husband in 2017, using the Bach suites as inspiration.

All concerts take place at St Anne's, Highgate.

Get your tickets via the links below (special discount available for members of the British Cello Society)

5 Dec: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/schubert-the-poet/e-eromzy
7 Dec: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/the-art-of-the-cello/e-agbdmo

Video clip: Vivaldi Cello Sonata in G minor RV 42

25/11/2025

Did you see our preview in Ham & High?

Can't wait to open doors next week!

The 13th Highgate International Chamber Music Festival runs from December 3 to 7 at St Anne’s Church, featuring Baroque, Schubert Lieder, world…

24/11/2025

Oops, we did it again...🤭

Our Baroque evening with Rachel Podger and Friends has sold out for the second year in a row.

Don't despair! We have a waiting list you can join and six other fabulous concerts you can still get tickets for.

➡️ Join the waitlist: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/baroque-night-with-rachel-podger-friends/e-bblgrp

➡️ Browse & book other concerts: https://www.chambermusicfestival.co.uk/2025-festival/

[Photo credit Jonas Sacks]

19/11/2025

Great friends and great cellists...

Nathaniel Boyd and HICMF co-founder Ashok Klouda have known one another since they were children growing up together in Highgate. Both attended Junior Guildhall before going on to illustrious performing careers.

Nathaniel is also an immensely talented artist, whose work has been exhibited around the world.

On the afternoon of Sunday 7 December, there's the chance to hear Ashok perform extracts from Bach's cello suites, while Nathaniel, along with Natalie Klouda and Ruth Gibson, will present the world premiere of Natalie's new string trio, Hexaptych.

The music will be complemented by stunning new paintings from Nathaniel, exhibited around the hall.

But what do the paintings portray, and what is their connection to the music?

You'll have to come along to find out... 🎨🎻

Book now: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hicmf/the-art-of-the-cello/e-agbdmo