Extraordinarily brilliant!
Bring your friends and family to a show stuffed full of classical and popular favourites, performed on electric stringed instruments in the hands of consummate professionals.
Stringfever has performed over 1000 shows in 33 countries since 2004, from private performances for the British Royal Family to a packed audience at Madison Square Gardens.
Something a bit different for all ages. Comfy seating, plenty of parking and a bar.
Listen Here
Video — Stringfever
Tickets
| Guy Johnston | · | Cello |
| Melvyn Tan | · | Piano |
Guy Johnston (cello) studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, winning the prestigious BBC Young Musician competition in 2000 which propelled him to the forefront of the classical music world. He has played with many leading international orchestras including the London Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He recently performed at the BBC Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Milverton Concert Society is delighted to welcome back their President, Melvyn Tan, this time in his role as an accompanist. He established his international reputation in the 1980s with pioneering performances on fortepiano and is acclaimed for the wit and poetry of his playing.
Programme
| Strauss | · | Cello Sonata in F major Op 6 |
| Britten | · | Cello sonata in C major Op 65 |
| Chopin | · | Cello Sonata in G minor Op 65 |
Listen Here
Chopin - Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 65 - Wigmore Hall "Lockdown Series"
Tickets
Adult: £25, £20
Child: £7
The VOCES8 Scholars Ensemble is a vocal group made up of young professional singers who have recently been part of the annual VOCES8 Scholars Programme.
The VOCES8 Scholars Programme is a training initiative for 8 young talented professional singers with a passion for choral and small ensemble singing. The aim of the Scholars Programme is to equip these versatile, accomplished artists with the skills they need to succeed as they develop their professional careers.
Scholars receive coaching from current and former members of VOCES8, participate in performances, recordings, and workshops, and sing alongside VOCES8. They also engage in educational outreach and learn to use the VOCES8 Method, a unique teaching tool.
Their work in 2025 includes concerts across the UK and mainland Europe, recording an album of music for VOCES8 Records with the Stockholm Saxophone Quartet and taking part in concerts and recordings as part of the larger VOCES8 Foundation Choir.
Many former scholars have gone on to join VOCES8 or other prestigious ensembles.
Programme
| Giovanni Gabrieli | · | Jubilate Deo |
| Thomas Tallis | · | If Ye Love Me |
| Charles Villiers Stanford | · | Beati Quorum Via |
| Anthony Newley / Leslie Bricusse arr. Clements | · | Feeling Good |
| Joni Mitchell arr. Crellin | · | A Case Of You |
| Eric Whitacre | · | All things seem beautiful to me |
| Taylor Scott Davis | · | Effortlessly |
| Ola Gjeilo | · | Ubi Caritas |
| Ken Burton | · | A Prayer |
| John Bennet | · | Weep, O Mine Eyes |
| Pierre Passereau | · | Il est bel et bon |
| B. Conti & M. Leeson / L. Bricusse & J. Barry arr. Clements | · | For your eyes only / You only live twice |
| Yazoo arr. Clements | · | Only You |
| Duke Ellington arr. Parry | · | It Don’t Mean A Thing |
Listen Here
Current VOCES8 UK Scholars — VOCES8 - A Choral Ensemble
Tickets
Adult: £25, £20
Child: £7
| Piers Adams | · | recorders |
| Julia Bishop | · | violin |
| Angela East | · | cello |
| David Wright | · | harpsichord |
Four-piece Baroque super-group Red Priest returns to St Andrew’s Church, Wiveliscombe on Saturday 20 September 2025 7.30pm.
This ‘wildly virtuosic little band’ has been at the cutting edge of baroque music performance for over a quarter of a century and they have become an international phenomenon with their creative arrangements and swashbuckling virtuosity.
They are back by popular demand, after their sell-out concert in Wiveliscombe in 2021, performing ‘Baroque Extravaganza’, a thrilling programme of baroque masterworks performed in Red Priest’s inimitable, high energy style.
Programme
| Vivaldi | · | Concerto in G minor ‘La Notte’ |
| Telemann | · | ‘Gypsy’ Sonata in A minor; Fantasia for Violin |
| Bach | · | Preludio in E major; Toccata and Fugue in D minor |
|
Handel | · | Recorder Sonata in B minor; The Harmonious Blacksmith Variations |
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and works by Purcell, Cima, Cazzati, Ortiz, Couperin and others. |
Listen Here
Red Priest - Baroque Extravaganza - YouTube
Tickets
| Aaron Azunda Akugbo | · | Trumpet |
| Zeynep Ozsuca | · | Piano |
Aaron Azunda Akugbo
Aaron Azunda Akugbo , who is 26 years of age, grew up in Edinburgh and is of Scottish Nigerian descent. He began playing trumpet after listening to his Dad’s Louis Armstrong CDs as a child and cites this as his biggest musical inspiration. He is a charismatic performer with an abundance of natural humour and an effortless engagement with people and audiences.
A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and an ex-principal of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Aaron can often be seen freelancing in the principal chairs of some of the most prestigious orchestras in the UK including the Philharmonia, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras. He made his debut at the BBC Proms in 2023 with the Chineke Orchestra performing Haydn’s trumpet concerto.
Listen to Aaron
Zeynep Özsuca
Turkish pianist Zeynep Özsuca has performed worldwide as a soloist, chamber musician and accompanist and many of you will remember her stunning performance for the Milverton Concert Society in 2023 with Saxophonist Jess Gillam. Zeynep has worked with conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Simon Rattle and Sir Antonio Pappano. She also regularly appears in concert with her duo partners, saxophonist Jess Gillam, clarinettist Sacha Rattle and trumpeter Aaron Akugbo, as well as her wind and piano sextet Berlin Counterpoint. Zeynep currently lives in London and pursues her career as concert pianist, repetiteur and educator.
Programme
| Honegger | · | Intrada |
| Boulanger | · | Nocturne |
| Turnage | · | True Life Stories: Elegy For Andy (solo piano) |
| Vivaldi | · | "Agitata da due venti" |
| Bozza | · | Aria |
| Françaix | · | Sonatine |
| Interval |
| Hubeau | · | Trumpet Sonata |
| Price | · | The Glory of the Day was in Her Face |
| Turnage | · | True Life Stories: Tune for Toru (solo piano) |
| Price | · | Song to the Dark Virgin |
| Mahler | · | Ich atmet' einen linden Duft! |
| Ropartz | · | Andante and Allegro |
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| Ella Leonard | · | Oboe |
| Josephine Cresswell | · | Soprano |
| Otis Ubaka | · | Saxophone |
| Victoria Creighton | · | Flute |
At Milverton Concert Society our goal is to offer music of the highest quality with some of the most distinguished performers in the world. Equally, we like to support young talented musicians as they enter the professional music scene. These four local musicians are at the beginning of their journey. This concert showcases their commitment, dedication and hard work, not to mention their extraordinary talent.
Alim was already impressing the musical world when he won First Prize at both the Junior Cliburn International Competition (2015) and The Leeds International Piano Competition (2021), but it was in the summer of 2023 when Alim made his unplanned Royal Albert Hall BBC Proms debut performing Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Sinfonia of London that he really hit the headlines. Alim stepped in, with only 2 days notice, for Benjamin Grosvenor who had been taken ill and was no longer able to perform to a sold-out Royal Albert Hall.
Born in Kazakhstan in 1998, Alim’s early studies were at the Purcell School where he won several awards. He also took home the medici.tv Audience Prize and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society Prize for contemporary performance with The Guardian praising him as a “worthy winner” with a “real musical personality”.
He was announced as a BBC New Generation Artist between 2023-25.
Listen to Alim Beisembayev
Programme
| Haydn | · | Variations in F minor Hob XVII/6 |
| Beethoven | · | Sonata in D major, Op. 10 No 3 |
| Interval |
| Haydn | · | Sonata in E flat major XVI 52 |
| Schumann | · | Kinderszenen Op 15 |
| Brahms | · | Variations on a theme of Paganini book 1
|
| Johannes Marmen | · | Violin |
| Laia Valentin Braun | · | Violin |
| Bryony Gibson-Cornish | · | Viola |
| Sinead O’Halloran | · | Cello |
The Marmen Quartet came to the rescue in 2019 when The Vision Quartet was unable to perform for us in Milverton. Coincidentally, 2019 turned out to be a significant year for the Marmen Quartet as they went on to win several major international awards, earning them the reputation as ‘one of the most impressive and engaging talents in the chamber music arena.’
We just had to have them back!
The Quartet formed in 2013 at the Royal College of Music and were holders of the Guildhall School of Music String Quartet Fellowship between 2018-2020
They have performed at leading concert halls all over Europe, the BBC Proms and at major festivals around the world. They made their Australian debut in 2023 and toured the US the same year. In 2024 they are performing in The Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Austria, Jersey, Ireland and extensively throughout the UK. Not forgetting Milverton!
Listen to The Marmen Quartet
Programme
| Haydn | · | String Quartet in E flat major Op 33 no 2 Hob III:38 'The Joke' |
| Bartok | · | String Quartet no 3 [1927] Sz. 85, BB 93 |
| Interval |
| Ravel | · | String Quartet |
| Jonian llias Kadesha | · | Violin |
| Vashti Hunter | · | Cello |
| Nicholas Rimmer | · | Piano |
Founded in 2010, Trio Gaspard is one of the most sought-after piano trios of their generation, praised for their unique and fresh approach. Trio Gaspard is regularly invited to perform at major international concert halls including recitals at the BBC Proms and Wigmore Hall. A highlight of 2018 was performing Beethoven Triple Concerto in Switzerland under the baton of eminent musician and conductor, Gabor Takács-Nagy.
As well as exploring and championing the traditional piano trio repertoire, Trio Gaspard works regularly with contemporary composers and is keen to discover seldom-played masterpieces. In 2022, they performed Ethyl Smyth’s Piano Trio in D minor at the BBC Proms, broadcasted live by the BBC.
All three members of Trio Gaspard, who come from Germany, Greece and the UK, are successful soloists in their own right and continue to pursue their solo careers, giving recitals and performing concertos in prestigious venues.
Listen to Trio Gaspard
Programme
| Helena Winkelman | · | Piano Trio written for Trio Gaspard's 'Haydn Project'. |
| Haydn | · | Haydn Piano Trio in F major Hob XV 40 |
| Liszt | · | Hungarian Rhapsody No 9 'Carnival in Pest' |
| Interval |
| Brahms | · | Hungarian Dance No 16 in F minor |
| Brahms | · | Hungarian Dance No 4 in B minor |
| Brahms | · | Hungarian Dance No 10 in F major |
| Brahms | · | Piano Trio No 2 in C Op. 87 |
|
| Elena Urioste | · | Violin |
| Tom Poster | · | Piano |
|
As a violinist, Elena Urioste has given acclaimed performances as a soloist with major orchestras throughout the United States. Abroad, Elena has appeared with the London Philharmonic, Hallé, CBSO, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, BBC Symphony Orchetsra and many others. She has collaborated with celebrated conductors including Sir Mark Elder and Vasily Petrenko and has performed as a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium, the Concertgebouw, and the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. Elena is a former BBC New Generation Artist (2012-14) and has been featured on the covers of Strings, Symphony, and BBC Music magazines.
Elena believes that we should all strive to spend less time looking at screens, that Oxford commas should be required, and that people should clap whenever they feel moved to do so during concerts.
Tom Poster is a musician whose skills and passions extend well beyond the conventional role of the concert pianist. He has been described as “a marvel, [who] can play anything in any style” (The Herald), “mercurially brilliant” (The Strad), and as having “a beautiful tone that you can sink into like a pile of cushions” (BBC Music). Tom has performed over forty concertos from Mozart to Ligeti with many of the leading orchestras around the world. He has premiered solo, chamber and concertante works by many leading composers, made multiple appearances at the BBC Proms, and his exceptional versatility has put him in great demand at festivals internationally.
During the 2020 lockdown, this dynamic husband and wife duo created the #UriPosteJukebox series which brought a staggeringly diverse selection of music to audiences across the world through 88 daily online performances, for which they won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Inspiration Award. Their subsequent recording, The Jukebox Album, received glowing reviews and a BBC Music Magazine Award nomination.
They also founded the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. With a flexible line-up featuring many of today’s most inspirational musicians, and an ardent commitment to diversity through its creative programming, Kaleidoscope broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3.
Listen to Elena and Tom
Programme
| Felix Mendelssohn | · | Violin Sonata in F Major [1838] |
| Melanie Bonis | · | Violin Sonata in F# minor, Op. 112 |
| Interval |
| Amy Beach | · | Romance, Op 23 |
| Edvard Grieg | · | Violin Sonata No 1 in F Major Op.8 |
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