What’s on this 2026-27 season

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons alongside works by Bach, Handel and Telemann.

Described by the New York Times as a ‘wildly virtuosic little band’, Red Priest has been at the cutting edge of Baroque music performance for over a quarter of a century. The ensemble was formed in 1997 by the modern-day wild man of the recorder, Piers Adams, together with violinist Julia Bishop, cellist Angela East and the late Julian Rhodes on harpsichord (a role now filled by David Wright), and named after the original ‘red priest’, Antonio Vivaldi.

Celtic dance forms and traditional song, mixed with funk grooves, Middle Eastern melodies, Afrobeat and north Indian rhythms.

Over their 15-plus years on the international folk scene, UFQ have garnered a reputation as a crowd-pulling, energising act whilst maintaining fierce commercial and musical independence. Their output is built on hearty fiddle-led music that draws on Celtic dance forms and traditional song, but from there on it is unlike any folk band you’ve ever heard. UFQ’s approach is to embrace any influence from funk grooves to Middle Eastern melodies, Afrobeat to north Indian rhythms. UFQ consists of Galician Paloma Trigás, Joe Broughton, multi-instrumentalist Dan Walsh and cajonero Tom Chapman.

The programme will include works by Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn and Morfydd Owen, as well as a new composition by Susie Self for baritone and orchestra featuring Jeremy Huw Williams.

Established in 1986 as the only professional chamber orchestra in Wales, the WCO under its conductor Anthony Hose (founder of the Buxton International Festival) has championed repertoire by Welsh composers and has been widely praised for its unique sound both in the concert hall and on recordings. This concert is part of a tour the Orchestra will be making of the Marches area.