Event Details – Leicester Museums

Event Description

Leicester International Music Festival present the 78th season of Lunchtime Concerts

The Leicester International Music Festival brings the world's finest musicians to a magnificent setting.

Enjoy world-class chamber music in the Victorian Gallery, at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery.

Lunchtime Concerts take place on selected Thursdays at 1pm and last for one hour. Doors open at 12.30pm.

Thursday 21st September:
Leicester International Music Festival: IYAD SUGHAYER (PIANO)

The award-winning Jordanian-Palestinian pianist, Iyad Sughayer, begins his Mozart sonata cycle on his favourite piano in the Victorian Gallery at Leicester Museum. Buy tickets here.

Thursday 5th October: THANDO MJANDANA (TENOR) & SATOSHI KUBO (PIANO)

South African tenor Thando Mjandana appears with his regular recital partner, Satoshi Kubo. Thando was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme Anniversary Company at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He has won plaudits for his recent ROH appearances and for numerous other companies. His Tamino for Welsh National Opera was a stand-out.

Thursday 26th October: MICHAEL FOYLE (VIOLIN) & MAKSIM ŠTŠURA (PIANO)

The Foyle-Stsura Duo, critically acclaimed for their live performances and recordings of works from the 17th Century to the present day, was founded in 2012 and won the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition and Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Duo Competition in 2015. They have performed in the most prestigious concert venues in the UK and internationally, including Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Buckingham Palace, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Usher Hall in Edinburgh, The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Thursday 9th November: THE PELLEAS ENSEMBLE (FLUTE, VIOLA & HARP)

The Pelléas Ensemble was formed at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2011. Playing with “verve and polish” (The Times), they won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Henderson Chamber Ensemble Award in 2018, and the 2017 Elias Fawcett Award for Outstanding Chamber Ensemble at the Royal Overseas League competition. In 2016 they won both the Grand Prize and the Audience Prize in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Music Competition, and were awarded a place on the prestigious Tillett Trust Young Artists’ Programme. In 2015 they won First Prize at the British Harp Chamber Music Competition.
Their Wigmore Hall debut was praised for its “captivating vitality” and “effortlessness and delicacy” (Seen and Heard International). They have appeared live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, and have given numerous recitals in London and around the UK. They have been praised for creating an immediate and intimate connection with their audiences, and perform much of their repertoire from memory.
They are dedicated to performing new music, and have had four pieces written for their ensemble. Their debut album was released on Linn Records in June 2021.

Thursday 23rd November: IYAD SUGHAYER (PIANO)

The award-winning Jordanian-Palestinian pianist, Iyad Sughayer, continues his Mozart sonata cycle on his favourite piano in the Victorian Gallery at Leicester Museum. Nominated as a 2022 Rising Star Artist by Classic FM, Iyad Sughayer was a prize-winner at the YCAT International Auditions in 2021. His second recording for BIS with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Andrew Litton was released to critical acclaim in autumn 2022.
'He captures the music’s essence with such a close sense of recreative identity that it feels on occasion as though he could be composing it as he goes along.' Julian Haylock, BBC Music Magazine

Thursday 7th December: NICHOLAS DANIEL (OBOE) & ANTONIO OYARZABAL (PIANO)

Leicester International Music Festival’s Artistic Director, the celebrated oboist, Nicholas Daniel, is joined by the Spanish pianist, Antonio Oyarzabal, who is forging a burgeoning reputation, not only for his playing, but for his work championing women composers.
In this concert, Nicholas and Antonio will celebrate the centenary of British composer, Madeleine Dring.

For further programme details for each concert, please view the Leicester International Music Festival website.