Whittington Music Festival 2026
“Natural Wonders”
Thursday 14 May 7:30 pm
Bach to the Future
Goldberg with a Twist
J S Bach
Erbarme dich, mein Gott, arr. for voice and strings from St Matthew Passion BWV 244
J S Bach
Goldberg Variations BWV 988 for accordion and strings, arr. Dunne/Tourish/Sitkovetsky
Aria
Variations 1-15
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Overture (Variation 16)
Variations 17-30
Aria da capo
Friday 15 May 7:30 pm
Trout Quintet and other forces of nature
Iconic animal and nature depictions from Schubert and other musical friends of the natural world.
Handel
Da tempeste il legno infranto Aria from Giulio Cesare in Egitto
Brahms
Two Songs for viola, voice and piano Op. 91
Gestillte Sehnsucht and Geistliches Wiegenlied
Finzi
Oh fair to see for voice and piano
Finzi
Bagatelles Op. 23 for clarinet and string quartet, arr. Alexander
Massenet
Élégie (from Mélodie Op. 10 no. 5) for voice, cello, piano
Delibes
Flower Duet from Lakmé Op. 333 for voices, accordions and double bass, arr. Dunne
Claire van Kampen
Sweet Lovers Love the Spring for voices and piano (by kind permission of Sir Mark Rylance)
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Franz Schubert
Trout Quintet in A major D. 667
Saturday 16 May 2:00 pm
Family Concert
Music and words inspired by the animal world, featuring Kadiatu and Braimah Kanneh-Mason and young stars from Whittington Festival masterclasses alongside Festival musicians.
Brahms
Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano, Op.40, Finale
Biber
Sonata Representiva for violin, accordion and double bass, arr. Dunne with readings by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason
Shostakovich
Cello Sonata in D minor Op. 40
2nd movement – Allegro
Saint-Saëns
The Swan
Ridout
Ferdinand the Bull for violin and speaker
Mozart
Clarinet Quintet in A major K. 581
Saturday 16 May 7:30 pm
Trio Archai and Friends
Beethoven
Piano Trio in E flat Op. 1 no. 1.
Fauré
Piano Trio in D minor Op. 120
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Gershwin
Three Preludes for clarinet and piano, arr. Cohn
Robert Schumann
Piano Quintet in E flat Op. 44
Sunday 17 May 3:00 pm
Far Flung Trio
Whittington Festival String Quartet
Special guest:
Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson, clarinet
Gershwin
Walking the Dog for clarinet and trio arr. Dunne
Mebrakh Haughton-Johnson, clarinet, Far Flung Trio, Katherine Hunka, violin, Dermot Dunne, accordion, Malachy Robinson, double bass
Georges Bizet
From Carmen, WD 31: L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (Arr. for Violin, Double Bass & Accordion by Dermot Dunne, Katherine Hunka & Malachy Robinson)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
From The Tale of Tsar Saltan: Flight of the Bumblebee (Arr. for Violin, Double Bass & Accordion by Dermot Dunne, Katherine Hunka & Malachy Robinson)
Katherine Hunka
Break Out (world premiere) for violin, viola and strings
Katherine Hunka, composer-in-residence, solo violin, and viola, Rosa Hartley, Braimah Kanneh-Mason, violins, Ami-Louise Johnsson, viola, Nina Kiva, cello, Alexander Edelmann, double bass
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To close this year’s festival a medley of well-known melodies given the unique Far Flung Trio treatment – includes tunes from their latest release, Umbrellas!
“Who’d have thought you could have just so much fun with a violin, accordion and double bass… Moods and nationalities aplenty, all played with pizzazz and joy”
BBC Music Magazine reviews the Umbrellas album, November 2025
Please Note: Both programme and featured artists may be subject to change.