We are delighted to present this year’s Little Missenden Festival programme which runs from Friday 3rd to Sunday 12th October. It is, as always, wonderfully eclectic: 17th century virtuoso Italian music; jazz with Zoe Rahman; British music for string quartet with poetry reflecting nature and landscape; a particularly rich kaleidoscope of music for piano by African composers; concerts celebrating musical anniversaries of composers as different as Dmitri Shostakovich and Orlando Gibbons; a programme exploring connections between English and Arabic folk music, and chamber music concerts for piano trio and for wind ensemble. There will also be an illustrated lecture on the recent National Gallery exhibition of Sienese painting and a conversation centring on the impact of music in grief and joy.
A real highlight will be the appearance of the 12-strong vocal group Stile Antico who celebrate their 20th anniversary year with a programme including some of their favourite music from the Renaissance period. Like most concerts this will take place in the intimate and evocative surroundings of the 10th-century church of St John the Baptist and should be a truly memorable evening.The Festival is rounded off in December with a thoroughly joyful programme of subversive Christmas music from the England of Oliver Cromwell! There is a summary below but please see our 2025 Programme pages for much more detail and to book tickets.
Our brochure is now available (and can be downloaded here). Online and telephone booking is now open. Please see our tickets page for more details.
We will keep you updated over the coming months with more background on our Facebook and Bluesky social media and through emails, and any further details of the events will be available here. We will also make a detailed programme available shortly before each concert on its appropriate page and they will also continue to be available free at the concert itself.
Please don't hesitate to email us if you have any questions.
We hope you will find much of interest and we look forward to seeing you in October!
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The Monteverdi String Band with Hannah Ely (sop) – madrigals and instrumental music by Monteverdi and his contemporaries
Friday 3 October at 8.00pm |
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Art Lecture: Joanna Cannon on Siena: The Rise of Painting, 1300 ‒1350, exhibition at the National Gallery (until 22 June)
Saturday 4 October at 3.00pm
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Jazz Evening with Zoe Rahman (piano) and friends
Saturday 4 October at 8.00pm
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Piatti String Quartet – British music and poetry reflecting our relationship with nature and the landscape
Sunday 5 October 12.00pm
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Piatti Quartet and Huw Watkins (piano) with music by Bach, Schumann, Ravel and Shostakovich
Sunday 5 October at 3.00pm
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Rebeca Omordia (piano) – a rich kaleidoscope of music by African composers
Tuesday 7 October at 8.00pm
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Gould Piano Trio with trios by Haydn (no44 in E), Rebecca Clarke and Schubert (in E flat, op100)
Wednesday 8 October at 8.00pm
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Tamsin Elliott (harp, accordion, flute), Tarek Elazhary (oud) and Rowan Elliott (fiddle) explore connections between English & Arabic folk music
Thursday 9 October at 8.00pm
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Galliard Ensemble – a feast of music for wind instruments by Mozart, Nielsen, Barber, Grainger and Arnold
Friday 10 October at 8.00pm
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| Emily MacGregor, writer, music historian and broadcaster, in conversation with Thomas Hyde Saturday 11 October at 3.00pm |
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Stile Antico celebrate their 20th birthday with Renaissance polyphony by composers including Josquin, Palestrina, Byrd and Victoria Saturday 11 October at 8.00pm |
| Chelys Viol Consort perform Orlando Gibbons – “The best hand in England” - in his 400th anniversary year Sunday 12 October at 3.00pm |
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“Hey for Christmas”: seasonal music under Cromwell with Siglo de Oro and the Spinacino Consort Friday 5 December at 8.00pm |
