A wide range of musicians including award-winning young performers and a dramatic renaissance band will be performing at the West Meon Music Festival in September.

The festival will be held in three venues from September 14-17.

Lovers of song will be treated to a morning of French verse settings by such composers as Fauré, Poulenc, Gounod and Debussy, when British soprano Harriet Burns focuses on the theme of love with her recital Les Chemins de l’amour (Pathways of Love) on Sunday September 17. 

Since graduating from the Guildhall Opera School, Harriet has won a raft of international awards including the Compulsory Song Prize and Recital Prize at the International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch, first prize at the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall and second prize and German Lied Award at the 2022 Concours Musical International de Montréal. 

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Saturday evening brings the chance to hear another of the country’s rising stars when double-bass player Will Duerden will join the Primrose for Schubert’s Trout Quintet. Will rose to prominence after reaching the Strings Category Final of the 2018 BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition and this year has been selected as one of six young musicians to be supported by the Young Classical Artists Trust. Will has already had several significant new works specially written for him, with premières in Milan and London.

Completing the festival’s trio of rising stars is pianist Thomas Kelly, who will be playing works by Chopin, Scarlatti and Rachmaninoff on Friday September 15. Thomas has won first prizes at several international competitions including Pianale International Piano Competition, the Kendall Taylor Beethoven competition, Theodor Leschetizky competition and most recently he was awarded second prize and special prize for best semi-final performance at Hastings International Concerto Competition 2022. His recital at the festival will include works by Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Scarlatti.

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There will also be a treat for lovers of early music on Saturday afternoon (September 16) when Warnford’s 12th century Church of Our Lady will welcome The Gonzaga Band – one of the country’s leading specialist early music groups – exploring the works of Monteverdi and his contemporaries. 

Formed by cornettist Jamie Savan in 1997 the band takes its name from the Gonzaga family of Mantua who employed Claudio Monteverdi as their maestro della musica at the turn of the seventeenth century. Jamie is joined by soprano Faye Newton and Steven Devine on chamber organ.

There will be eight concerts during the four-day festival and full details can be found at westmeonmusic.co.uk where tickets (priced from £14) are also available.