Guildhall School of Music & Drama presents 2026 Chamber Music Festival, featuring a new partnership with Yale School of Music

Guildhall School of Music & Drama presents its annual Chamber Music Festival from Friday 20 – Sunday 22 March, with a variety of performances to celebrate all that chamber music can offer. In a festival first, musicians from Yale School of Music, part of Yale University, will join artists from Guildhall School for a new partnership that celebrates cross-Atlantic musicianship and collaboration.

The annual celebration of chamber music unites Guildhall musicians and world-renowned chamber professors in the superb acoustics of the School’s Milton Court Concert Hall, in works ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Johannes Brahms to Dmitri Shostakovich, Arvo Pärt and Amy Beach.

Rising stars from the Elmore Quartet, the School’s Hans Keller Chamber Fellows, will perform with the Vista Quartet from Yale School of Music for the opening concert of the festival, which also features Guildhall clarinet professor Andrew Marriner and Yale cello professor Paul Watkins. Student and staff collaborations continue in Friday’s Collaborative Chamber Concert and the Sunday Afternoon Concert, while Saturday’s Student Showcase features an abundance of talented current student groups - from string quartets to brass quintets. The celebration rounds off with Sunday’s Festival Finale, with staff and students exploring a rich programme of 20^th-century repertoire. 

Many concerts are free of charge, and ticketed performances are just £10 (£5 concessions) with a multi-buy offer available.

Details of the Chamber Music Festival can be found below. 

Friday 20 March 

Rush Hour Concert: Elmore Quartet & Vista Quartet 

Milton Court Concert Hall, 6pm 

The Elmore String Quartet, Guildhall School’s Hans Keller Chamber Fellows, open the 2026 Chamber Music Festival with the Vista String Quartet from Yale School of Music to perform Felix Mendelssohn’s String Octet – a work written when the composer was 16. 

Elmore Quartet musicians, violinists Xander Croft and Miles Ames, violist Inis Oírr Asano, and cellist Gabriel Francis-Dehqani take on Richard Strauss’ Capriccio for string sextet, alongside cellist Shane Quinn and Yale cello professor Paul Watkins. Vista Quartet musicians, violinists Jaewon Wee and Hyein Koo, violist Ayano Nakamura, and cellist Vesper Park are joined by Guildhall clarinet professor Andrew Marriner for a performance of the ‘Adagio’ from Heinrich Baermann’s Clarinet Quintet No 3. 

Collaborative Chamber Concert 

Milton Court Concert Hall, 7.30pm 

Guildhall School's Chamber Music Festival continues with an entrancing programme of works including Arnold Bax’s Elegiac Trio, the ‘Adagio’ from Anton Bruckner’s String Quintet, Bohuslav Martinů’s Nonet and Johannes Brahms’ Piano Quintet. Guildhall professors Levon Chilingirian (violin), Bartosz Woroch (violin), Matthew Jones (viola), Fraser MacAuley (oboe), Helen Storey (bassoon) and Caroline Palmer (piano) perform in collaboration with Guildhall instrumentalists. 

Saturday 21 March 

Student Showcase 

Silk Street Music Hall, 7.30pm 

The second day of the festival sees outstanding student groups take to the stage, with performances of Intrada and Spirituale from Gordon Jacob’s Suite for four trombones, and Richard Bissill’s The House of Dr De’ath from Guildhall Trombone ensemble, The Herd Quartet. The showcase also features excerpts from Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No 3, performed by the Albero Piano Trio, and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No 3, by the Suma Quartet, as well as Valerie Coleman’s Umoja: Anthem of Unity, Amy Beach’s Pastorale for woodwind quintet and the fourth movement of Óscar Navarro’s Juego de Ladrones by the St Paul’s Players. 

Sunday 22 March 

Chamber Music Masterclass 

Lecture Recital Room, Silk Street, 11am 

An informal masterclass with Guildhall’s Head of Chamber Music, Matthew Jones, featuring performers from around the UK, including groups from City Foundation Boys’ School, Poole Society for Young Musicians Camerata, Dulwich College and Alleyn’s School. 

Sunday Afternoon Concert: Pärt, Mozart, Bridge and Vierne

Milton Court Concert Hall, 2.30pm

The final day of the festival continues with a Sunday afternoon concert, offering the chance to hear Guildhall professors Joy Farrall (clarinet), Richard Benjafield (percussion), Krysia Ostostowicz (violin), David Waterman (cello), Sam Armstrong (piano) and Ursula Smith (cello) perform in collaboration with Guildhall instrumentalists. The programme features Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s String Quartet No 17, Frank Bridge’s Phantasy for piano quartet and Louis Vierne’s Piano Quintet. 

Festival Finale

Milton Court Concert Hall, 7pm 

For the finale of Guildhall School’s 2026 Chamber Music Festival, Guildhall performers and professors present a rich programme of music of 20^th century composers: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No 1, Albert Roussel’s Trio for flute, viola and cello, the ‘Andante’ from Johan Svendsen’s String Octet and Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet. Guildhall professors Oscar Perks (violin), Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola), Gary Pomeroy (viola), Christopher Murray (cello), Philippa Davies (flute) and Carole Presland (piano) perform in collaboration with Guildhall instrumentalists. 

Visit gsmd.ac.uk/chamberfest for full listings.