“Upgrading our Intercultural IQ”

We are going to hold a one-day conference “Upgrading our Intercultural IQ” from 10am to 4pm on 28th February, in the church hall.  We would  like to invite you to join us, so that we can all learn to understand each other better.  You do not need to prepare anything in advance.

Our aim is that the day will be very helpful, informative, and great fun.

We will provide a soup and roll lunch, and teas and coffees. If you can, please would you bring a small amount of a snack from your home culture for us to share.

We will have tea and coffee and a breakfast bun at 9.30am and will start on time at 10am. We will not wait for late comers.

Blessings

Angela Symonds and Mike Jones

We'd love to invite you to join us for a men's breakfast at CJ's Cafe on Saturday, 7th March at 8.30 am.

It is an opportunity to get together, chat, get to know each other better or meet new people.

It will cost £10
Pay on the day. 

Please sign up ASAP so we can make sure we have booked a big enough table. 

For more information, please contact Clive
07876 016649 

We open our 80th anniversary season with an unusual social event.  Hosted by our loyal President, Radio 3’s Petroc Trelawny, the evening will be a particular chance to enjoy the company of other members of our audience.

After a short introductory history of the club, Petroc will interview one of our distinguished vice-presidents, the composer Michael Berkeley.  He will be invited to reminisce about his own associations with the club over so many years and perhaps those too of his father Sir Lennox Berkeley.  Leading into the interval there will be a short performance by two of the talented young musicians who are to appear later in the season, clarinettist Reynold Yang and pianist Ruiqi Fang.

After refreshments, the second half of the evening is devoted to a music quiz led by Petroc.  It will in part be based on the content of his new best-selling book, Petroc Trelawny’s Classical Music Puzzle Book; there will also be questions on the cultural life of Luton and in particular the recent history of Luton Music.  The quiz is to be organised in teams and there may be prizes!

The event will be held in the church hall at St Mary’s Church LU1 3JF.

-Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Join us on March 28th at the stunning St Mary's Luton Parish Church for ’Our precious concert’ – one of our most beloved and best-selling programmes.

A breathtaking concert that will transport audiences straight into the heart of Tolkien’s universe. Howard Shore’s iconic soundtrack has captivated millions worldwide, and now, we bring it to Luton.

Performed by the modern orchestra Mystery Ensemble, this magical evening will transport you instantly into the heart of Tolkien’s universe, where elves, hobbits, and dwarves roam. The virtuoso playing of the musicians will bring to life the stirring, powerful, and deeply emotional compositions of Howard Shore, the three-time Academy Award winner, whose work shaped the very essence of Peter Jackson’s cinematic masterpiece.

This enchanting musical journey promises to be one of the most magical concerts of the season, with tickets selling out fast
Duration: 60 minutes (doors will open 30 mins prior to the scheduled start time and late entry is not permitted)

Age restriction: 6+

As we launch our 2026 season, with its theme of ‘Friendship’, how better than with a recital by one of the country’s absolutely finest pianists.  Leon has appeared many times in Luton with a dazzling array of exceptional programmes, providing us with so many outstanding musical memories to cherish.  His elegance, taste and musical integrity are internationally acknowledged and we are so proud to consider him a friend of Luton Music.  Please join us in St Mary’s Church for an evening of musical excellence.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Viola player Peter Mallinson is a longstanding friend of Luton Music, bringing us a range of wonderful programmes over the last ten years – his concerts for two violas were a revelation, particularly in the repertoire by Frank Bridge and Fyodor Druzhinin.  Once again he has curated a fascinating programme, this time for the slightly unorthodox combination of violin, viola and piano.  The theme of friendship is threaded through the music and will be introduced from the platform in Peter’s informal and scholarly style.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

It is a great pleasure to welcome Sarah Williamson to Luton for the first time.  Joining her in this virtuosic programme are loyal friends of Luton Music, the Piatti String Quartet.  In the beautiful acoustic of St Mary’s Church this will be a chance to hear music making of the highest order – a fitting celebration of the type of concerts we have been enjoying in the town over the last 80 years.  Please join us for an unforgettable evening.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Members of the London Tango Quintet have played for us individually in Luton on many occasions in the past.  This however is their first visit in this very special line-up and let us hope this formidable quintet will become firm friends in the future.  As the distinguished Newbury Festival reported – ‘Sheer tango dynamite!’  Join us for an evening of virtuoso musicianship and impeccable smouldering technique…

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

This will be Ben Goldscheider’s fourth visit to play for us here in Luton and I feel certain it will be another memorable occasion.  He will be joined by the pianist Simon Callaghan, perhaps the firmest musical friend that Luton Music can boast.  Simon is the curator of the series of concerts held every Sunday at London’s Conway Hall and as a result of our frequent collaborations we enjoy a special synergy with that august institution.  Simon has not only played many, many wonderful programmes of chamber music for us but has also helped behind the scenes making opportunities for fellow musicians and our audiences – he is a true servant of music and the most wonderful pianist.  We are very indebted to him and are thrilled that he will be making two further appearances this season.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Sarajevo-born pianist Ivana Gavrić makes a welcome return to Luton with a fascinating programme.  On her last visit she offered us perfect miniatures from the Bedford-based composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad, and now she features two other remarkable female composers.  Dora Pejačević is an increasingly admired Croatian composer, writing in a late Romantic idiom in the early years of the 20th Century; Cécile Chaminade was an internationally feted pianist and composer from the second half of the 19th Century – she was a particular favourite at the court of England’s Queen Victoria and her Prélude for Organ was played at that great monarch’s funeral in 1901.  This will perhaps be a chance to hear less well known repertoire alongside the more familiar masterpieces by Grieg and Ravel that complete this dazzling programme.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

After Harriet Mackenzie’s concert for us in 2024 we were all agreed that a return visit was essential!  On this occasion Harriet comes with the Karolos String Trio and their good friend the guitarist Morgan Szymanski.  From the Baroque drama of Vivaldi and the sultry lyricism of Piazzolla, through to the late masterpiece that is Mozart’s final divertimento, this is a compelling programme which will show off the breath-taking skills of these four remarkable musicians.  Please join us for an unforgettable evening at St Mary’s Church.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

This concert is another in our series ‘Stars of the Future’, in which we showcase younger musicians who are at the beginning of what will surely be considerable careers as performing artists.  Ruiqi, Zhijing and Reynold are all outstanding students from London’s Royal College of Music and have already gained considerable experience playing as a trio.  Friendships formed at university often prove to last a lifetime and there is no doubting the unusual connection between these three virtuosic young performers.

The lutenist Toby Carr is already being recognised as a remarkable talent and his first CD is currently available, a collaboration with Helen Charlston, the mezzo-soprano who gave such a wonderful performance of Schumann’s Dichterliebe for us last November.  He has devised a new programme called Softest Thunder, which we will present in the candlelit Wenlock Chapel of St Mary’s, demanding as it does an intense and intimate atmosphere.  We hope also to include a new version of a work of my own called The Sound of Rhubarb Growing, an essay in gentle, perfect, tiny sounds…  This promises to be a remarkable evening.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

We are proud to present this unusual combination of instruments in a mouth-watering programme!  We are in the hands of three of the country’s most accomplished instrumentalists and in the glorious acoustic of St Mary’s Church this will be a most memorable concert.  Morricone is surely one of the great film composers of our lifetimes and these are two of his most lyrical melodies.  Classics from Broadway legend Gershwin will also delight, particularly when their virtuosic demands are met by the likes of pianist Simon Callaghan, always a favourite with our audience.  This accessible music may well be a perfect opportunity to welcome new members to the club – perhaps you might like to invite along someone who has yet to enjoy one of our evenings of chamber music in Luton’s most beautiful building…

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

In 2024 we presented a programme which featured the re-working of a ballet score, Bliss, that I had written in the 1980s for the Royal Ballet of New Zealand.  Encouraged by the audience’s warm response to the occasion, this concert re-visits that same project.  This time the inspiration for the ballet is Her First Ball, another short story by Katherine Mansfield.  Actress Joanna David will once again read Mansfield’s beautifully observed story and we will then play the score that illustrates the narrative.  Musicians from the BBC Symphony Orchestra will return and join star saxophonist Jonathan Radford; I will be at the piano alongside a regular visitor to Luton Music, the young Bedford-based pianist Leo Little.  This fragile story concerns itself with the loss of youthful innocence and the imperative to survive the disappointment of dreams unfulfilled – its delicate nuanced world is a superb example of Mansfield’s ability to reflect a universality of experience in the more immediate mundanity of life that surrounds us all.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Young singers from Bedfordshire offer a wide-ranging concert programme of operatic highlights.  This will include music by Mozart, Mascagni, Sondheim, Sullivan and Jonathan Dove.  A showcase for the finest emerging musical talent in our area – free entry with a retiring collection to raise money for Bedfordshire Youth Opera.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music & Musical Director of Bedfordshire Youth Opera)

The programme will feature entrants for The 2025 Clements Prize, a biennial composition competition organised by London’s Conway Hall.  Composers under the age of 35 were invited to submit a ten minute piece for piano duet.  The audience for this concert will be invited to adjudicate the finalists and we will announce the results during the recital to compare our findings with the original jury for the competition.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

We are proud to welcome this distinguished wind quintet to Luton for the first time.  If the theme of our anniversary season is to celebrate the many friends we have made through Luton Music, then it is also I hope a time when we will forge new partnerships and synergies.  I feel sure that after this dazzling programme of wind music we will want to invite these exceptional chamber musicians back to Bedfordshire in the future.  Please join us as the New London Chamber Ensemble honour their own 25th anniversary by playing a newly commissioned score by British composer Julian Philips.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

It sometimes happens that we invite artists new to us in Luton to give a concert – and having heard them we all agree on the spot that, so thrilled by what we have just heard, we must simply ask them to return immediately!  This is just what happened in the wake of The Kaleidoscope Band’s performance for us last spring.  Their musical integrity, sense of drama and the sheer beauty of so much of their playing left us spellbound.  We are very pleased that, in our 80th anniversary season, they are returning in a series that is so special to us.  This will be an evening of outstanding Baroque repertoire.  Please join us.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

We welcome the Edinburgh Quartet to Luton for the first time in a programme crowned by Schubert’s final glorious work for string quartet.  Celebrating our anniversary theme of friendship, this concert highlights our ongoing relationship with Simon Callaghan and his curatorship of the Conway Hall series of concerts in London.  Artists can play a programme there in Red Lion Square in Holborn on a Sunday night and then repeat the repertoire again for us here in Luton.  Preparation costs and travel expenses can be minimised and it is artistically rewarding for the performers to be able to play their programmes more than once – win, win win…  We are most grateful for Simon’s support of this scheme over the last 15 years, affording us the opportunity to enjoy wonderful evenings such as this.  Enjoy!

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

It is with great pleasure that we welcome back the Dvořák Piano Quartet and their pianist Slávka Vernerová-Pěchočová.  Our friendship with these outstanding international musicians goes back ten years and we are delighted to be able to present them here in the UK.  It is a source of great pride that we can persuade performers from overseas to come to Luton – and that is in part due to the response of our audiences, whose rapt attention and love of music is immediately apparent to so many of the players who create their magic for us on Monday evenings here in Bedfordshire.  Long may that continue!  Please join us for a very special occasion.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

For many years we have been programming the music of Worcestershire-based composer Ian Venables.  We certainly regard him as a friend of Luton Music and have enjoyed many of his exquisite chamber works and song cycles in a whole range of concerts.  This recital will surely be just such another rewarding occasion.  Alongside Ian’s works, the programme also salutes the elegance and sensitivity of Ivor Gurney; this feels particularly apposite as Ian is Chairman of the Ivor Gurney Society and one of the world’s leading experts on this sensitive poet and composer.  Please join us for a beautiful evening of fine English song.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

The programme will include Martin Ellerby’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano and also a new commission to honour the 80th Anniversary of Luton Music.

The quintet Concentus Brass Ensemble will also appear.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)

Here at Luton Music we have enjoyed 15 years of remarkable concerts given by the Berkeley Ensemble – the Schubert Octet, the Beethoven Septet, the Trout Quintet and Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time to name but a few of the works they have programmed for us.  Depending how their plans for 2026 develop there will be another exciting bill of fare for us this December and it will certainly include some of their repertoire of special Christmas arrangements.  It will be a perfect way to end this series of ‘Friendship’ related concerts – and there will be a traditional offering of mulled wine and mince pies.  Please join us for a final celebratory event to conclude our 80th anniversary year.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)