Season to mark a decade of music

The organisation has put on some 350 concerts, almost a third of which have involved string quartets.

And The Carducci Quartet, which two days before, will perform in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, will play quartets by Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Beethoven on their fifth appearance in Leamington at the Pump Room on Friday October 7.

The International String Quartet Concerts series at the Pump Room also features the return of the Elias, Royal, Stamic and Brodsky Quartets. The Royal Quartet from Poland will be making its sixth appearance and the Stamic Quartet from the Czech Republic its first since 2006.

Leamington Music will also be introducing a new quartet to the town – the Van Kuijk Quartet from France, winners of the 2015 London International String Quartet Competition. They play on with Friday November 4 with an all-French programme of Ravel, Poulenc and Debussy.

Leamington Music’s season has 22 concerts in all. The monthly early music series in St Mary’s church Warwick includes the return of favourites such as Stile Antico, Ex Cathedra and Dame Emma Kirkby.

First-time groups in the series are The Telling, the Chelys Consort of Viols, The Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments and the Brook Street Band.

Leamington Music has a bigger involvement with Leamington’s Royal Spa Centre this season. The Taiwanese winners of the 2016 Leamington Music Prize will display their virtuosity on marimbas and vibraphone on Tuesday October 18 and there will be a Roald Dahl Day on Sunday October 30 featuring his stories of Cinderella, Dirty Beasts and Edward the Conqueror.

In the New Year, percussionists O Duo, the Borealis Saxophone Quartet and Ensemble 360 bring the total concerts at the venue to seven.

A highlight of the Autumn will be baritone Roderick Williams singing Schubert’s cycle Winterreise on Sunday November 13. And in December there is a mini Christmas Festival with the K’antu Ensemble and the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, as well as Ex Cathedra.

Tickets are now available for all concerts. Visit www.royalspacentreandtownhall.co.uk or call 334418 to book.