All Wye Valley Music concerts are special but there is no doubt that the concert on Sunday, October 20 that 3pm in St. Briavels will be especially memorable.

First time St. Briavels concert goers, like regular audience members, often find it hard to believe that musicians with national and international reputations come to play in a village church. They are equally impressed by the sound of the wonderful concert grand in the church; visiting pianists often remark on its quality and the beautiful sound produced in the fine acoustic of the church.

Extraordinary pianist Clare Hammond received universal praise for her scintillating performance of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini in the first ever Nottingham Prom and she is returning to St Briavels to play for Wye Valley Music.

Nottingham born Clare is known for her work to bring music into the community and since 2017, she has performed to over 15,800 schoolchildren in partnership with Gloucestershire Music and Wye Valley Music in Schools. In 2024, she founded the Gloucestershire Piano Trust to support her ongoing work in schools and prisons.

Acclaimed as a ‘pianist of extraordinary gifts’ (Gramophone) and ‘immense power’ (The Times), Clare won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2016 and her career since then has been outstanding with many its highlights reflected in the programme for this concert.

There are familiar and much loved works by the world’s greatest composers for the piano: sonatas by Mozart and Beethoven (The ‘Moonlight’) and Chopin Études. These alternate with compositions by celebrated female composers Hélène de Montgeroult and Cécile Chaminade; there are Romances by Clara Schumann, a nocturne by Gabriel Fauré and a stunning 4-minute work by celebrated American composer Jeffrey Mumford.This is the same programme that Clare is giving at the Wigmore Hall in early October and then at a major concert hall in Montreal in November – but you don’t have travel as far as Canada - or even London - to enjoy her astonishing virtuosity – just book for her recital at St. Briavels on October 20!

Tickets are £18 (£15 for WVM members and £5 for students 25 and under). A printed programme is included in the ticket price. To buy tickets, visit our websitehttps://www.wyevalleymusic.org.ukand follow the links. If you have any difficulty booking, please leave a message on the help line 01291 330020.