
Welcome to the Penarth Chamber Music Festival 2025
11th Festival

Welcome to Penarth Chamber Music Festival 2025!
After the rip-roaring success of last year’s 10th anniversary festival, we are so excited to be back in Penarth Pier Pavilion and All Saints Church to let rip again! We have a star studded line up of musicians coming to join us and a thrilling programme of music and events.
Highlights include the sensational Enescu Octet for strings, a performance of Haydn’s intense and deeply moving Seven Last Words of Christ with reflective readings, and a concert to acknowledge Pierre Boulez 100th anniversary including the extraordinary work for solo clarinet and electronics Dialogue de l’ombe double.
We are especially excited to be able to bring a performance of Mahler’s 4th Symphony in a chamber arrangement by Erwin Stein from 1921, conducted by BBCNOW Principal Conductor Ryan Bancroft and starring our wonderful patron Rebecca Evans CBE.
We look forward to sharing this thrilling programme with you!
Artistic Directors: David Adams and Alice Neary
The Artists
Stephanie Gonley
Donald Grant
Mathilde Milwidsky
Joel Hunter
Alinka Rowe
Rebecca Gilliver
David Stark
Matthew Featherstone
Steven Hudson
Robert Plane
Richard Watkins
Viv McLean
Fergus McCreadie
Odilon Marcenaro
Lenny Sayers
Robert Fokkens
James Lea
Rebecca Evans
Ryan Bancroft
Patron
Rebecca Evans CBE

History of the festival
As musicians living in Penarth, David and I saw a golden opportunity to start a chamber music festival, for the many music-lovers in the community, to draw visitors to come to spend a weekend in the “garden-by –the sea” and for ourselves – as a musician it’s a rare treat to play to a “home crowd”! In 2014, when the Penarth Pier Pavilion was nearing completion, we visited the gallery and thought what a wonderful space this would be for chamber music concerts – a beautiful acoustic, unparalleled views over the Bristol Channel, ice cream and fish and chips at hand – what more could we ask for!
We aim to bring top class chamber music concerts, given by musicians on the international stage to Penarth. We have had many memorable moments – visits by some fantastic musicians including Elias and Endellion String Quartets, Gould Piano Trio, London Bridge Trio, Malin Broman, Elena Urioste, Tom Poster, Simon Crawford Phillips and Alasdair Beatson as well as extraordinary performances by our “locals” Rebecca Evans CBE, Robert Plane, Robin Green and Lesley Hatfield to name but a few. We aim to not only provide concerts for knowledgeable music lovers, but also introduce great works to new audiences and young people (through our free ticket scheme), and through our Family and Relaxed concerts, provide opportunities for first experiences into the wonderful world of chamber music.
Alice Neary
Principal cello of BBC National Orchestra of Wales
David Adams
Leader of the orchestra of Welsh National Opera
The Festival
World class concerts against a backdrop of stunning seascapes. Our distinguished musicians bring the international stage to Penarth.
Trustees:
Rhys Taylor (chairman), Geraint Talfan Davies, Samantha Maskrey, Lisa Entwistle-Evans (treasurer), Robert Fokkens, David Adams, Sally Ann Bird, Peter Bellingham