London concert hall launches first classical music season

JW3, a Jewish community centre in Hampstead, north London has announced the launch of its first ever classical music season at it's Howard Hall concert venue. Curated by the cellist David Waterman, the seven-concert series kicks off on 15 November and will run until 14 April 2024.

The series will launch next week with an evening of Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven performed by the Jerusalem Quartet at the only London concert on the ensemble’s world tour. The season’s final 2023 date will be a concert of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann by tenor Mark Padmore and pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen.

Introducing the new series Waterman said: ‘I was delighted to be asked to curate this series in such an ideally intimate hall, which has excellent acoustics and facilities for audience and artists alike. Everyone I invited to play has thrown themselves into the project with enthusiasm and generosity. I am thrilled to present an outstanding line-up of truly exceptional artists playing masterpieces from Bach to Janáček.’

In the New Year Howard Hall will host a January concert with The Beatson, Simonen, Waterman Trio before welcoming cellist Steven Isserlis for a masterclass alongside Madelyn Kowalski and Tim Posner on 18 February. After his afternoon session Isserlis will present an evening concert of the Bach Cello Suites narrated by actress Dame Janet Suzman. The Castalian Quartet will come to north London in March for a concert with Waterman himself before the season closes on 14 April with Angela Hewitt’s interpretations of Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

Waterman added: ‘There were so many great composers before Bach, but for me, he set the scene for the next 200 years of musical history and well beyond. He particularly influenced most of the wonderful composers in our series. So, two of our concerts are wholly devoted to Bach, given by Steven Isserlis and Angela Hewitt, both long-established as globe-trotting international stars.’