Music@Malling launches 2024 programme

Music@Malling festival is set to return to Kent next month with a broad programme of concerts and engagement running from 20-28 September. The 2024 festival will present premieres including a new work by Gavin Bryars and the first performance of an immersive installation inspired by the seven deadly sins.

The festival kicks off on 20 September with the Marian Consort’s exploration of music from 17th Century England alongside works by John Woolrich and Deborah Pritchard. The Consort’s performance will also include a side-by-side project with local secondary schools as part of the festival’s emphasis on outreach and engagement programme.

Festival artistic director Thomas Kemp said: ‘I am delighted that Music@Malling returns with such a vibrant and interesting programme bringing outstanding musicians into the heart of the community. I am also glad (and relieved) that we are able to continue our outreach work in the local community, particularly focusing on nurseries; primary and secondary schools in local areas of urban and rural deprivation. Having grown up in West Malling, it gives me great pleasure to ensure that people have access to these kinds of activities that strengthen communities and increase well-being.’

This year’s festival will also include a performance of new music inspired by Ana Maria Pacheco’s The Garden of Earthly Delights with two local primary schools. Pacheco’s works also feature in the festival’s Be Aware installation in the Old Chapel at Ightham Mote. Seven friezes based on the Seven Deadly Sins created by Pacheco will be accompanied by a new work by composer John Woolrich

Ightham Mote also hosts performances by Alessandro Fisher and Sholto Kynoch of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, introduced by the manor’s curator Amanda-Jane Doran. Mexican guitarist Morgan Szymański also performs at the manor, with a programme of Spanish and South American works alongside new pieces composed for Szymański by Stephen McNeff and Alec Roth.

Elsewhere, highlights include a concert by Ronnie Scott’s artistic director James Pearson marking the centenary of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and a recital of Brahms, Bridge, Schumann, Schubert, Kurt Weill and Manning Sherwin by BBC Young Musician of the Year Peter Moore as well as an exploration of Schoenberg in concerts by Chamber Domaine, Mark Padmore CBE, The Smith Quartet and Fidelio Trio.