Preview: Haddington Concert Society’s 40th Season

Chamber music
Written By Jean Allen

Music close up at St Mary’s Parish Church Haddington

Earlier this year I mused that spring and summer are exciting times in and around Edinburgh, with news blossoming of forthcoming festivals and concert series. This fruitfulness continues well into the autumn, with the Haddington Concert Society’s superb programme of events celebrating 40 years of purveying excellent music to the people of Haddington and those sensible enough to travel there for these concerts.

The Haddington Concert Society was formed in 1986 as the Haddington Concert Club, and concerts are held in the awe-inspiring surroundings of St Mary’s Parish Church, with its magnificent acoustic. I recently spent several happy evenings there as a volunteer usher during the Lammermuir Festival, and it really is a wonderful setting for music. The HCS is fortunate to have a superb Bösendorfer grand piano. If you have ever fancied playing this Rolls-Royce of pianos, now’s your chance: on Saturday 27 September (11am-4pm) and Sunday 28 September (1.30-4pm) you can play it during the annual Doors Open Weekend. No booking required, just turn up. Refreshments and tower tours will also be available. Cake and Chopin!

The HCS’s eight concert October to March season opens with a 40th anniversary concert featuring the Society’s new Patron Alasdair Beaton (piano) and Maria Włoszczowska (violin). Other concerts are: ‘With the Wind(s) in our Sails’ with the SCO Wind Soloists; ‘Cellos for St Cecilia’ with Philip Higham and Kay Vaughan; ‘Four Seasons Revisited’ with Duo Katerina & Iwo (cello and accordion); ‘Past and Present’ with the Lark Piano Trio; ‘Poets and Passions’ with Hélène Clément (viola) and Katya Apekisheva (piano); and ‘The Next Generation’ with St Mary’s Music School. A Gala piano recital by the wonderful Angela Hewitt is the cherry on top of this mouth-watering season of concerts! Many of these concerts will be reviewed by my EMR colleagues, so you can read about them here. Better still, go along to the concerts and then read about them here!

The Haddington Concert Society is looking for volunteers to help with their work, so if you appreciate great live music here’s an opportunity to ensure it continues to flourish.


Further details and tickets: https://www.haddingtonconcertsociety.com/

Jean Allen

Jean fell in love with music at her state primary school, where every pupil was encouraged to be in a choir, play a recorder, and learn a stringed instrument. As part of a varied career in librarianship, she was Music Librarian at Nottingham University. She is on the committee of the Friends of St Cecilia’s Hall and Museum.

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