EIF: Classical Jam

‍ The Hub 17/8/26

‍ Nicola Bendetti (violin and mentor); Kleio Quartet (Yume Fujise violin, Katherine Yoon violin, Jaren Ziegler viola, Gerard Flotats cello); Rising Stars of Strings 2026 (Dexter Doris violin, Xinyi Huang viola, Finn Mannion cello, Svenja Dose double bass); Rising Stars of Strings 2025 (Mira Marton violin, Tiagi Soares Silva violin, Layla Ballard cello); Rising Stars of Strings 2024 (Yente Lottman violin, Jacinta Balbontin viola); Petr Limonov (piano)

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The fourth EIF Classical Jam at the Hub featured this year’s Rising Stars of Strings - four young pre-professional musicians - joined by their mentors the Kleio Quartet and Festival Director Nicola Benedetti, with alumni from previous years and pianist Petr Limonov.It’s inspired by the jazz tradition of spontaneous jamming, where musicians get together spontaneously (often without an audience) to explore new repertoire and enjoy making music without the pressure of public performance.

‍The string players opened with the ‘Praeludium’ from Grieg’s Holberg Suite setting the scene for an unforgettable evening. Next, the first movement of Mendelssohn’s String Octet in E flat major - here a nonet, with double bass joining four violins, two violas, and two cellos.

‍The players had foregathered two days earlier, despite delayed and missed planes, to rehearse fourteen pieces, including some chosen by the audience. This gave an excitement and immediacy to the evening. The changing lineup for each piece allowed every musician to perform a variety of pieces with different players. When not playing they sat around the stage paying rapt attention and applauding supportively, their energy and excitement palpable.

‍The programme included individual movements from quartets by Haydn, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák. These were joined by movements from a swift and energetic piano quintet by Robert Schumann led by Benedetti; a Rossini string sonata; a sparkling Beethoven piano trio; a dramatic Brahms piano quartet; a lively Schubert piano quintet; and Tchaikovsky’s sextet ‘Souvenir de Florence’.

‍Nicola Benedetti explained that Classical Jam and the other EIF jams (Jazz Jam and Rising Stars of Voice) seek to break down barriers between musicians and audience. She likened it to an afterparty at a chamber music festival, where late at night, concerts finished, musicians gather for informal music making, often reading from sight and not worrying about mistakes. In seeking the perfection demanded by public performance, musicians can lose sight of the simple joy of encountering a piece for the first time and being bowled over by it.

‍Contemporary music was represented by ‘Closing’, the final movement of the String Quartet No 3 by Philip Glass and ‘Strum’, a short, jaunty piece by Jessie Montgomery. All the musicians were having fun, including Benedetti, as her wide smiles showed. She relished being part of the ensemble: supporting, encouraging, and sometimes playing but never pulling rank or dominating. She even turned pages for pianist Petr Limonov in one piece.

‍As an encore the massed strings gave us Leroy Anderson’s ‘Plink, Plank, Plunk!’ a string plucking, foot stomping, instrument twirling delight, sending us into the night with smiles on our faces after nearly two and a half hours of magical music making. I’m still dazzled.

‍EIF: https://www.eif.co.uk

Photo credit: EIF/Andrew Perry

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