Ambitious classical programme for 60th Brighton Festival this May

For its landmark 60th edition, Brighton Festival presents a vast classical music programme that spans four hundred years from Monteverdi and Bach to Shostakovich and British composer Anna Meredith.

The programme ranges from large-scale orchestral performances to intimate recitals, by acclaimed artists and ensembles from around the world.

Brighton Festival chief executive Lucy Davies said: “Opening the classical programme across Brighton Festival’s first weekend, leading string quartets Chiaroscuro Quartet and Consone Quartet unite for a one-off performance at Glyndebourne Opera House on Sunday, May 3. They will each perform masterpieces by Haydn and Mozart individually, before joining forces for Mendelssohn’s Octet.

“On Bank Holiday Monday (May 4), a bold staging of Bach’s St John Passion is performed in Brighton Dome’s Concert Hall by Britten Sinfonia with Brighton Festival Chorus and Youth Choir and young international soloists from William Christie’s Les Arts Florissants and Le Jardin des Voix. This Brighton Festival exclusive of the Passion is made more immediate by being sung in English and in parts from memory, with the choirs moving through the auditorium to dissolve the boundaries between audience and performers.

“In another Brighton Festival exclusive, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra accompanies a screening of William Kentridge’s animated film Oh To Believe in Another World with a rendition of Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No. 10 in Brighton Dome Concert Hall on May 17. Using collage, puppets and masked actors, Kentridge’s film, which he will introduce himself, depicts the decades from the 1917 Russian revolution to 1953, the year of Stalin’s death, inspired by Shostakovich’s symphony.

“London Symphony Orchestra returns to Brighton Festival on May 8 under chief conductor Sir Antonio Pappano. The orchestra presents works from Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, joined by leading pianist Denis Kozhukhin.

“BAFTA-winning actor Miranda Richardson reads from Dame Harriet Walter’s new book She Speaks! at Shakespeare’s Sisters (May 10, Brighton Dome Concert Hall). The book gives voice to Shakespeare’s most recognisable female characters in original verse. Also featuring performances by soprano Sophie Bevan and pianist Christopher Glynn, this event interweaves music and words to explore how Shakespeare’s women have inspired the arts across centuries.

“On May 20, internationally acclaimed countertenor Iestyn Davies and award-winning harpist Oliver Wass present a captivating programme traversing 400 years of music and song. Performing in the Regency splendour of Brighton’s Royal Pavilion Music Room, Davies and Wass encompass Monteverdi to Anna Meredith by way of Handel and Schubert.

“Award-winning chamber choir Tenebrae return on May 23 with A Celestial Gift, a programme of five centuries of sacred choral music in Latin, English and Russian, including Allegri’s Miserere, Holst’s Nunc dimittis and Rachmaninoff’s Cherubic Hymn.

“Brighton and East Sussex Youth Orchestra (May 11, Brighton Dome Concert Hall) are joined by International Piano Competition winner Curtis Phill Hsu for their annual Brighton Festival performance. The Orchestra will perform Rachmaninoff’s second Piano Concerto, famously featured in the film Brief Encounter, among other orchestral works from the Romantic period to the present day.

“Throughout the Festival, a series of lunchtime concerts take place in Brighton Dome’s Studio Theatre and Concert Hall (May 5-20). The series features performances from new and emerging international and UK artists, including Delphine Trio, Sherri Lun and the Jerwood Glyndebourne Young Singers, with tickets at £10.”

Brighton Festival 2026 runs from May 1-25. For more information and to book tickets, visit brightonfestival.org.