Tuesday 17 February 2026, 7.45pm

This programme explores the 18th-century concept of Hausmusik and, along the way from then to now, fuses a variety of people and styles.    Felix Mendelssohn was no stranger to intimate chamber music, and his Trio in C minor, written when he was just 11, already shows his flair for melody and virtuosity beginning to shine.

Harry Waldo Warner, an award-winning composer and much revered violist, walks us through a Baroque dance suite, but not quite as we know it - forms and dances we recognise appear but with subtle twentieth century inflections.

Julia Simpson's Curious Music draws inspiration from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses and juxtaposes innocent, playful songs with beautifully twisted alternate realities; nothing is quite as it seems.

Mel Bonis, who made Saint-Saens exclaim "I never imagined a woman could write such music!" delights us with her impressions of morning and night.

Valerie Capers' Portraits Reframed is a set of miniatures which introduce the listener to some of her favourite jazz legends and styles as seen from a classical perspective. Full of toe-tapping rhythms, lush harmonies, tunes-a-plenty, and more than a few unexpected turns, this programme promises something for everyone.

Programme 

Julius Fucik: Dance of the Gladiators 

Julia Simpson: Curious Music

Harry Waldo Warner: Divertimento in D

Felix Mendelssohn: Trio in C minor

Mel Bonis: Soir! Matin!

Valerie Capers: Portraits Reframed

George Gershwin: Summertime

Tickets £22, MMS members £17, Under 18s £5 free with an adult