Spitalfields Music has announced the full programme for its 2025 Festival, which will take place from 1 – 9 July in iconic spaces and venues throughout East London. Tickets are on sale now.
Curated by Spitalfields Music’s Chief Executive & Artistic Director, Sarah Gee, the 2025 edition continues Spitalfields Music’s rich tradition of commissioning and platforming new music, with thirteen new pieces premiering at the festival over nine days in July. Since the festival’s inception in 1976, Spitalfields Music has premiered over 200 pieces of new music from composers such as Errollyn Wallen, Judith Weir, Tarik O’Regan, David Lang, and Anna Meredith.
Sarah Gee, Chief Executive of Spitalfields Music says: “Our 2025 festival is full of thought-provoking music, both new and established, which tells stories, crosses generations, and provides balm in these turbulent times. Our commitment to giving a platform to new work is undiminished, so audiences can expect thrilling and unique experiences in iconic East London buildings. And as we approach our 50th anniversary in 2026-27, we’re beginning to mine the archives to showcase some of the music and composers we’ve featured over the last half century. We also have our usual walking tours, featuring the histories of the area we call home, and special performances and workshops featuring the next generation of Tower Hamlets’ musicians.”
Programme highlights include:
Opening the festival is Spitalfields Music’s latest collaboration with The Carice Singers featuring the world premiere of Theatre of Origins by Chilean-born composer Aníbal Vidal alongside four London premieres from students of The New Voices Composers Academy.
Composer Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade reimagines Dylan Thomas’s seminal play in the world premiere of Scenes from Under Milk Wood – a new piece for the voice co-commissioned by Spitalfields Music and Presteigne Festival.
Star horn player Ben Goldscheider and pianist Richard Uttley present a concert that spans centuries and genres celebrating the past, present, and future of the horn – from Beethoven’s Horn Sonata to the premieres of new works from Jonathan Dove and Brian Elias.
Composer, pianist, and Former Artistic Director Jonathan Dove returns to the festival to perform the world premiere of his latest composition Late Night Music.
In their 10th anniversary year, the award-winning Consone Quartet present a never-before-heard programme of music that includes the world premiere of a new String Quartet by Oliver Leith, co-commissioned by Spitalfields Music and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust.
Violinist Aisha Orazbayeva returns to the Festival alongside Peiman Khosravi as the Liebestraum Duo, following her dazzling performance of Biber’s Mystery Sonatas two years ago. The Duo will present new works for voice, violin, and electronics alongside their own dark reimaginings of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.
A new interpretation of John Tavener’s Mercury Prize Nominated The Protecting Veil – which received its second performance at the festival in 1991 – performed by legendary British cellist Raphael Wallfisch alongside musicians and dancers from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire.
From stories of medieval virgin martyrs to the contemporary #MeToo movement, composer Litha Efthymiou blends music, movement, dance, and storytelling in a performance exploring womanhood, strength, female identity, and emancipation.
Scottish and Gaelic melodies are interwoven with 21st-century tech in the first London performance of Harpland, a new piece which combines harps and electronics to explore themes of loss, longing, and migration.
Closing the festival, The Choir of the Chapels Royal, HM Tower of London performs a Mass by leading composer of the late Renaissance Palestrina, and Messiaen’s Messe de la Pentecôte at the Tower of London.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
