Welcome to our programme of Chamber Music concerts for 2024-25.
Concerts here in the Kettle’s Yard house offer a special experience, bringing music into this unique setting and allowing you the time to appreciate art in many forms. Even the intervals are a pleasure, with drinks available to enjoy with friends or fellow concert goers, and often a glimpse of the current exhibition. It makes for an enjoyable evening.
Justin Lee, our resourceful Chamber Music programmer, has brought together an exciting panoply of musicians including several shining young talents who will perform at Kettle’s Yard for the first time. We also welcome back old friends who have delighted us before, not least the Maxwell Quartet, who kept our spirits up by performing on film here for us in lockdown.
We start with a flourish on 10 October with the renowned Doric Quartet playing String Quartets by Beethoven and Haydn as this year’s Jim and Helen Ede Concert – an annual recognition of the importance of music to the Edes.
Concerts take place on Thursday evenings during Cambridge University term time and feature ensembles and solo performers carefully chosen to suit this unusual space.
The full concert series is listed below. Subscription tickets allow entry to all 15 Chamber Music concerts, saving you up to £120 over the year. Our experience suggests that early booking is advised!
Full Programme
10 October 2024: The Jim and Helen Eden Concert – Doric Quartet
24 October 2024: Castalian Quartet and Tim Posner, cello
31 October 2024: Sterling Elliot, cello and Gabriele Strata, piano
7 November: Trio Chagall
14 November: Alessandro Fisher, tenor and Simon Lepper, piano
21 November: Kathryn Stott, piano
23 January: The Max and Evelyn Forbes Concert – Marmen Quartet
30 January: Fidelio Trio
6 February: Maxwell Quartet
13 February: Michael Collins, clarinet and Michael McHale, piano
27 February: Astatine Piano Trio
1 May: Castalian Quartet
8 May: Peter Donohoe, piano
15 May: Adrian Bradbury, cello and Andrew West, piano
22 May: Heath Quartet
Chamber Music Subscription Ticket 2024-25
Purchase a subscription ticket to gain access into all 15 Chamber Music concerts, saving up to £120 over the year. Subscription tickets are £240 or £75 for students.
Book Tickets Now
Kenji Umeda: a journey
This display in the Kettle’s Yard Research Space will exhibit never-before-seen drawings by Kenji Umeda (1948-2019), alongside a set of prints and correspondence between the artist and Jim Ede, recently gifted to the Kettle’s Yard Archive by the Umeda family.
Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today
Inspired by the presence of freshly cut flower displays and paintings such as Cyclamen and Primula (c. 1923) by Winifred Nicholson in the Kettle’s Yard house, Handpicked: Painting Flowers will present paintings featuring flowers by artists spanning across the 20th and 21st centuries.
Adult Workshop: Botanical Casting
Join us to create flower plaster reliefs with artist Kaitlin Ferguson, taking inspiration from botanical artworks in the Kettle's Yard collection.
Studio Sunday: Relaxed Session
Join us for a relaxed Studio Sunday session aimed at children and families with additional sensory needs.
Studio Sunday
Unlock your creativity at our free, artist-led workshops for families in the Clore Learning Studio.
Audio Described Tour of Handpicked: Painting Flowers
Join us for an audio described tour of our current exhibition, Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today.
This tour is suitable for blind and visually impaired visitors. To book tickets, please call 01223 748100.
Guided House Tour
Join one of our knowledgeable Visitor Assistants for an introductory guided tour of the Kettle’s Yard house.
Friends-only Hours
Join us for our exclusive Friends-only hours on the last Sunday of every month and visit the house before it opens to the public.
Studio Sunday: Relaxed Session
Join us for a relaxed Studio Sunday session aimed at children and families with additional sensory needs.
Studio Sunday
Unlock your creativity at our free, artist-led workshops for families in the Clore Learning Studio.
Holiday Workshop: Expressive Gestures: Painting and Mark-Making
In this workshop for 11-16 year olds, join artist Damaris Athene and discover new and experimental painting techniques to create flower paintings inspired by you and your emotions.
Holiday Workshop: Lines that Wander
In this workshop for 7-11 year olds with artist Anna Brownsted, participants will draw journeys without lifting their pencil, build sculptures that balance and bend, and create an installation of artworks in conversation with one another.
Holiday Workshop: Sculptural Forms: Make a Modroc Sculpture
Join artist Anna Brownsted in this workshop for 7-11 year olds. Explore the shapes of sculptures at Kettle’s Yard and create your own sculptures using modroc plaster in response to what you have discovered.
Holiday Workshop: Artist Botanicals: Casting and Printing
Join artist Ian Brownlie for a fun morning discovering relief casting and simple print-making techniques in this workshop for 7-11 year olds. Your creations will be inspired by the Handpicked: Painting Flowers exhibition and artworks and objects on display in the Kettle’s Yard house, resulting in new and unique floral artworks to take home.
Guided House Tour
Join one of our knowledgeable Visitor Assistants for an introductory guided tour of the Kettle’s Yard house.
New Music
We are excited to be planning four more New Music concerts at Kettle’s Yard in 2024. Our New Music Curator, BBC Radio 3’s Tom McKinney will reprise his success of his 2024 season bringing us more of the top talent and excitement in New Music today. Performers will be announced later in the year on our website (as above). Be brave and expand your musical horizons!
Student Music
We are delighted to welcome the best student performers to play at Kettle’s Yard. On Thursday 28 November 2024 we will host the first of these concerts, with another in the spring term on Thursday 13 March 2025.
Keep an eye on our website and social media for the latest information.
