Forthcoming Events
In addition to those highlighted events below, please visit our online Concerts and Events Guide here.
29 April – The Cox Cryptogram – Celebrating AliSon Cox (A, Eb, C) on her Retirement
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required
In celebration of the extraordinary contribution of Alison Cox, who retires this year as Head of Composition after nearly 40 years at The Purcell School, this special concert brings together a unique collection of new miniatures by both staff and student composers. Each work takes as its starting point a musical cryptogram derived from Alison’s name, with composers invited to respond in their own individual way to the pitches A, E-flat, and C (AliSon Cox). In German music notation, S refers to the note E-flat.
The result is a vibrant and imaginative sequence of pieces, ranging from solo works to quartets, each revealing a distinct creative voice while reflecting the remarkable diversity, invention and vitality of the School’s Composition Department. Performed by a combination of Purcell staff and students, this concert is both a tribute to Alison’s exceptional legacy and a celebration of the collaborative musical community she has helped to inspire over so many years.
Devised by Robert Saxton, The Purcell School’s Composer-in-Association, the project offers a fitting and affectionate farewell, marking the close of a longstanding and valued creative partnership.
30 April – Bach Magnificat: The Purcell School Middle School Voices
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Tickets £12 available here
The programme features the joyful Magnificat by J.S. Bach, alongside works by Vaughan Williams, including Three Folk Songs for Choir and Six Studies on English Folk Song for cor anglais and piano.
The concert will also include solo organ music by Mendelssohn and Bach.
5 May – Songwriters Concert
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Free admission. No booking required
A concert celebrating songwriting at Purcell featuring original songs, written, arranged and performed by Purcell students.
8 May – The Purcell School Pianists at Sutton House
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: Sutton House, Chatham
Tickets: Tickets are available here
18 young pianists from The Purcell School for Young Musicians Keyboard Department take on the magnificent challenge of performing György Ligeti’s complete cycle of 18 études for solo piano!
This concert is part of the Hackney Music Live x Stoke Newington Contemporary Music Festival 2026. Please visit their website for further information and to purchase tickets.
11 May – Afternoon Concert at Benslow Music
Time: 3.00pm
Venue: Benslow Music, Benslow Lane, Hitchin SG4 9RB
Tickets: Tickets are £10 and available here
12 May and 9 June – Lunchtime Concert at St James’s Church Sussex Gardens
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: St James’s Church, Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
Purcell pianists perform two dates in the popular concert series at St James’s Church Sussex Gardens.
3 June – Florian Mitrea Piano Recital
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: CP Hall, The Purcell School
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
Internationally acclaimed pianist and member of The Purcell School Keyboard faculty, Florian Mitrea, will perform a solo recital in Purcell’s CP Hall.
Further details about the programme will follow.
16 June – St Bride’s Lunchtime Concert
Time: 1.15pm
Venue: St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
Purcell students perform at a lunchtime concert at St Bride’s Church, in the heart of London.
18 June – St Mary’s Watford Lunchtime Concert
Time: 12.30pm
Venue: St Mary’s Church, 1 Church Street, Watford WD18 0EG
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
Purcell guitarists and singers present a lunchtime concert at St Mary’s Church in Watford.
23 June – Claire Martin with The Purcell School at PizzaExpress Live (Chelsea)
Time: Doors 6.30pm | Show 8.00pm
Venue: Pizza Express, The Pheasantry, 152 King’s Rd, London SW3 4NX, UK
Tickets: Tickets are £20 and available from PizzaExpress Live
Join us for a special evening of world-class jazz as acclaimed vocalist Claire Martin performs alongside the exceptional young musicians of The Purcell School at PizzaExpress Live in Chelsea.
Under the direction of saxophonist and Head of Jazz Simon Allen, and supported by a faculty of leading jazz performers and educators, students at The Purcell School refine their craft to an outstanding level. Many go on to study at top conservatoires and build successful careers as professional musicians.
An eight-time British Jazz Award winner, Claire Martin has been a defining voice in UK jazz for over three decades. She began her career at just 19 and soon fulfilled a lifelong ambition to perform at the legendary Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho. Since signing with Linn Records in 1990, Claire has released 18 acclaimed albums and collaborated with some of the most celebrated names in jazz, including Martin Taylor, John Martyn, Stéphane Grappelli, Kenny Barron, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett and Jim Mullen.
Claire has toured extensively around the world with her trio and has appeared as a featured soloist with leading orchestras such as the Hallé, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, RTÉ Concert Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, BBC Big Band and BBC Concert Orchestra. She also co-presented BBC Radio 3’s flagship programme Jazz Line-Up for 17 years.
For this one-night-only performance, Claire joins forces with The Purcell School’s outstanding jazz musicians to present a specially curated programme celebrating highlights from her remarkable career.
26 June – St James’s Piccadilly Concert
Time: 1.00pm
Venue: St James’s Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, St James
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
29 June – Lunchtime Concert at Proms at St Jude’s
Time: 12.00pm
Venue: St Jude’s, Central Square, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London NW11 7AH
Tickets: Admission is free of charge. No booking required.
Purcell students perform a one-hour lunchtime concert of chamber music at the Proms at St Jude’s.
Programme to include:
Chopin Andante spianato et grande polonaise brillante Op.22
Franck Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano
Rachmaninov Trio élégiaque No. 1
For further information about the venue, visit the Proms at St Jude’s website.
1 July – Anna Avramidou plays Tchaikovsky with The Purcell School Symphony Orchestra
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Milton Court, 1 Milton Street, London EC2Y 9BH
Tickets: Tickets are £22 / £11 (Conc.) and can be purchased here
The Purcell School Symphony Orchestra returns to Milton Court with a vibrant programme featuring the first symphonies of Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich.
Prokofiev composed his Symphony No. 1, the ‘Classical Symphony’, in 1917 during the upheaval of the Russian Revolution. The work draws on the clarity and charm of Haydn while adding Prokofiev’s distinctive neoclassical wit.
Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 1 at just 19 as his graduation work at the Leningrad Conservatory. Both symphonies reveal the striking brilliance and individuality of these composers in their youth—an inspiring reflection of the creative potential nurtured at The Purcell School.
Featured soloist, Anna Avramidou, a Year 13 pianist at The Purcell School, is rapidly gaining international recognition. She won the prestigious Cooper International Piano Competition in 2025 and has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra. Her accolades also include prizes at the Clara Haskil Piano Competition and the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Weimar.
As the winner of The Purcell School’s Senior Concerto Competition, Anna will perform Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, one of the most thrilling and monumental works in the piano repertoire.
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 Classical
Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23 Anna Avramidou, piano
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10
Programme:
Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25 Classical Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B♭ minor, Op. 23
Anna Avramidou, piano
— Interval —
Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10
Purcell accompanist Debbie Shah recently took part in the Malta Spring Festival, performing in masterclasses and a recital alongside renowned violinist and Purcell Patron Dmitry Sitkovetsky.
