Four concerts. Three days. Welcome to our first Summer in the Square festival.

Summer in the Square is a three-day long festival encompassing some incredible classical music performances from our fellowship musicians and special guests that will take you across the varied landscapes of Europe, from Ravel’s unique French approach, to the classic and timeless stylings of Mozart and Beethoven.

In “normal times”, Southbank Sinfonia travels to Anghiari every July for a week-long festival in the glorious Italian sunshine. We may not be able to travel to our home away from home this year, but we still want to bring a slice of Italian sun to central London this July.

Connecting people through music is our goal, so we invite you to join us at St John’s Smith Square for this very special festival.

SUMMER IN THE SQUARE: FINALE

A double-bill of Ravel and Mendelssohn's Italian symphony closes our Summer in the Square 2021 festival!

We open our finale concert with Ravel's 1910 orchestration of Pavane pour une infante défunte. Ravel described this piece as "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court."  Similar to some of his contemporaries, Ravel was intrigued by Spanish sensibilities and customs, with his Rapsodie espagnole and Boléro also representing this theme. Although not quite as expressionistic as many of his other works, Pavane is a solid entry in Ravel's oeuvre.

Described as "mercurially brilliant" (The Strad), we are thrilled to be welcoming Tom Poster to perform Ravel's brilliant Piano Concerto in G. This virtuosic work entertains, just how Ravel intended. With some highly expressive sections to more fiery and technically demanding themes, the concerto engrosses the listener and will take you on a musical adventure.

What better way to conclude the festival that is usually part of our Italian tour, than with Mendelssohn's creative 'Italian Symphony! Composed during a tour around Europe, Mendelssohn was taken in by the charm of Italy and all it had to offer. Referred to as one of his jolliest symphonies, this work is the perfect was to end our Summer in the Square Festival.

Concert Programme available to read or download >>HERE<<

If you're not able to make it this evening, this concert will also be LIVE streamed >>HERE<<