A reminder about our next concert on Saturday 28th February at 7.30pm at the usual venue when the  internationally acclaimed flautist Gareth Davies together with Michael McHale (piano) will perform works by Debussy, Faure, Poulenc and others.

Gareth is one of the greatest flautists of his generation. He  studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Shortly after graduating, he was appointed Principal flute in the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the age of just 23. During his time on the south coast, he recorded the Nielsen concerto with the orchestra. In 2000, Gareth was invited to become Principal flute with the London Symphony Orchestra where he has remained ever since.

Belfast-born Michael McHale has established himself as one of Ireland’s leading pianists and has developed a busy international career as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. After completing studies at Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, Michael went on to win the Camerata Ireland Accenture Award, Brennan and Field Prizes at the Dublin International Piano Competition, Terence Judd/Hallé Award and a Major Individual Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His teachers and mentors include John O’Connor, Réamonn Keary, Christopher Elton, Ronan O’Hora and Barry Douglas.

We are delighted to welcome Matthew Rose and Anna Tilbrook who will perform the Schubert Winterreise. 

Franz Schubert's Winterreise is a song cycle for voice and piano, setting 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller to music. The cycle portrays a despondent wanderer's journey through a harsh winter landscape after a failed love affair. The cycle is often seen as a reflection of Schubert's own struggles with illness and personal challenges. It also reflects the Romantic era's fascination with nature, emotion, and the individual's struggle against fate. 

We will be providing a printed translation of the poems from the original German into English to enable our audience to appreciate the intensity and beauty of both the poetry and the music.

This is an early reminder for your diaries that we start the second half of our 50th Anniversary Season with our first concert of 2026 on Saturday 31st January at our usual venue.

We are delighted to welcome Matthew Rose (Bass) and Anna Tilbrook (Piano) who will be performing the Winterreise by Franz Schubert. 

The Winterreise is a song cycle for voice and piano, setting 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller to music. The cycle portrays a despondent wanderer's journey through a harsh winter landscape after a failed love affair. The music, composed in 1827, is known for its emotional intensity and exploration of themes of lost love, isolation, and the confrontation with death.  His journey is both a physical trek through a wintry landscape and a psychological descent into despair. The wanderer encounters various natural elements (sun, wind, trees, snow) which become symbolic companions on his journey. 

The songs are sung in German but we have printed an English translation which will be included with the programme notes so that you can closely follow and understand this beautiful and intense journey.

Tickets are also usually available on the ticket desk on the evening of the concert.

We are delighted to welcome the pianist Clare Hammond. It has been some years since Clare last played for us in Whitstable but her performances were so memorable that we often get requests for her to come back, and what a better time than our 50th Anniversary Season.

Acclaimed as a “pianist of extraordinary gifts” (Gramophone) and “immense power” (The Times), Clare Hammond is recognised for the virtuosity and authority of her performances. She won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in 2016. In 2024 Clare made her debut at the Royal Albert Hall, performing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Philharmonia conducted by Christopher Warren-Green.

Clare will be performing works by Ravel, Debussy, Cecile Chaminade and a work specially commissioned by Clare called "Prison Piece" sponsored by the Gloucestershire Piano Trust, which Clare will introduce herself.

We are delighted to welcome the students of the Royal College of Music Wind Ensemble.  

The RCM Wind Ensemble is dedicated to showcasing brilliant works for wind ensembles of all sizes, and have been hailed for their energetic playing and eclectic programming. Particular recent highlights for the group have been their sold-out performance at Champs-Hill and an opportunity to play at Highgrove House. Other notable performances have taken place at Dorchester Arts and Garsington Opera, where they presented a pre-performance concert welcoming audiences to the evening’s production of Mozart’s 'The Marriage of Figaro'.

For this concert, they are collaborating with recent RCM graduates in a performance of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro Overture, Matyas Seiber's Serenade for clarinets, bassoons and horns, Mark Simpson's 'Geysir' and the much-loved Mozart ‘Gran Partita’ for 13 winds.

This is the second concert in our special 50th Anniversary Season and those of you who were able to come to our September concert will have felt the thrill in the audience as we were treated to a truly memorable recital by the Sacconi Quartet.

This next concert by the Royal College of Music musicians is one not to be missed.

​We start our 50th Anniversary Season on Saturday 27th September at 7.30pm at our usual venue with a recital by the superb Sacconi String Quartet  

The Sacconi and the Whitstable Music Society have a long association going back many years and we were delighted when agreed to open our 50th Anniversary Season with a superb programme of the Beethoven Quartet Op.132, the Ravel String Quartet, and a delightful piece by Hugo Wolf, The Italian Serenade. 

Tickets can be purchased on our website or at the ticket desk on the evening of the concert. If you haven't yet done so please consider purchasing a season ticket for all seven concerts this season, which represents a 32% discount on the single concert ticket price.   
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The Society is celebrating its 50th Anniversary season this year- quite a remarkable achievement- so we hope you will be able to join us on what we think will be an outstanding season of chamber music- the equivalent of having the Wigmore Hall right here in Whitstable!

On behalf of the Whitstable Music Society and Whitstable Hearing I would like to invite you to a free lunchtime concert on Thursday 8th May at 1pm.

This special lunchtime concert is part of an event being organised by our sponsors Whitstable Hearing who are great supporters of Whitstable Music Society, to inform people of the recent advances in audiology which will include informative talks, interactive demonstrations and a chance to connect with others who are passionate about hearing wellness.  

With the support of Whitstable Hearing the Whitstable Music Society have arranged for the acclaimed Irish pianist Michael McHale to give a lunchtime recital starting at 1pm. 

Belfast-born Michael McHale has established himself as one of Ireland's and the UK's leading pianists and has developed a busy international career as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician. His performances grace prestigious venues worldwide, including Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Tokyo Spring Festival, and he has collaborated with renowned orchestras including the Hallé, Minnesota Symphony, and all of Ireland’s major orchestras. 

Michael's programme will be as follows:
Beethoven: Sonata in C sharp minor op.27 no.2 "Moonlight" 

Interval -

​Schubert: Impromptus op.90, nos. 2, 3 & 4
Trad Irish (arr.McHale): My Lagan Love 
Liszt: Concert Paraphrase on Verdi’s “Rigoletto” 

We do hope you will be able to join us for this lunchtime recital.  Please make a note of the date and time in your diary.  Refreshments will be provided!

A final reminder of our concert on Sat 26th April when the acclaimed Salome Quartet will be playing the Purcell Chacony in G minor, the Hyden String Quartet Op.64 No.4 in G major, the Ravel String Quartet in F Major and works by Caroline Shaw and Hildegard von Bingen.

This is the final concert of our current season (Sept 2024 to April 2025) so we very much hope you will be able to join us to celebrate the end of another successful season of chamber music in Whitstable.

We will be back to start a new season in September 2025. This will be our 50th Anniversary Season- which is quite an achievement in itself! Over the last few months the committee has been planning a wonderful 50th Anniversary Season with some of our favorite artists and wonderful programmes to celebrate this special event. There will be more information about this on our website soon.

Hoping you will be able to join us this coming Saturday.​