A chance for festival attendees to relax, continue the debates informally and listen to music from inspiring young performers.

At 7.15pm, there will be a short set of speeches by Claire Fox, the director of the Academy of Ideas, and guests, followed by performances by musicians from The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, one of the world’s leading conservatoires and drama schools, offering musicians, actors, stage managers and theatre technicians an inspiring environment in which to develop as artists and professionals.

Quintessence Trio

Olivia Watts - bassoon
Steve Williams - clarinet
Zoe Cartlidge - oboe

Quintessence Trio was formed in 2011 and features members of the already established Quintessence Wind Quintet.

The group has performed at a variety of venues including, Mansion House, The Gherkin, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, The Chelsea Hospital, The National History Museum, The Science Museum and The Guildhall.

The members of the group have all studied at The Guildhall School of Music receiving a Bachelor of Music with Honors degree. Outside of the college the musicians have been able to achieve some professional work including playing with London Sinfonietta, National Youth Wind Ensemble, Chipping Camden and Birmingham Festival Orchestra. The group regularly collaborate with other young wind players and pianists to form chamber music groups of varying sizes. Recent performances have included the Poulenc Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano and the Poulenc Sextet.

They will play:

Valse de Mariage by Shin-Itchiro Yokyoma
Trio D’anches by Pierre Max Dubois
Divertimento Nr.4 by Mozart

Throughout the evening, jazz from the Helena Kay Trio

Helena Kay - Tenor Saxophone
Alex Maydew - Piano
Flo Moore - Double Bass

This trio is comprised of fourth year students from the Guildhall School of Music &  Drama and a graduate from the Royal Academy of Music and have been playing together for a couple of years. The trio enjoy playing music from the Great American Songbook. Helena Kay has been playing the saxophone for 10 years and recently won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year competition. Alex Maydew is currently in his fourth year at the Guildhall School with Helena and recently recorded with Ed Dunlop for the BBC in Dublin. Flo Moore is an in-demand bassist in London who has just graduated from the Royal Academy of Music. She just got back from a UK tour with the Ben Cox Band. We hope you enjoy the music!