Suffolk offers a wide range of music festivals and open air concerts throughout the year, so it's a great place to come for music lovers. From Carols by Candlelight to Status Quo rocking all over the Woods - Music In Suffolk is always varied and lively. The range of Music in Suffolk covers Blondie to lovely chamber music in some of Suffolk's finest churches, and everything in between, including the Aldeburgh Festival and the Latitude Festival, right through to Christmas Carols by Candlelight.
This Guide to Music In Suffolk is being constantly expanded so please keep an eye out for new events being posted.

Please click on a month below for Music In Suffolk that month
Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

For Aldeburgh Music Events this month click Aldeburgh Music

Music In Suffolk May

Ipswich Chamber Choir presents: Psalmfest
St. Margaret’s Church, Ipswich, 7.30 Saturday 10th May 2008
Ipswich Chamber Choir
Psalmfest
Musical settings of psalms by composers throughout history including:
W Byrd - Laudibus in Sanctis
W A Mozart - Laudate Dominum
H Purcell - Hear my Prayer
C H Parry - I was glad
P Ayres – When I Consider Thy Heavens (1st performance)
J Rutter – Psalmfest
Conductor: Tom Appleton
Accompanist: Christian White
Soloists: Emilia Hughes and Ben Thapa
Tickets £ 8 (Concessions £6) before the night or £9 (Concessions £7) at the door. Available from Music World Ipswich or via Ipswich Chamber Choir
WC and wheelchair access.
There will be a retiring collection on behalf of the Ipswich branch of East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices Registered Charity Number 1069284


On Tuesday 13th May at 7.30 pm there will be a 'concert' of 'Micro Classics' in Clare Parish Church given by the Classic Buskers. The Classic Buskers are an internationally known duo from Cambridge whose programme is drawn from the realm of popular classics which they play 'on improbable instruments at ridiculous speeds'. Their repertoire consists of arrangements and derangements of most of the world's classical masterpieces. Tickets at £10 and £7.50. Complimentary glass of wine and 'nibbles' make this a social event. Details from 01787 278826 and 01787 277421.

Monday 26 May, 6pm St Mary's Church, Hadleigh
Philippa Hyde (soprano), Timothy Kenworthy Brown (countertenor), Patrick McCarthy (tenor)
Psalmody, Essex Baroque Orchestra
directed by Peter Holman
A Portrait of William Boyce
See Suffolk Villages Festival

Music In Suffolk June

STATUS QUO SUMMER SHOW
One of Britain's best loved bands has announced an East Anglian date for next Summer. The legendary Status Quo will be appearing at High Lodge, Thetford Forest, as part of the Forestry Commission's Annual Forest Tour.
Status Quo has become a rock'n'roll institution. It will be 40 years in January since they first made the charts with 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men' and subsequently they have made a massive impact on the popular music scene. They have accumulated total world-wide record sales exceeding 118 million units; 63 British hit singles - more than any other band, resulting in over seven and a half years on the singles charts; 106 appearances on BBC TV’s ‘Top of the Pops’ - more than any other group.
Commenting on the Forest show Status Quo's Francis Rossi says, "We are really looking forward to playing in the forest. Fans can rest assured they'll be rocking all over the woods!"
Status Quo will be performing at:High Lodge, Thetford Forest, near Brandon, Suffolk, Saturday 7th June 2008 Tickets are £30 (subject to booking fee) from ticket hotline: 01842 814612 or buy on line from
Forestry Commission Ticket Sales

Summer Concert from the Sudbury Choral Society
Sunday 15th June 2008 3.30 p.m.
See Sudbury Choral Society

Thaxted Music Festival 2008 runs from Friday 20th June to Sunday 13th July. It will be opened by the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge, and will include The Orchestra of the Yehudi Menuhin School, John Lill and Jacques Loussier, amongst others. Watch this space for further details!

Courtney Pine to headline Midsummer Music @ Spencers
27th & 28th June 2008
This annual swing & jazz festival is held in the glorious gardens of Spencers at Great Yeldham in Essex (Suffolk fringe!), with music performed under a huge marquee. For the second year running, the gates of this Georgian estate will open up to a spectacular line-up of talented and well known musicians. Topping a star-studded bill, will be undoubted all-time-great of British Jazz, Courtney Pine. Nine other brilliant bands will perform at MM@S 2008 including the Glenn Miller Orchestra U.K., John Etheridge and his Sweet Chorus and Shakatak. This year’s festival with the help of China Now, will have a definite Chinese theme. Of special interest is Eugene Pao, the phenomenal jazz guitarist from Hong Kong. See Suffolk Festivals for more information

Music In Suffolk July

Blackthorpe Barn, Bury St Edmunds
Each summer in July this huge medieval thatched barn transforms itself into an international concert hall for two weekends, as it becomes the focus for world-class musicians who fly in to play in this unique venue. Both musicians and audiences love it for its intimate and informal atmosphere mixed with its uncompromising attitudes to musical quality and programming. Summer Music at Blackthorpe Barn is one of the best-kept secrets in the musical world.

Our programme this year includes the following concerts -
4-MALITY Friday 4 July 7.30pm
4-MALITY is a powerful & inventive percussion quartet of young musicians formed by Adrian Spillett, the first percussionist to win the prestigious BBC Young Musicians competition.
Razumovsky Academy Saturday 5th July 7.30pm, and
Razumovsky Ensemble Sunday 6th July
Yevgeny Sudbin, piano, Friday 11th July
Alexander Chaushian on Cello and Yevgeny Sudbin, piano, Saturday 12th July
Pavel Haas Quartet, 13th July 7.30pm
Why not consider buying a season ticket to enjoy all seven concerts at a bargain price? See Blackthorpe Barn for details.

5th July Stowmarket Chorale Society, Stowmarket Parish Church
The choir will sing the Haydn Nelson Mass, together with an instrumental feature. Contact the box office on 01449 743990 for tickets

Bures Music Festival 9th - 13th July
PLANS for this year's Bures Music Festival are now well advanced and, already, there has been a flurry of inquiries for tickets for the various events.
The Festival - it is the 12th - will run from July 9 to 13th with a variety of music to suit most tastes.
The Festival opens with an evening of light music and songs from the shows presented in the village church by Musicology who made such an impression when they appeared at the Festival a couple of years ago.
Once again there will be music aimed at young people through the B-Fest that is being staged in a huge marquee on the village recreation ground. It will be a splendid occasion for young musicians and singers to show what they can do.

A highlight of recent Bures Festivals has been the Blues Night, presented by BBC Radio Suffolk's Stephen Foster. This year it is on Friday, July 11 and it will feature top blues star Connie Lush and the Blues Shouters, and they will be supported by Just Blues.

The Festival's Soul Night, that proved so popular last year, has been retained but with a little jive and musical fun thrown in for good measure. It's on Saturday, July 12 and it features a highly recommended band called Johnny and His Mates.

The flagship event, Jazz by the Stour, is the finale of the Festival and takes place on Sunday, July 13, and once again some of the UKs top musicians will be featured.
They include the recent top award winner singer-pianist, Liane Carroll and her Trio along with that superb guitarist, John Etheridge.
The day starts around lunchtime with the trad-mainstream jazz of T J Johnson and his Band, and they will be followed by the popular singer Laura Zakian, who is well known on the national jazz circuit She will be followed by Atila, the Frank Sinatra sound alike who made such a good impression at last year's Festival when he appeared with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Atila will be backed by a cracking band of up and coming musicians, including pianist Rob Barron who is frequently seen as pianist to singer Charlotte Church.
Between the main acts there will be more swinging jazz with Lawford based trumpeter Tom Walsh, grandson of the legendary Robert Farnon, who is making a big name for himself on the UK music scene with the superb pianist Carl Hudson.

The Bures Music Festival that started twelve years ago with the first ever Jazz by the Stour has expanded to cater for a wider range of musical styles and over the year's it has raised well over £100,000 for charities, including the St Helena Hospice at Colchester and the Ferriers Barn Day Centre fior the Handicapped at Bures

As usual there will be camping facilities (subject to prior booking). Over the years many people have made the Festival a short break by caravaning or pitching tents on the site.

Details of the Festival - including ticket inquiries - can be obtained through Carole Heath on 01787 227953 or by visiting the website www.jazzbythestour.org.com

Music In Suffolk August

Suffolk Villages Festival, 22nd-25th August

Now in its twentienth year the Suffolk Villages Festival brings high-quality performances of early music to this part of East Anglia. It is fortunate to have for its principal venues the fine historic wool churches of Nayland, Boxford, and Hadleigh situated just to the north of the River Stour and Dedham Vale.

Friday 22 August, 8pm
St Mary's Church, Hadleigh
Psalmody, The Parley of Instruments
directed by Peter Holman
Purcell Dido & Aeneas with instrumental works & odes by John Blow

Saturday 23 August, 12 midday
St Mary's Church, Stoke by Nayland
Gustav Leonhardt (harpsichord) - celebrity lunchtime recital of English virginal music

Saturday 23 August, 7.30pm
St Mary's Church, Boxford
Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet), Steven Devine (harpsichord), Essex Baroque Orchestra
directed by Steven Devine
English Concertos by Handel, Arne & Stanley

Sunday 24 August, 7.30pm
St Mary's Church, Stoke by Nayland
Orlando Consort: The Call of the Phoenix - English Medieval Music

Monday 25 August, 12 midday
St Mary's Church, Boxford
Mark Caudle (bass viol), Lynda Sayce (lute), Melanie Woodcock (cello) with Jack Edwards (reader)
Thomas Gainsborough and Music

Monday 25 August, 7.30pm
St Mary's Church, Hadleigh
Psalmody, Essex Baroque Orchestra
directed by Peter Holman
Coronation Anthems from James II to George III - Purcell, Blow, Croft, Handel & Boyce

Box office & further information: 01206 366603
box@suffolkvillagesfestival.com
Suffolk Villages Festival

Music In Suffolk November

Hadleigh Choral Society Autumn Concert 2008
Saturday November 22nd 2008 at 7:30pm at St Mary's Church, Hadleigh -- the programme will include
Rutter's Requiem
Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.
Tickets can be obtained at the door of St Mary's Church on the night of the concert or see Hadleigh Choral Society.


If you are arranging a musical event in Suffolk and would like to publicise it, please send an email to the address below with full details.