The Edinburgh International Festival opens the doors of its home, The Hub on Castlehill, to a series of unique specially filmed performances. Every August, The Queen’s Hall Series welcomes leading soloists and chamber ensembles from around the world for intimate morning recitals. In honour of that tradition, familiar Festival faces and special guests, many of whom are based here in Scotland, perform outstanding programmes of chamber music from the heart of the Festival City.

While it is still impossible to have an audience present for these recitals, they will be available on our YouTube channel, with new performances every Monday to Friday for three weeks this August. At a time when Edinburgh would ordinarily come alive with music, these exquisite sounds will be relayed to speakers scattered across Princes Street Gardens, livening up lunchtime for listeners.

Highlights from the concert series will be broadcast on Classic FM in a special edition of The Classic FM Concert with John Suchet and streamed on the station’s Facebook page. Classic FM is both the UK’s most popular classical music station and has the highest Facebook following in UK radio.

We remind anyone in Princes Street Gardens to adhere to the Scottish Government’s social distancing guidelines. Dates of performances could change in the event of inclement weather.

10 August: Nicky Spence (tenor) & Malcolm Martineau (piano): Shakespearean Songs

11August: Philip Higham (cello) & Susan Tomes (piano):
Beethoven: Cello Sonata in C Op.102 No.5
Nadia Boulanger: Three Pieces for Cello & Piano
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Martinu: Nocturne for cello & piano
Suk: Serenade Op.3

12August: Members of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra:
Sally Beamish: Ariel for solo viola
Mendelssohn: Octet

13 August: Steven Osborne (piano):
Schubert: Impromptu No.1 in F major D.935
Rachmaninov: Nunc Dimittis (from All-Night Vigil Op.37 transcribed for piano)
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor Op.111

14 August: Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra:
Glazunov: Reverie Orientale
Rebecca Clarke: Prelude, Allegro & Pastorale
Weber: Clarinet Quintet

17 August: Andrea Baker (mezzo soprano) & Richard Lewis (piano): Sing Sistah Sing!
A joyful, soulful celebration of the African American female voice

18 August: Elias String Quartet:
Sally Beamish: Reed Stanzas
Haydn: String Quartet in E-flat Op.64 No.6
Trad (arr Grant): Scottish Folk Tunes

19 August: Hebrides Ensemble:
Judith Weir: Sketches from a Bagpiper’s Album
Tchaikovsky: Souvenir de Florence

20 August: Angela Hewitt (piano) & Members of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra:
Bach: Prelude and Fugue in A minor BWV 894
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.1 (chamber version arr Lachner)

21 August: Dunedin Consort:
Isabella Leonarda: Sonata duodecima
Telemann: Paris Quartet TWV43:G1
Jacquet de la Guerre: Violin Sonata No.1
Leclair: Flute Sonata in E Minor, Op.9 No.2
JS Bach: Trio Sonata in G Major BWV 1038

24August: Catriona Morison (mezzo soprano) & Malcolm Martineau (piano)
Songs and lieder by Purcell, Viardot, Schumann, Britten and Lewis Murphy.

25 August: Maxwell Quartet:
Haydn: String Quartet Op.74 No.2 in F
Anna Meredith: A Short Tribute to Teenage Fanclub
Roukens: Visons at Sea

26 August: Mark Padmore (tenor) & Paul Lewis (piano):
Clara Schumann: Lieder
Schumann: Dichterliebe

27 August: Ursula Leveaux (bassoon) & Malcolm Martineau (piano):
Saint-Saens: Bassoon Sonata
Clara Schumann: Three Romances (transcribed for bassoon & piano)
Mendelssohn: Sonata No.1 (transcribed for bassoon & piano)

28 August: Paul Lewis (piano) & Members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra:
Beethoven: Fantasy Op.77
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4 (chamber version arr Lachner)

These performances are still available on our YouTube channel for a limited time.