An Invitation to Music
Welcome to Penrith Music Club and our 82nd season of outstanding concerts by internationally distinguished musicians and gifted young musicians with a great future.
2025-26 Season
We look forward to welcoming you to our concerts!
| Monday 15th September 2025 | Leon McCawley (piano) | |
| Monday 13th October | Cristian de Sá (violin) and John Lenehan (piano) | |
| Monday 17th November | Prince Bishops Brass | |
| Monday 12th January 2026 | Quatuor Tchalik | |
| Monday 9th February | Alena Walentin (flute) and Niklas Johansen (guitar) | |
| Monday 16th March | London Handel Players | |
| Saturday 18th April, 2:30pm | Junior RNCM concert |
All concerts are at the Penrith Methodist church and start at 7:30pm unless otherwise advised.
Single tickets – 2025/26 season £20 (students £5), Junior RNCM concert £10 (students free)
Tickets can be purchased on the door, pre-booked by calling 01768 863518 or bought in advance from Beckside Books. Regular concert-goers are encouraged to become members.
Season preview
Penrith Music Club has been bringing high quality international artists to the area for 82 years and our 2025-26 season promises to be another outstanding year.
The season begins on Monday September 15th with a return visit from Leon McCawley, one of the leading British pianists of our time. Leon has been delighting audiences worldwide since 1993, when he won both the First Prize in the International Beethoven Piano Competition in Vienna and Second Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata will be one of the main works in the concert, which also includes sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, three pieces by Chopin and César Franck’s Prélude, Chorale and Fugue in B minor, one of the finest piano compositions of the late 19th century.
Our October concert will be given by the young British violinist Cristian de Sá, regarded as “one of the great violin stars of the future” (Gulbenkian Orchestra). Cristian studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Mozarteum University, Salzburg. His recital will included sonatas by Brahms and Ravel and works by Debussy, Leclair, Saint-Saëns, Fauré and Wienawski. Piano accompanist will be John Lenehan, one of the outstanding accompanists of the present day.
In November we welcome back Prince Bishops Brass, the North East’s premier brass ensemble, to play a programme ranging from the renaissance music of Giovanni Gabrieli and the Baroque music of Jeremiah Clarke and J.S.Bach to the 20th century boogie rhythms of Bramwell Tovey. The concert ends with arrangements of music from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo and Four Episodes from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story.
Paris-based string quartet Quatuor Tchalik are our artists for the opening concert of 2026. Raised in a Russian-International Mozart Competition in Salzburg, winning both the first prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of a Mozart string quartet. Their concert in Penrith will include quartets by Mozart and Reynaldo Hahn and ends with Schubert’s Death and the Maiden quartet, one of his finest chamber works.
Our February concert features Alena Walentin and Niklas Johansen in a programme on music for flute and classical guitar. Alena is regarded as one of the most versatile players of her generation and Danish-born Niklas has received universal acclaim after winning several international competitions and awards. Their recital, which includes solo and ensemble music for both instruments, features the music of American flautist Kathryn Hoover, the Brazilian guitarist Heitor Villa-Lobos and the tango rhythms of Astor Piazzolla.
The last concert of the season brings another much-anticipated return. The London Handel Players gave us a stunning concert of Baroque music almost three years ago and this year’s concert features the music of J.S.Bach and Handel in a programme entitled German Geniuses: chamber music masterpieces by Bach and Handel. Flute, two violins, cello and harpsichord combine to give us another real Baroque treat.
The season ends with our annual afternoon concert by musicians from the Junior Department of the Royal Northern College of Music, showcasing some of the most promising musical talent of the future – an uplifting and enjoyable end to our season.
Penrith Methodist Church with its excellent Steinway grand piano is the venue for all the concerts.
Our Sponsors
