Welcome to the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival – North London’s annual festival which brings together leading musicians from around the world to perform in unique combinations.
‘A week of stylish playing that shone a new light on familiar repertoire’ The Strad
2024 is an exciting year for the festival as it sees several new elements integrated into the programme. These new elements include HICMF’s first evening dedicated entirely to baroque music (Monday 2nd Dec), a screening of the 1924 Buster Keaton silent film ‘Sherlock Junior’ with live piano quintet accompaniment (Sunday 8th December), a fundraiser for Haringey Young Musicians supported by Jacob Collier and featuring a brand new instrumental arrangement of his song ‘Hideaway’ (Friday 6th December) and the world premiere of Natalie Klouda’s “Tor Mordôn” performed by Sheku & Isata Kanneh-Mason (Wednesday 4th December).
We believe that music education forms a vital part of the curriculum, yet sadly State investment in arts education over the past 15 years has dwindled. We wish to bring attention to this issue through our 2024 festival, and in particular through the fundraising concert on Friday 6th December for Haringey Music Service – an incredible organisation which offers young people throughout Haringey access to music education that is stimulating and fun so that they may fully develop their own musical potential. Six-time Grammy Award winner Jacob Collier is fully in support of this cause and not only will HICMF be sharing a personal video message from him at the fundraiser, but those who donate will have a chance to win some very unique prizes. Jacob has kindly endorsed a brand new instrumental arrangement of one of his hit songs – ‘Hideaway’ – which HICMF has commissioned and which will be performed on 6th December by HICMF musicians together with children from Haringey schools.
HICMF will also be working directly with children from Haringey Schools in another way by bringing story concerts of ‘The Dinosaur Department Store’ to Tottenham state primary schools in November, performed by festival Co-director cellist Ashok Klouda and creative practitioner Polly Ives.
As always, we feel incredibly honoured to welcome so many truly world-class performers to HICMF. This year, we welcome 21 phenomenal artists from around the UK and Europe who will join us to bring these masterpieces alive for you, in the beautiful, atmospheric setting of St Anne’s Church, Highgate.
None of this would be possible without the generous support the festival receives from its Friends, Supporters, sponsors and supporting trust funds, to whom the festival is enormously grateful. If you would like to help support HICMF so that it may continue to put on festivals of this quality in the future, please consider signing up as a Friend or Supporter, or get in touch if you feel you can help in any other way. Thank you.
We really look forward to welcoming you to the 2024 festival!
Irina Botan, Natalie Klouda & Ashok Klouda
Founders & Co-directors of the Highgate International Chamber Music Festival
Honorary Patrons: Elisabeth and Bob Boas
