About
Painswick Music Society was founded in 1946 to offer high quality chamber music concerts in the heart of the Cotswolds. We are a small charity run by a team of local volunteers who all share a passion for high quality live classical music – ancient and modern. Our financial viability is entirely dependent on our Members’ Subscriptions (Season Tickets), as well as individual concert ticket purchases, plus donations from Sponsors, Patrons, Friends and grants.
All kinds of chamber music are at the heart of our programming. Fifty different string quartets have performed over the years, more than thirty piano recitalists, along with numerous instrumentalists (cello, violin, harp, clarinet, oboe, horn, saxophone etc) as well as famous singers and acapella groups, notably The Sixteen and Voces8.
Many of these musicians were at an early stage in their careers when they first came to Painswick. For example, in 1949, a 25-year-old violinist called Neville Marriner performed in Painswick as a member of the Martin String Quartet, who were joined by Frederick Thurston (clarinet) to play Mozart K 581 and Brahms Op115. Sir Neville Marriner went on to dizzying heights in the world of music, as the founder of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, with over 600 recordings and listed by Gramophone magazine as one of 50 greatest conductors. One other example: Emma Johnson (clarinet winner of Young Musician of the Year aged 17) first came to Painswick in 1993. We have enjoyed tracking her numerous international performing and recording successes over the years, as well as the seven return visits she has made, to the delight of the Painswick audience, most recently in 2025.
We hold these examples in mind as we actively plan for each season to include concerts by one or two ‘rising stars’, alongside already well-established artists. We also seek greater ethnic diversity, a wider range of ensembles, musical genres, and works performed. And we are always open to new ideas. Our 79th season (2025) included a very successful ‘Concert of Forgotten Music’ by unknown fifteenth and sixteenth century composers, performed by the ANON chamber choir from Lincoln Cathedral.
Commissioning new works and inviting first performances has also been a feature of the society’s planning, beginning in 1955 (Season 10) when Francis Loring (baritone) gave the first performance in England of two of composer (and founder committee member) C.W. Orr’s “Songs from A Shropshire Lad”, accompanied by the Composer. In 1983 (Season 38) The Westminster Trio performed ‘Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano’ commissioned from Herbert Sumsion, with the composer in the audience. For our Millenium Celebrations, Czech composer Pavel Novak composed the “Marian Variations” for Piano Quartet, based on the traditional Painswick Church ‘Clipping Hymn’ and first performed by the Schubert Ensemble in April 2000 (Season 55). In 2018 (Season 73) Dame Sarah Connolly gave the first performance of a song cycle setting of Laurie Lee’s poetry, composed by Sally Beamish. In 2021 (Season 75) Roderick Williams (baritone) gave the world première of Louis Manders’ ‘A Rondel of Gloucestershire’.
Welcoming children and young people to listen to and perform live music has become a priority in recent years. Through our ‘Music for Schools’ project, local primary school children get the chance to enjoy live music, many for the first time, played by top class artists such as the Carducci Quartet. Some of our concert performers offer morning workshops to budding musicians. On concert days we offer low price tickets to under 20s. We also host concerts by young people, notably in recent years, the Gloucestershire Youth String Orchestra (GYSO), Finally, at every AGM we invite a young soloist to give a short recital.
We are proud of all that the society has achieved over the past eight decades. But this is not a time for standing still! We are always seeking ways to strengthen the charity’s role in live music-making – for all. Most recently, we are delighted that Clare Hammond, a “pianist of extraordinary gifts” (Gramophone) and “immense power” (The Times), has accepted our invitation to become Painswick Music Society’s Honorary President.
Painswick Music Society
Charity Commission No. 271069
Honorary President: Clare Hammond
Committee of Trustees (2025-26)
Chair: Prof. Martin Woodhead
Vice-chair: Chris Swain
Hon Secretary: Jessica Bailey
Hon Treasurer: David Cutler
Programme Secretary: Nick Steel
Publicity Officer: Sue Pack
Membership &Ticketing: Edward Bowron
Other Members: Peter Holmes, Jane Mann
