Our Red Cross donation from fundraising concert

Delighted that our "The heavans are telling" concert raised enough money to send £625 to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal. Thank you to everyone who took part and donated!

Vivaldi's Four Seasons

Friday 27 May, 7:30pm

Vivaldi, Bach and Mozart played by London Concertante.

Find out more and book tickets here.

Founded in 1991 by a group of graduates from London’s acclaimed music colleges, London Concertante has developed a reputation as one of the finest chamber ensembles in the UK. Its inspired programming, with repertoire from the Baroque to contemporary music, film scores to Viennese waltzes and Americana jazz to Argentine tango has led to both public and critical acclaim throughout its 30-year history, with past collaborators including celebrated jazz musicians such as Tim Garland, Byron Wallen and The David Gordon Trio, composers including John Tavener and John Woolrich and soloists including Giovanni Guzzo, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Mark Padmore, Michael Collins and many, many more.

'The heavens are telling' Fundraising concert

Saturday 7th May, 7pm

Come and sing choruses from Haydn's Creation and Handel's Messiah (bring your own scores if you can).

All welcome. Please come and help us support future concerts in the church, as our funds are completely exhausted after the difficulties of lockdown.

It will be wonderful to see friends and supporters for this informal occasion, followed by drinks in the hall. Please bring cash or card for your donations!

FUNDRAISING UPDATE: £1,200 raised thanks to everyone's generosity!

Daniel Grimwood at the National Liberal Club: Goldberg Variations

Monday 4 April, 7pm

We are pleased to promote an unmissable opportuity to hear Bach's Goldberg Variations played by the virtuoso pianist Daniel Grimwood, at the National Liberal Club in London.

Tickets: £20. 

Phone 0207 968 0912, or email bookings@nlc.org.uk

Cash bar from 6:30pm.

National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, London SW1A 2HE.

Described by Felix Aprahamian as "the finest all-round musician I have ever known", Daniel Grimwood is obsessed by music and loves pianos old and new. His insatiable appetite for music has given rise to an eclectic and wide-ranging repertoire representing all eras from the rennaisance to the now.

"His touch was so light that he almost let the piano play itself." The Independent

"He has all the virtuoso velocity and firepower, and then some" BBC Music Magazine

The National Liberal Club, founded in 1882 by William Gladstone, is a private members' club with a diverse membership that also has a growing reputation as a concert venue. The Club recently purchased a magnificant Steinway D concert grand piano to further enhance the calibre of performances in its public events schedule, and as a venue it benefits from a superb location overlooking the Thames near Trafalgar Square, convnient for Charing Cross station.

King Charles Festival concert

Friday 28 January, 7pm
Please join us for a special concert to support the Tunbridge Wells International Music Competition.

Matt Glendening (clarinet) Competition Wind winner 2018, and Charles Wiffen (piano)

Brahms Sonata in F minor, Beethoven Sonata in E Flat major, and works by Schumann, Penderecki, Liszt, Rachmaninov and Francaix. 

Buy tickets here

Additionally, you may be interested in the King Charles Lecture, which this year is given by Professor Joe Moshenska of Oxford University, on the subject of John Milton and King Charles. This will be held at 2:30pm on Saturday 29 January. 

Past performers 2006-2021

Wishing all our supporters a Happy New Year, we look back at the growing list of illustrious performers we have been priviliged to host, while looking forward to good times ahead!

Adrian Bradbury | Adriano Graziani | Aiso Quartet | Alessandra Testai | Alex Metcalfe | Amanda Pitt | Ann Beilby | Anthony Zerpa-Falcon | Archaeus String Quartet | Archduke Trio | Barbirolli Quartet | Bérengère Mauduit | Bethany Horak-Hallett | Callum Smart | Cambridge Taverner Choir | Cantabile | Cellists of the RPO | Charles Wiffen | Chelys Viol Consort | Chris Hatt | Chris Parsons | Christopher Sayles | Clio Gould | Daniel Auchinloss | David Chatterton | David Campbell | Daniel Edgar | Daniel Grimwood | Daniel Tong | David Owen-Norris | David Maw | David Owen Norris | Decimus Consort | Diane Moore | Dominic Bowe | Dulcinea Quartet | Eboracum Baroque | Eleanor Alberga | Ellen Smith | Emma Halnan | English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble | Felicity Lott | Felix Buser | Fiona Brown | Florian Stortz | Follia | Frances Yonge | Gary Branch | Gerald Finley | Giles Davies | Gilfillan family | Greg Tassell | Guy Johnstone | Hugh Webb | Ibrahim Aziz | Jamie McVinnie | Jane Gomm | Jennifer Snapes | Jenny Vizinet | Jonathan Ayling | Jong-Gyung Park | Joseph Wolfe | Julian Broughton | Julius Drake | Karen Jones | Karina Lucas | Kate Andrews | Kate Semmens | Katharine Johns | Katie Stillman | Kokoschka Trio | Konevets Quartet | Ken Aiso | King Charles Singers | Lianna Jeffrey | Liz Partridge | London Bridge Ensemble | Marcus Andrews | Mark Chambers | Margaret Faultless | Marie-France Ouellet | Marie-Noelle Kendall | Martin Bloor | Martin Fogel | Masahiro Yamaguchi | Matchbox Opera | Merry Opera | Michael Bacon | Michael Collins | Michael Grant | Michael McHale | Miriam Cox | Mirriam Teppich | Nigel Clayton | Oliver Davies | Owen Rees | Paul Clark | Paul Jeffrey | Paul Guinery | Pentagon Ensemble | Peter Arnold | Peter Barker | Rachel Godsill | Rachel Stroud | Rachel Threlfall | Raphael Wallfisch | Richard Egarr | Richard Uttley | Robert Gibbs | Robin Jeffrey | Rory Carver | Roselyne Martel-Bonnal | Rose Trio | Royal Tunbridge Wells Male Voice Choir | Ruairi Bowen | Ruth Beedham | St Andrews University Madrigal Group | Sam Haywood | Sara Lois Cunningham | Sarah Stuart-Pennink | Sasha Grynyuk | Schubert Ensemble | Simon Lane | Sophia Lisovskaya | Steve Pierce | Steven Devine | Temenos Chamber Choir | Teresa Caudle | Tim Gill | Tim Lines | Tom Bowes | Tom Foster | Tom Lilburn | Trajecti Voices | Trevor Eliot Bowes | Trio Lavolta | Tristan Gurney | Twilight Ensemble | Unexpected Opera | William Bass | William Summers | Yeo Yat Soon | Yukiko Shinohara

Handel's Messiah: a repeat of an unforgettable evening

Saturday 4 December, 7:00pm

The standing ovation at the end of Handel's Messiah, when we performed it in the church under the direction of Steven Devine three years ago, remains one of the most electrifying moments we've experienced at Music at King Charles. And when Steven asked the players and singers to come and do it again, they all agreed immediately. 

Now, after the pandemic's interruption, it's back.

This is a small-scale performance, with about 14 players and 16 singers, perfectly suited to the size of the building. It's intimate and full of energy, with a narrative drive that's gripping and authentic. 

Please buy tickets early to avoid disappointment! Available from ticketsource.co.uk/mkctw

Michael McHale piano recital - change of time

We're thrilled to host a lunchtime recital by Wigmore Hall artist Michael McHale on Saturday 23 October.

Please note that the start time has changed to 12:40pm. Doors open 12:30.

Expected duration: one hour.

Ticket information.

Michael McHale is one of the most impressive rising-star talents in the music world. Whether he is performing at Wigmore Hall or at the BBC Proms or around the UK and Ireland or in Suntory Hall, Tokyo or across USA concert halls, Michael’s beautiful playing has a heart-warming quality that has touched his many worldwide admirers. His one hour recital will encompass music by Beethoven (Sonata in C minor op.13 “Pathetique”, Debussy (Estampes 11. La Soiree dans Grenade; Jardins sous la pluie), Field (Nocturne N0.10 in E minor; Nocturne No.5 in B flat), Chopin (Nocturne in E flat op.9 no.2), Liszt (Rigoletto “paraphrase de concert”). So, whether shopping, visiting or heading to lunch in RTW, do take in this one hour musical “tour de force” and head away with a spring in your step!

Chelys Viol Consort: music made for King Charles

The Chelys Consort

Saturday 16 October, 7pm

Come and hear music that was made for this venue, the 17th century church of King Charles the Martyr. The music is as exquisute and elegant as the architecture. And it's the kind of music that would have been very familiar to King Charles himself, as well as the people who frequented the walks to take the water in the early days of Tunbridge Wells.

Ticket information here

Ibrahim Aziz, Alison Kinder – treble viols
Kate Conway, Sam Stadlen – tenor viols
Harry Buckoke, Jenny Bullock – bass viols

Ibrahim writes: "This concert explores the repertory for a ‘chest of viols’, which was a term used in the 16th and 17th centuries in England to denote either a consort of six viols, or a cabinet specially made for them. Thomas Mace, in his Musick’s Monument (1676) wrote that “a good chest of viols” should contain “2 Basses, 2 Tenors, 2 Trebles, all truly proportionally suited”. Our programme tonight showcases the repertoire that might have been played in a 17th century English household fortunate enough to afford such a collection of instruments, players and music."

Ticket information here

Described by Gramophone as having released 'unquestionably the most beautiful recording of the Lachrimae', Chelys have garnered a reputation for their faithful yet fresh interpretations of the consort repertoire. They take their name from an ancient Greek word which referred to a bowed lyre, said to have been invented by the god Hermes. The word was borrowed by the English violist Christopher Simpson on the title page of his treatise 'The Division Viol' when he translated the work into Latin.