Tim Lowe: York Chamber Music Festival founder, artistic director and cellist
SINCE its founding by cellist Tim Lowe in 2013, York Chamber Music Festival has gone from strength to strength.
This year the festival has invited six of the best string players in Europe – Charlotte Scott and Tim Crawford, violins, Simone van der Giessen and Lilli Maijala, violas, and Adrian Brendel and Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.
This week’s event at the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), Walmgate, Union Chapel, St Saviourgate, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, and St Olave’s Church, Marygate Lane, celebrates the brilliance of the chamber music repertoire, focused on the radiant, melody-rich string quintets of Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Pianist Katya Apekisheva
Across the weekend, festival-goers can experience music in all imaginable instrumental combinations, from the profound intimacy of Brendel’s solo cello recital featuring Bach’s Suite No. 2, to a dynamic duo performance by Lowe and Apekisheva and expansive works for quartet and quintet.
Headline highlights include Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor — hailed by Schumann as “the master trio of our age” — and Chopin’s lyrical Cello Sonata, his undisputed chamber masterpiece.
“We are also thrilled to present Beethoven’s rare and sublime C Major String Quintet, an 1801 gem that features a slow movement of breathtaking warmth and beauty that bridges his early classical style with the vast ‘inner world’ slow movements he became famous for later in life,” says artistic director Lowe.
Violinist Charlotte Scott
Violinist Tim Crawford. Picture: Andrej Grilc
After last year’s festival, Lowe was gratified to receive this message among the audience feedback: “What spontaneity, what passion, what delight in collective music-making, what beauty! They listen and respond to each other, play for, and to, and with their friends (as they so obviously are), sharing their pleasure with us – and we are privileged to overhear that love for and engagement with the music, true chamber-music playing.”
The full programme can be found at the festival website: https://www.ycmf.co.uk/2026-programme. Tickets are available from the NCEM box office, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York. Alternatively, book at ycmf.co.uk or phone 01904 658338 in office hours. A Festival Saver ticket offers extra value for those wanting to attend multiple concerts. Those aged 18 and under can enjoy free admission to all events.
Cellist Adrian Brendel. Picture: Peter Adamik
Festival programme in brief:
Today, 1pm to 2pm, Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Tim Lowe and Katya Apekisheva play Mendelssohn’s Variations Concertantes, Chopin’s Cello Sonata and Martinů’s Rossini Variations.
Today, 7.30pm, NCEM, Charlotte Scott, Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 4, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ‘Romance’ from String Quartet No. 1 (Andante espressivo) and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op.87.
Nordic viola player Lilli Maijala
Tomorrow, 1pm to 2pm, Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Adrian Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor.
Tomorrow, 7.30pm, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe, Adrian Brendel and Katya Apekisheva play Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Gustav Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell (not too fast) and Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60.
Sunday, 3pm to 4.30pm, St Olave’s Church, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Johannes Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88.
Viola player Simone van der Giessen