Attend two performances featuring the renowned Tallis Scholars, and enjoy the ‘Trout Quintet’ courtesy of Christian Zacharias, Ander Perrino Cabello and Cuarteto Quiroga
Hear Schumann’s dramatic Kreisleriana under Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams, who last played at the Festival 20 years ago, and experience the award-winning artistry of Opus13 string quartet
Discover the history and culture of this spectacular ‘nook’ of Scotland with a visit to Aberdour Castle and Gardens
“I looked forward to this festival and it more than lived up to expectations”
ACE customer on the 2025 East Neuk Festival tour with Michael Downes
Programme Highlights
- Schubert Piano Quintet in A, D 667 ‘The Trout’, Quartet in D minor, D 810 ‘Death and the Maiden’
- Byrd Masses for three, four and five voices
- Tallis If ye love me, O Nata Lux, Lamentations of Jeremiah
- Barber Adagio for Strings, Op 11
- Brahms Ballades, Op 10; Intermezzos from Six Pieces for Piano, Op 118
- Mozart Sonata No 15 in F, K 533/494, Quartet No 15 in D minor, K 421, Serenades, Symphony No 31 in D, K 297/300a ‘Paris’, Overtures from Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro (arrangements)
- Schumann Kreisleriana, Op 16
- Mendelssohn Quartet No 2 in A minor, Op 13
- Arriaga Quartet No 3 in E flat
- Beethoven Quartets No 7 in F, Op 59, No 8 in E minor, Op 59, and No 9 in C, Op 59
- Haydn Symphony No 94 in G ‘Surprise’
- Stravinsky ‘No word from Tom’ from The Rake’s Progress
- Stenhammar Quartet No 4 in A minor, Op 25
- Turnage Arietta
“I love the idea that although the distance from one venue to the next might be a matter of yards, and the gap between events may be just a few hours, you enter different worlds each time you go through a venue’s door”
– East Neuk Festival Director and Co-founder Svend McEwan-Brown
Founded in 2004 on a strong belief “in the joy and power of live music and its potential to transform lives and life”, this superb event takes place annually to critical acclaim. Audiences appreciate the festival’s dedication to high quality performances alongside community projects and support for young artists. Attendees particularly enjoy the festival’s eclectic range of venues, including parish churches set in a landscape that is both historical and naturally stunning, from charming fishing villages to beguiling coastlines.
As the East Neuk Festival enters its third decade, Festival Director and Co-Founder Svend McEwan-Brown invites musicians from around the world to perform alongside some of Scotland’s most prolific artists. Svend is excited to introduce the festival’s new programme to an ACE group, and we hope to include a short personal welcome from him at the beginning of our tour.
Entering its 21st year, this year's festival promises a collection of uplifting melodies, atmospheric contrasts and creative arrangements and improvisations. Opening the festival, award-winning pianist Fergus McCreadie will present his own improvisation based on Brahms’s Ballades, Op 10, showcasing a seamless blend of spontaneity and technique alongside Brahms’s own music. Following this, McCreadie will be joined by cellist Su-a Lee and violinist Donald Grant for an exhilarating programme of duos and trios.
“[Williams] plays with a clarity and rigour that makes everything seem newly minted, yet it’s the ability to produce a deeply expressive singing tone in an infinite range of colours that is the most telling facet of his pianism”
– The Guardian
Welsh pianist Llŷr Williams, known for his rich and thoughtful playing, will bring us Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Brahms’s intimate intermezzos from his Six Pieces for Piano, Op 118. A cornerstone of Romantic piano music, Kreisleriana showcases emotional and artistic intensity with dramatic shifts, while Brahms’s short works are celebrated for their tender, poem-like character – “like miniature paintings full of detail and nuance”.
Performed by pianist Christina Zacharias with Cuarteto Quiroga, Schubert's beloved ‘Trout Quintet’ will further underscore the lightness and narrative quality of this year's programme. With its sunny and melodic score, the work is an imaginative variation on Schubert’s earlier song ‘Die Forelle’ which describes a trout being caught by a fisherman.
“I am particularly excited to have the chance once again to hear the Swedish-Norwegian string quartet, Opus13, whose concerts in the 2024 festival were greatly enjoyed by the ACE group”
– Tour Director Michael Downes
We are also delighted to be including all three of Beethoven’s monumental ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets, Op 59, introduced by three leading ensembles: Cuarteto Quiroga, Calidore Quartet and Opus13. These technically demanding works, which incorporate Russian folk melodies, are known for their intense emotional depth and scale.
Meanwhile, the Tallis Scholars – a world-renowned British vocal ensemble celebrated for their performances of ecclesiastical vocal music from the Renaissance – will present works composed in turbulent times by Byrd, De Monte, Tallis and Lassus over two concerts: from Tallis’s profound Lamentations of Jeremiah and exquisite If ye love me to Byrd’s Masses for four and five voices.
Our closing concerts make for a fittingly grand finale: not only will we hear the Calidore Quartet perform Barber’s transcendent Adagio for Strings, Op 11 alongside Schubert’s Quartet in D minor, D 810 ‘Death and the Maiden’, but the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under conductor Maxim Emelyanychev will bring us Mozart’s animated Symphony No 31 in D ‘Paris’, Stravinsky’s ‘No word from Tom’ from The Rake’s Progress, and Haydn’s wonderful ‘Surprise’ Symphony No 94.
While music will be at the heart of the tour, select daytime visits will allow us to explore local history and culture in more depth. These will include excursions to the delightful fishing village of Anstruther and Aberdour Castle and Gardens, one of the oldest standing castles in Scotland and home to a stunning terraced garden with an orchard and scented walled garden.
The calibre of the artists involved, together with the richness of the musical offering and surrounding cultural treasures, will undoubtedly make for a memorable, stimulating and immersive week in one of Scotland’s most beautiful regions.
We will stay throughout at the four-star Old Manor Hotel, Lundin Links, which overlooks the Firth of Forth and offers comfortable rooms, blending classic design with modern amenities.
Michael Downes
Tour Director Michael Downes, MA, MPhil, DPhil, OBE, is a conductor, lecturer and writer who has lectured for most of the UK’s leading opera companies
Tour Director Michael Downes, MA, MPhil, DPhil, OBE, is a conductor, lecturer and writer who has lectured for most of the UK’s leading opera companies and writes programme notes for organisations including Wigmore Hall and Snape Maltings. He collaborated with Nike Wagner, great-granddaughter of Richard, on the English version of her book about her family’s history, and his latest book, Story of the Century: Wagner and the Creation of the Ring was published by Faber & Faber in November 2024. Since 2008 Michael has occupied the post of Director of Music at the University of St Andrews, having previously held the same position at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and he led the project to build the £15m Laidlaw Music Centre at St Andrews.
Please note that Michael will depart the tour on the evening of Day 5, however he will prepare the group thoroughly for the final performances on Day 6, and the remainder of the tour will be led by our experienced Tour Manager.
“I am delighted to be leading ACE’s tour to the East Neuk Festival, now in its 21st year. The festival’s programme for 2026 is a well-judged balance between established musicians making a welcome return to Fife (including pianists Llŷr Williams and Christian Zacharias) and younger European groups currently less familiar in the UK…The opportunities to hear the Tallis Scholars in the Renaissance repertoire they perform so peerlessly, and to experience all three of Beethoven’s ‘Razumovsky’ quartets performed by different world-class groups in the same day will also be particular highlights. I do hope that you will be able to join me for this wonderful festival in this beautiful part of Scotland which I feel lucky to call home.”
– Tour Director Michael Downes
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£2765
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