Emma Johnson with The Gildas Quartet

Emma Johnson Folk Song Suite

(Fantasy on Three folk songs: The Lark in the Clear Air, Down by the Salley Gardens and Tom he Was a Piper's Son)

Glazunov Reverie Oriental for clarinet and strings

Shostakovich String Quartet No. 8 in C minor

Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581

Internationally acclaimed solo clarinettist, recording artist, composer and lecturer Emma Johnson is joined by the thrilling Gildas Quartet for an evening of music including a premiere.

All exploring a rich emotional and cultural landscape through chamber music, together, these works span styles and centuries yet share a focus on melodic beauty, textural interplay, and the expressive potential of chamber forces.

Emma Johnson’s Folk Song Suite brings familiar tunes like The Lark in the Clear Air and Down by the Salley Gardens to life in a vibrant and heartfelt reimagining, echoing the folk influences subtly present in Shostakovich’s haunting and introspective String Quartet No. 8 in C minor.

Glazunov’s Reverie offers an exotic and dreamy sound world, aligning with the lyrical expressiveness found in both Johnson’s and Mozart’s works. Mozart’s timeless Clarinet Quintet in A major, a cornerstone of the clarinet repertoire, rounds out the programme with elegance, grace, and the seamless blend of clarinet and strings that has captivated audiences for centuries