By |

25 Years of Classical Music in Weymouth

The new season of Chamber Music Weymouth is a particularly special one. Not only will the 2026/27 Season mark the bicentenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven, and the centenary of the birth of composer John Joubert, it is the concert series’ 25th anniversary.

Founded in 2002 by concert pianist and long-time Weymouth resident Duncan Honeybourne, Chamber Music Weymouth – formerly Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts – has become one of Dorset’s most successful and popular classical music series. Created with the simple aim of bringing first-class live chamber music to the heart of Weymouth, the series has remained true to its founding principles: supporting outstanding young musicians alongside distinguished established artists, presenting imaginative programmes that combine familiar masterpieces with lesser-known or rarely-performed repertoire, and offering audiences a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.

The concerts take place at St Mary’s Church in the heart of Weymouth, where its fine acoustics and excellent Yamaha grand piano create an ideal setting for chamber music. The monthly lunchtime concerts have earned a loyal following while maintaining affordable ticket prices and an informal atmosphere in which performers introduce their music and engage directly with listeners.

The series has welcomed many leading musicians during its history while also giving countless young artists invaluable opportunities. In 2024, the organisation adopted the new name Chamber Music Weymouth, reflecting an expanded vision that includes a Sunday afternoon series and Young Artist Showcase events to provide young musicians with valuable performance experience.

The 2026/27 season marks a particularly significant milestone: the 25th anniversary season of the concert series. Twenty-five years after Duncan Honeybourne gave the inaugural concert at Weymouth Arts Centre, Chamber Music Weymouth continues to flourish, bringing internationally acclaimed performers and emerging talent to the Jurassic Coast. The anniversary celebrates not only a quarter of a century of exceptional music-making but also the dedication of the artists, volunteers, supporters and audiences who have helped establish the series as an important part of Dorset’s cultural life. In 2026 the organisation’s contribution was further recognised with the Weymouth Civic Society Arts Award, underlining its lasting impact on the region’s musical landscape.

Pianist and Artistic Director Duncan Honeybourne says, “When I launched Chamber Music Weymouth in the summer of 2002, I couldn’t have imagined the vibrant, enjoyable and life-affirming journey it would take me on, nor that it would be flourishing and going from strength to strength a quarter of a century later! I’m immensely proud that this concert series has built a loyal regular audience, attracted some very distinguished performers to South Dorset and promoted innumerable young artists at an early stage in their careers. Far from resting on our laurels, we are bursting with future plans and exciting ventures, and I can’t wait to take our loyal and lovely audience along on the enriching and stimulating ride.”

Concerts Manager Frances Wilson says, “I have been involved with Chamber Music Weymouth since 2019. It is such a pleasure to bring high-quality live music and remarkable musicians to our stretch of the Jurassic Coast, and we are looking forward to the next 25 years (!) with great enthusiasm, with a number of exciting developments planned to extend our musical activities beyond the lunchtime series.”

The new season of Chamber Music Weymouth concerts opens on Wednesday 23rd September with a recital by Duncan Honeybourne. Tickets are available online in advance or on the door – a bargain at just £5 for world-class classical music in the heart of Weymouth.

FIND OUT MORE

By |

The fifth Young Artist Showcase concert, hosted by Chamber Music Weymouth (formerly Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts) took place at St Mary’s Church, Weymouth, on Sunday 6 July.

Devised by CMW Artistic Director and concert pianist Duncan Honeybourne and Concerts Manager Frances Wilson, these events offer young musicians who are still in full-time education or are just embarking on a professional career the opportunity to perform in a formal concert setting. They also offer audiences a chance to enjoy a range of music, performed by these talented young people.

This year’s concert included a varied and impressive range of music and talents. Opening with Michael Howell, a composer and singer from West London who was a finalist in Channel 4’s The Piano (season 2), the audience were treated to Michael’s own compositions, which blend influences from both classical music (especially Bach) and jazz, together with his extraordinary, other-worldly countertenor voice.

The Alma Trio from Poole/Bournemouth impressed with their confidence and musical maturity in Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1. It was especially fitting that this work, written when the composer was just 18, yet already showing immense talent and emotional depth, was performed by a trio of very poised young musicians of a similar age and equal talent. All three are heading to music college in the autumn.

Edie Wells, a pianist studying with Duncan Honeybourne at the University of Southampton, treated us to her Diploma programme, which presented a range of music, from Bach to Gershwin, and allowed Edie to showcase her ability to handle works of different styles and eras. I particularly enjoyed her Beethoven (Piano Sonata in E major, Op 14, No 1), but the highlights were the two pieces by George Gershwin: the romantic The Man I Love followed by I Got Rhythmn, which got the audience’s feet tapping!

Finally, Lia Matos Wunderlich, a prize-winning teenage cellist who performed in the CMW Young Artist Showcase in 2024, gave a vibrant, heartfelt performance of Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro op.70, accompanied by Duncan Honeybourne (with whom she studies piano at the Junior Royal Academy of Music). Ending with a spirited flourish, Lia brought this splendid recital to a close.

Michael Howell
Lia Matos Wunderlich

Chamber Music Weymouth was founded in 2002 by Duncan Honeybourne. Monthly lunchtime concerts take place in St Mary’s Church in the centre of Weymouth, together with a short summer season of Sunday concerts. Find out more here

By |

It has, as they say, been a bumper year for Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts. We have seen record audiences (consistently around the 80-90 people mark) and a wonderful range of music and musicians. In keeping with the founding ethos of the series, our programmes mix well-known repertoire with rareties and lesser-known works. This year we were introduced to the music of Jessie Reason in an atmospheric piece for cello and piano, performed by Joseph Spooner and Duncan Honeybourne. We were also treated to a new work for piano by composer Ben Gaunt, inspired by The Sand House in Doncaster. The piece was masterfully performed by Matthew Schellhorn, with accompanying film which gave the audience a tour of The Sand House and illustrated the music.

In addition to our monthly lunchtime concerts, we also presented a Young Artist Showcase featuring students of Duncan Honeybourne from the Royal Academy Junior Department. It was wonderful and inspiring to see these talented young people perform with so much maturity, poise and professionalism, and we look forward to more concerts of this type in the coming seasons. We will also broadening the remit of the series, with a rebrand, to enable us to present more varied concerts and related activities.

Unlike certain other concert venues and promoters, we have never felt the need to do audience satisfaction surveys, tell the audience when they should clap, how they should listen, or what they should wear to our concerts…. Instead, we make everyone feel welcome and maintain a high level of trust between audience and artistic director (read more here). The pre-concert lunches, provided by a small team of volunteers, undoubtedly contribute to the Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts experience!

We are looking forward to 2024 with an exciting roster of performers, including Helen Kuby (French horn), Joseph Tong (piano), Lewis Kingsley-Peart (piano), Ruth Henley (cello), Marie-Louise Taylor (piano), with our season finale given by Artistic Director Duncan Honeybourne.

A big thank you to our guest artists, our friends at St Mary’s Church who help to make our concerts run smoothly and enjoyably for all, our volunteers, and of course our audience, without whom there would be no concerts.

Find full details of Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts here

Frances Wilson (AKA The Cross-Eyed Pianist), Concerts Manager, WLCC

By |

The De Kooning Ensemble, Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts, Wednesday 27th October 2021

Fresh from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, this young piano quartet presented a sumptuously programme, with two dramatic and unashamedly romantic works by Frank Bridge and Josef Suk bookending a highly contrasting contemporary piece  by young Iranian-American composer Darius Paymai. Pianist Will Bracken stepped in for the Ensemble’s usual pianist Lewis Bell.

Opening with Bridge’s Phantasy Piano Quartet in f-sharp minor, a single-movement work composed in 1910, which embraces sonata form with its exposition and reprise separated by andante and scherzo sections, The De Kooning Ensemble matched this work’s fluency, variety and lucidity with a lively, committed and imaginatively-nuanced performance.

After the passionate flourishes of Bridge’s Phantasy, Darius Paymai’s Piano Quartet offered a complete contrast in both mood and textures. A work comprising only a handful of notes, its dynamic range often barely above piano, it owed something to the music of Arvo Pärt in its haunting simplicity. It was performed with immense control and sensitivity, and provided an absorbing, meditative interlude in the middle of the concert.

The De Kooning Ensemble are recipients of the Ivan Sutton Prize for Chamber Music  and their performance of Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in A minor revealed exactly why they were awarded first prize. Throughout we were treated to very tight, perfectly coordinated ensemble playing but also an opportunity to enjoy each individual instrument. From the elegant lyricism of Jessica Meakin’s violin to the warm sonority of Freya Hicks on viola, the mellow cantabile of the cello (Evie Coplan) to the sweetness of the piano (Will Bracken) in the second movement, this was a performance brimming with character and command.

Watch the livestream video from St Mary’s Church, Weymouth

Meet the Artist interview with The De Kooning Ensemble

Weymouth Lunchtime Chamber Concerts series continues on 17th November with a performance of music by Malcolm Arnold and Ludwig van Beethoven by Peter Fisher (violin) and Margaret Fingerhut (piano). Details here