These young musicians deserve to be heard!
The unique acoustic of Kelso Old Parish Church came up trumps again in the concert on Sunday afternoon when Flutes & Frets delighted the large audience with a programme ranging from 1596 to 2000. The delightful gentle sound of Dowland’s Lachrimae Pavanne, in the silence of the church, immediately drew us into the quiet magical sound world of the Late Renaissance; a million miles from the noisy everyday of 2026! The programme then cleverly developed chronologically from the hushed 16th century, though the classic period, and then the drama of Paganini, Rossini and Greig, to Villa Lobos and ultimately to the jazz-influenced Sonata by Russian composer Kapustin. The instruments themselves were a spectacle; Renaissance, baroque, classical and modern flutes; Lutes, guitars and the impressive 2 meter long Bass Theorbo! The playing was impeccable and virtuosic as well as sensitive and charismatic with a memorable virtuosic display from flautist Beth Stone in Daquin’s “Cuckoo”.

This duo has a unique sound which is so different from other concerts we have had at KMS. Quite transporting.
Yes: These young musicians deserve to be heard!

Stephen Tees writes:
Well that was a great turnout on Sunday afternoon to hear our old friends the Gould Trio and Robert Plane. Over 100 in the audience braved the unrelenting cold wet weather to witness another exceptional concert. There was a buzz in the air! The sparky, atmospheric Judith Weir Trio No 1 started the performance and sounded wonderful in the church. This was followed by a very enthusiastic introduction to his new piece The Rising of Sirius, by Piers Hellawell who lives and works in the Outer Hebrides. We were lucky he was able to be with us to give us insight into his music. Clarinettist Robert Plane then rehearsed the audience in their chanting part in the piece which turned out to be very effective. After the interval tea and biscuits and mingle, the second half of the concert started with two lovely tuneful pieces for clarinet and piano by the virtually unknown Joseph Holbrooke. Finally, the magnificent C minor piano trio by Mendelssohn finished off the afternoon. I was again turning pages for Ben Frith in last item and the true virtuosity of all the players was amazing. Once again I thought the performers’ use of the church microphone made a huge difference to the enjoyment of the event. Let’s hope that the good turnout indicates that audiences are finally making their way back to live performances again after COVID.

We were also pleased to welcome Piers Helliwell (above) to the concert, composer of The Rising of Sirius. Piers travelled all the way from his home on Harris to hear the performance. He gave us a fascinating introduction to the piece - this was its Scottish premiere! - and afterwards sent us this message:
It’s not uncommon for Music Society Concerts to take place in elegant churches, and in Kelso they abound… luckily, this visitor approaching from the North was greeted, outside the town, by a cheerful banner proclaiming ‘Concert Today!’, with venue details. This front-foot approach to concert promotion signposted me to a very go-ahead group of chamber music supporters. By the time I found the exquisite Parish Church I had seen two more such posters, and the concert in which I featured attracted a large, well-informed audience. What a tonic, when so much talk of classical chamber music is mired in funding problems, ‘difficulty’ of finding an audience (not here!) and, frankly, invisibility - in a noisy world given to instant sensation. Music is a socially engaged art: even great artists like Gould Piano Trio do not function in a vacuum, for the audience is the crucial other half. in Kelso, they were ready and waiting. Half of our musical fare was ‘alive’ – Judith Weir and myself – and Mendelssohn was much the oldest composer featured. Today’s composers are not always welcome in programmes… Yet, far from being cold-shouldered, I was approached and quizzed about my work, with very informed and useful comments coming from my own introductory remarks. My appearance was treated as a honour, yet I was the lucky one - I departed knowing full well why I had long heard of Kelso Music Society, but sorry that it had taken me until 2026 to attend in person. It fairly fizzes with energy.

After their recent American tour, Sunday night (30th November) saw the Maxwell Quartet present a unique concert for us at KMS. An effervescent, spontaneous and humorous Haydn opus 20 and a glorious A minor Brahms, framed a fascinating quartet of Scottish traditional music. It was a beautifully balanced programme which the large audience really enjoyed. Hopefully we can entice the Maxwells back to play for us again soon. Another great evening at Kelso Music Society! 

On the morning of the concert, 120 P5s and P6s from all the local primary schools, (the rural schools of Ednam, Morebattle, Yetholm, and Sprouston, plus the two town schools of Broomlands & Edenside) assembled in the church for their own concert from the Trio Archai.

The trio started by introducing themselves and their instruments and then ran a quiz; Guess the Tune, when they played music from some films. The hands shot up! Every time. Within two notes being played. Such enthusiasm! Having drawn the young people into their chamber sound world, they played some more challenging classical items including Saint Saens’ Swan, which was beautiful and a whole scherzo movement by Brahms. The children sat enthralled.

Then came a special moment when the musicians introduced a Beethoven movement as being Beethoven having a bit of a laugh. One of the Sprouston pupils called out “can WE laugh?” To which Ayla said “Yes you can clap if you like!” Well that started a magical performance with Ayla spontaneously reacting to the clapping, directing, via her body language, the clapping stopping and starting as the emotion of the music changed from dance to lyrical and back. The trio were amazed that the young audience was truly engaged with Beethoven’s emotions. Very special. This felt a very worthwhile event, and was most likely enhanced by Lis Dooner and Stephen Tees going into each school during the previous week to prepare the children for the experience of a live event that they had never experienced before. 

What a great concert we had to start off our season! I was so glad that I made the effort to brave the storm on Friday night. The audiences (some from as far away as Edinburgh) were rewarded with an extraordinarily high standard of concert by Mezzo Soprano Beth Taylor from Glasgow, and American pianist Marcia Hadjimarkos  who is now based in France. The two had come to Kelso especially.  Beth en route from recording in London with the Academy of Ancient Music, to Los Angeles this week for 4 concerts with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the Walt Disney Concert Hall! Marcia had flown in from France for the concert.
 
Beth blew us away, first with her very enthusiastic Intro; she really wanted to sing to us! And then her voice…… It filled every corner of the octagonal church; not a warbly vibrato, just full of character. One is reminded that singing of this quality and powerful emotion is only experienced live. The lucky audience were treated to a mezzo with a unique lower register reminiscent of Janet Baker especially in Britten’s “Oh Wally Wally”; quite out of this world. “My Logan Love” by Hamilton Harty was wonderfully atmospheric In the famous acoustics of our octagonal church. You could hear a pin drop!
It was a varied, expansive and entertaining programme of German, French, Irish and English songs. As the music moved from stillness to humorous to tragic to just magical.  Marcia accompanied with real style and sensitivity throughout.
 
Sets of lesser known songs of Haydn and Beethoven sung by an up-and-coming star remind me that whether the performers or music are familiar or unfamiliar, one can always rely on KMS concerts to delight!
 
How we manage to attract such international stars is amazing. If Kelso still wants to be a destination for the best in musical performances, people must come along to these concerts.
 
And the tickets are so reasonable.