A beginner-friendly classical concert featuring relaxed seating, enticing visuals, and a pick and mix musical programme is coming to the region’s cathedrals.
Britten Sonfonia is touring its Surround Sound Playlist concern to five cathedrals in October and November 2026, following earlier runs in 2025 and a socially-distanced version back in 2021.
Regional stops include evening concerts at Ely Cathedral on Wednesday 28 October and Norwich Cathedral on Friday 20 November, alongside concerts at Canterbury, Peterborough, and Lincoln.
Conceived by the orchestra’s artistic director Meurig Bowen, the concert format delivers pay-what-you-can pricing, multiple stages, a freer seating environment, and the widest range of orchestral, choral, solo and chamber repertoire. Describing it as a “taster menu, not a three course meal”, Bowen says it is like “
a drivetime radio mix or eclectic playlist, but live and all around you.”
Classical favourites such as Allegri’s Miserere, Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights are carefully sequenced with music by Bartok, Ligeti, Purcell, Ravel and living composers such as Eriks Esenvalds, Morten Lauridsen, Caroline Shaw and Eric Whitacre.
With multiple performing stages around each cathedral, and with each short piece flowing seamlessly to the next, audiences are led through an unbroken musical journey aided by atmospheric lighting and projection. Much of the traditional seating is removed, and audiences are encouraged to bring cushions and rugs and enjoy the music in the cathedral nave’s “immersive zone”, sitting or lying down.
Joining Britten Sinfonia in these performances are the celebrated choir Tenebrae, conducted by Nigel Short, twice Grammy-nominated saxophonist Amy Dickson, eight-time ARIA Award-winning oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros, and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award nominee harmonica and melodeon player Will Pound. Also on stage will be local choirs and secondary school ensembles at each venue – nearly 300 community performers took part in last year’s Surround Sound Playlist performances.
Speaking about the 2025 tour, Amy Dickson said: “The atmosphere created in each cathedral was incredible – I’ve rarely felt such a direct emotional connection with an audience. Walking through a sea of people lying on the floor, playing my soprano saxophone, and feeling that energy coming back at me – it exceeded all my expectations.
“And the feedback afterwards was over whelming. So many people told me their whole perception of classical music had changed that evening. That means everything.”
The concerts are supported by a National Lottery Touring Fund grant from Arts Council England.
- Tickets are £6 to £30 for immersive zones and listening seats, or £25-£40 for premium seats. Visit https://www.brittensinfonia.com for full details and ticket purchasing.