With 26 fresh performances dotted all around Herne Hill from Brockwell Park to the Half Moon Pub, and music ranging from Klezmer, Classical to Country Soul, it is guaranteed there will be a performance to your liking taking place as part of this year’s Herne Hill Music Festival, 7th -16th October 2022.
Freddie Benedict and Friends will be bringing you the traditional festival opening night line-up of Jazz with the Junction at the Half Moon Pub with breezy Brazilian tunes, jazz standards, some modern classics as well as original songs where you can enjoy alongside a few pints on Friday 7th October at 8pm. That same evening, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the 1620 sailing of the Pilgrim Fathers the Mayflower, The Friends’ Musick Choir invite you to hear the tale in words and music, that fateful 66-day voyage across the Atlantic with full period costume, in Herne Hill United Church at 7:30pm.
The following morning at 11am at Herne Hill Baptist Church, Mrs H and the Sing-along Band bring a unique and infections blend of musical fun for children, which they guarantee adults will want to join in on too! Be prepared for you and your young kids to sing and dance along to a mixture of Folk, Soul, Afro, Latin and Dub music being performed on guitar, banjo, bass, accordion and trumpet!
Later that day on Saturday 8th October at 3pm, Herne Hill will be singing on at St Faith’s Church with 4 local choirs invited to perform, including Vocallective, the unauditoned, self-proclaimed “friendliest choir in London”, the Note-Orious Dulwich Choir, who pride themselves on raising funds for youth health charity Redthread, Raise the Roof who are now based in the Carnegie Community Hub following a 20-year residency at the Horniman Museum and Sing4All who are a friendly and welcoming choir for over 60s in South London. The choirs will be singing hits from Classic Pop, Musical, and Medieval to Millennial! Do be sure not to miss out on this as the atmosphere will be buzzing and tremendously fun!
That evening in St Faith’s Church at 7:30pm, the first classical concert of the festival will be brought to you by another local South East London gem, enSEmble26. Eleanor Meynell on piano and Ellie Fagg on violin will no doubt bring some outstanding performances of the Beethoven Violin Sonatas which they had begun working on together during lockdown. Funds raised from ticket sales will proceed directly to developmental charity ‘Practical Action’. At 8pm over in the Prince Regent Pub, local band Casino Moon will be making a much-longed return to the festival with their own indie-folk and Americana-inspired songs with energetic and addictive tunes on voice, rhythmic picking guitar, mandolin and lap steel.
Sunday 9th’s events take place outdoors in the local parks, with All Saint Concert Band bringing you a free concert at 2pm outside Brockwell Hall with classical, pop and film hits where you are encouraged to sing along, as well as donate generously to the Brockwell Park Management Advisory Committee who will be there with collecting buckets! More outdoor bandstand music will also be taking place in nearby Ruskin Park where King Groovy and the Hornstars, one of London’s premier big bands will be bringing you the music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Quincy Jones. Back over at Brockwell Park at 3:30pm in the Community Greenhouses, the Siobhán Parr Duo will bring you some well-chosen classics by the likes of Van Morrison, Lucinda Williams, John Prine and Sam Cooke. Later at 6pm the Choral Evensong at St Faith’s Church will be making a return, inviting one of London’s most accomplished chamber choirs, Pegasus Choir, taking you back in time with performances of English Renaissance works from the likes of William Smith, Robert Parsons and Orlando Gibbons.
On Monday 10th October, the popular Jazz Jam returns at Off the Cuff led by Roger Humbles, where all aspiring jazzers who would like to display their skills, gain experience of just relax and enjoy a great evening are invited to come along. The following day on 11th October, highly-rated folk group Three Cane Whale will be debuting at the festival in the Prince Regent Pub. The trio will be performing acoustic sets on an alluring collection of instruments with the likes of mandocello, bowed psaltry, zither and chimes “encompassing both a cinematic sweep and an intimate delicacy” which is sure to be a new musical experience for all.
On Wednesday 12th, once again the Half Moon Pub will be inviting back the well-acclaimed Errol Linton Band with their full line up and set of original Blues songs, in which Errol is the three-times winner of the Best Harmonica Player of the Year at the British Blues Awards. The next day on Thursday 13th the South East London Folk Orchestra are making another return with an evening of toe-tapping tunes, songs you can join in with mixed with ceilidh dancing for all ages at St Saviour’s Hall at 7:30pm.
On Friday 14th at 7:30pm worldwide-performing trio Gemini will be raising funds for St Paul’s Church’s organ restoration, “Pipe Up!”. The group will be performing chamber works by Mendelssohn, Chopin and Hugh Scrapnel on clarinets and piano. Entry is free but your donations would be much appreciated to help the organ restoration fund. That same evening at 8pm the festival welcomes its first salsa band Orquesta Mambarito, who will be setting alight the dance floors of Off The Cuff, burning up live salsa hits and latin Caribbean groove from 70s New York, Cali Colombia, Havana Cuba, Panama City and beyond!
A further fund-raising concert will also be taking place the following morning at Herne Hill United Church at Coffee Morning Music on Saturday 15th at 11am, where the Nigel Grice Trio will be bringing you a morning of mellow jazz tunes on flute, saxophone, guitar and bass. Funds will be in aid of the Norwood and Brixton Foodbank. Later on at St Faith’s Church, Lambeth Wind Orchestra will be performing Music for all the Family – songs and melodies from film and stories which children of primary school age and beyond will love. Another fundraising concert, Rocking for Refugees where bands The Long String Hawkers and Blue Spike will be playing your finest Americana, Bluegrass, and Country, to indie rock and punk – at 8pm at Off The Cuff.
This year’s festival concludes on Sunday 16th October with the popular Junior Mic Open Concert where we will be showcasing the musical talent of our local young musicians at Off The Cuff at 12pm. Later at 3pm, there will be more music coming from the Greenhouses in Brockwell Park with the Oysland Band, a 5-piece Klezmer group who embody the new generation of Jewish roots music with an exuberant and soulful cocktail of wedding tunes and lamenting lullabies, while echoing a bygone era with compelling depth and authenticity.
We are also thrilled to once again be welcoming back the Southwark Sinfonietta to close off the 2022 festival on Sunday 16th October with their programme of Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6 in F (‘Pastoral’), Walter Leigh’s Concertino for Harpsichord and Strings and Two Preludes from Elgar’s symphonic poem ‘Fastaff’, which we expect will be another sell-out event at St Faith’s Church. Please visit hernehillfestical.org for more information and to book tickets.