Donald Grant, violin
Su-a Lee, cello
Fergus McCreadie, piano

Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin. . . they all thrilled audiences by doing something we just don’t expect of classical musicians these days: improvising. Inventing music on the wing was an expected skill and Brahms was a master. So, we open ENF 2026 with inspirational and versatile pianist Fergus McCreadie performing Brahms’ Op. 10 Ballades then taking them as the musical DNA of his own ‘ballades’. This will be a first for McCreadie (and for ENF), and he follows it with a second half in the company of friends in duos and trios with two faces familiar to ENF audiences, both musicians who cross genres with ease and delight.

Fergus McCreadie last appeared at ENF in 2022, since when his album Forest Floor won him a Mercury Prize shortlist nomination, Jazz FM’s Instrumentalist of the Year award, and the Scottish Album of the Year award. Su-a Lee and Donald Grant thrive as two of the most eclectic, uncategorisable and imaginative musicians Scotland can boast. Both have had fantastic years since their most recent ENF appearances on screen in 2025 in Andy McGregor’s The Light, The Bell & The Burden.

Hear more from Donald Grant & Su-a Lee in EVENT 14: RIHAB AZAR.

Please note, this performance includes an interval.

Brahms: Intermezzos, Op. 118 Nos. 1 & 2
Mozart: Sonata in F, K. 533/494
Schumann: Kreisleriana, Op. 16

There are poignant and vivid stories to be heard in the music in this programme: Brahms, late in life, relishing the delights of short forms like miniature paintings full of detail and nuance – that word ‘intermezzo’ promises little but delivers so much; Schumann is story-telling on the broadest canvas in Kreisleriana, pouring his own inner thoughts and fantasies into music; and between them, one of the loveliest Mozart sonatas, music that sounds ineffably simple and natural but cost him dearly to create.

It is 20 years since Llŷr Williams first played at ENF and he returns with this programme that is as rich, expressive and thoughtful as ever. At its heart is Schumann’s tour de force of fantasy. The Guardian called Williams performing Schumann’s Kreisleriana ‘a display of boundless virtuosity, but also vivid characterisation of Schumann’s abundance of musical ideas, whether exuberantly energetic or poetic reverie, serious or playful . . . He plays with a clarity and rigour that makes everything seem newly minted, yet it’s the ability to produce a deeply expressive singing tone in an infinite range of colours that is the most telling facet of his pianism.’ Well said!

More Mozart later today in EVENT 5: OPUS13 PLAY OP. 13

One of Scotland’s most successful composers ever has a name that few know as well as they should. And it just so happens that he came from Crail. James Oswald was born into the family of the Town Drummer, a bit of a rough diamond by all accounts. From this unpromising start he rose and rose to become one of the most celebrated composers in London, a best-selling publisher, canny businessman and a devoted promoter of Scottish music. His story is a rags to riches saga, and we are fascinated by it: Crail harpist Karen Marshalsay has brought together a team of four to tell it and play his music.

Byrd: Masses for 3 and 4 voices
Motets by Byrd, Tallis & de Monte

The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips, director

Peter Philips directs The Tallis Scholars in music of the greatest beauty, written in times of fear and darkness. The 1590s saw an intensification of the persecution of Catholics in England, and any seeking to worship had to exercise the very greatest caution and discretion. William Byrd’s 3 settings of the mass were intended for clandestine use only – in extremis, they need just a handful of singers. Yet this dangerous undertaking inspired him to astonishing heights: for all its modest scale, this music is sublime and humane, magnificent as well as intimate. Peter Philips pairs Byrd with motets by Thomas Tallis and Philip De Monte.

‘the sort of musical bliss which should never stop’. [Gramophone Magazine review of The Tallis Scholar’s Byrd Masses CD]

Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars complete their Byrd cycle in EVENT 9: THE TALLIS SCHOLARS II

Mozart: Quartet in Dm, K. 421
Britta Byström: Images from the Floating World
Mendelssohn: Quartet in Am, Op. 13

Norwegian-Swedish string quartet Opus13 made their UK debut at ENF in 2024, thrilling audiences and critics alike, and we have been keen to have them back ever since. They went on to win many, many prizes at two of the most prestigious competitions for quartets (Wigmore and Bordeaux) and have travelled the world reaching new audiences with their fine and extraordinary performances. It seems only right that they return with the piece from which they took their name, Mendelssohn’s Op.13, a youthful tour de force written when the composer was even younger than the quartet are now. They bring it alongside Mozart’s masterpiece, K. 421, and Britta Bryström’s beautiful piece inspired by a terrible, ancient Icelandic saga.

Hear Opus13 play Beethoven in EVENT 15: RAZUMOVSKY 3.

Please note, this performance includes an interval.

Mozart / Triebensee: Overture to Don Giovanni
Mozart: Serenade in Cm, K. 388
Mozart / Went: Overture to The Marriage of Figaro
Mozart: Serenade in E-flat, K. 375

The English Concert Winds

Some of Mozart’s closest, best beloved friends were wind players, and he wrote some of his most delightful masterpieces for them. This concert brings together two gems, a beautifully contrasted pair of serenades. K. 388, in the rarely used key of C minor, is cut from similar cloth to Don Giovanni – there is darkness in its heart, for all its glorious tunes. K. 375, meanwhile, belongs to the warm, complicated comedy world of The Marriage of Figaro, full of bonhomie and good spirits.

The English Concert Winds boast one of the finest line-ups of wind players anywhere and, playing original instruments, they will give us Mozart as Mozart heard it. As Gramophone Magazine wrote: ‘here we have a team of individual musicians who play with a natural spontaneity and listen and react to one another. The sound is livelier and richer’.

Hearing an unfamiliar piece of music can be so frustrating – no sooner do you feel you are getting the hang of it than it is over, and there may be no chance to hear it again soon. This year, ENF has co-commissioned a new quartet from Mark Anthony Turnage, one in which he draws inspiration from Beethoven’s late piano sonatas. It is called ‘Arietta’ and will be premiered on Saturday lunchtime by the Calidore Quartet. This event gives a chance to join the Calidore Quartet to get to know it before you hear it, meet the musicians and get their inside view of it. They will illustrate the piece with extracts and explore its links to Beethoven.

ENF is proud of its record of commissioning new work and in most years you will come to the festival and hear music you have never heard before.

Hear the UK premiere of Arietta in EVENT 13: RAZUMOVSKY 2

Schubert: Piano Quintet in A, D. 667 (The Trout)

Christian Zacharias, piano
Cuarteto Quiroga
Ander Perrino Cabello, bass

So many elements of the story of how Schubert’s Quintet came to be written explain why it is such a joyful, friendly piece: holidays; a visit to someone who loved a little song Schubert wrote; the joy of music-making among friends. No wonder it has become such a popular favourite, a byword for all that is most enjoyable in chamber music.

This performance brings together the artist who has appeared most regularly at ENF – pianist Christian Zacharias – with debutants, Cuarteto Quiroga. They have not performed together before, but both leapt at the chance to collaborate. Zacharias will open the concert with an impromptu selection of solos.

Hear the Cuarteto Quiroga play Beethoven in EVENT 11: RAZUMOVSKY 1

An evening of Scottish/Egyptian music by this sensational pair of sisters who celebrate their Arab heritage as thrillingly as they embrace their Scottish upbringing. Their work brings together folk melodies from places like Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, and Scotland. Classically trained, it is now 10 years since their big break through, and they have performed across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia ever since. They open our weekend of concerts in Anstruther fusing East and West in Arab, Turkish and European music.

More East-West fusion from Rihab Azar in EVENT 14: RIHAB AZAR, and Kolektif Istanbul in EVENT 16: KOLEKTIF ISTANBUL

Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah I
Byrd: Mass for 5 voices
Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah II
Lassus: Missa Bell' Amfitrit' altera

The Tallis Scholars
Peter Phillips, director

The Tallis Scholars perform the music for which they are most beloved and acclaimed the world over. As Gramophone Magazine said of their Byrd recording, ‘it’s the sort of musical bliss which should never stop’. Tallis’s moving Lamentations are interspersed with two wonderfully contrasted settings of the Mass. Byrd’s has a reflective and intense spirit, reflecting the dangers that assailed his fellow Catholics worshipping in 1590s England. But Lassus’ Missa Bel’Amfitrit’ altera is a joyous, flamboyant and spectacular celebration. It is written for two choirs and includes some of his most electrifying, rhythmic and festive music.

Come back to Bowhouse to hear Mozart, Haydn and Stravinsky in EVENT 18: CLOSING CONCERT.

Please note, this performance includes an interval.

A major highlight of ENF 2026 will be the chance to hear 3 wonderful string quartets play all 3 of Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets over the course of a single day. Around 1800, when he wrote his first quartets, he was very much a young man with plenty to prove. But by 1806 when he started to write the ‘Razumovsky’ quartets he was the internationally famous and acclaimed composer of four symphonies, four piano concerti, an opera and much more besides. In responding to the commission from Count Andrey Razumovsky, he moved into a remarkable new sphere of musical ambition. Not only is each quartet more substantial and daring than any that went before, some argue that all three should be taken as a kind of ‘mega quartet’. That’s quite a thought, and for ENF 2026, our three resident quartets have come together to offer a day including all three quartets, each paired with music that complements them in different ways.

Event 11: RAZUMOVSKY 1
12pm, Kilrenny Church
Approx. 65 mins

Arriaga: Quartet No. 3 in E-flat
Beethoven: Quartet in F, Op. 59 No. 1

Cuarteto Quiroga

EVENT 12: RAZUMOVSKY TALK
2pm, Crail Community Hall
Approx. 30 mins

Join Festival Director Svend McEwan-Brown for some thoughts on Beethoven’s ‘mega-quartet’.

EVENT 13: RAZUMOVSKY 2
3pm Crail Church
Approx. 65 mins

Turnage: Arietta (UK Premiere, ENF co-commission)
Beethoven: Quartet in Em, Op. 59 No. 2

Calidore String Quartet

EVENT 15: RAZUMOVSKY 3
6pm Crail Church
Approx. 70 mins

Stenhammar: Quartet in Am, Op. 25
Beethoven: Quartet in C, Op. 59 No. 3

Opus13

A coach will depart from central Edinburgh (location to be advised closer to date of departure at 09.45 and arrive in the East Neuk in time for event 11 at noon in Crail Kirk (offer also includes events 12, 13 and 15 above).

The coach will return to Edinburgh after the concert (approximately 7.30pm), arriving back in Edinburgh no later than 9.30pm. Total cost for the coach and best tickets for the three concerts and talk will be £110.

Arriaga: Quartet No. 3 in E-flat
Beethoven: Quartet in F, Op. 59 No. 1

Cuarteto Quiroga

Around 1800, when Beethoven wrote his first quartets, he was very much a young man with plenty to prove. But by 1806 when he started to write what we know as his ‘Razumovsky’ quartets he was the internationally famous and acclaimed composer of four symphonies, four piano concerti, an opera and much more besides. In responding to a commission from Count Andrey Razumovsky for three quartets, he moved into a remarkable new sphere of musical ambition. Not only is each of the quartets more substantial and daring than any that went before, some argue that all three should be taken as a kind of ‘mega quartet’. That’s quite a thought, and for ENF 2026, our three resident quartets have come together to offer a day including all three quartets, each paired with music that complements them in different ways. Cuarteto Quiroga present the first Razumovsky alongside music by Arriaga, ‘the Spanish Mozart’, who died before his 20th birthday but left a staggering body of work including opera, symphonies and chamber music. His third quartet owes a debt to Beethoven and also to Haydn.

Cuarteto Quiroga makes its ENF debut this year, and is long established as one of the very finest of quartets. As the New York Times said: ‘Exquisite: precise, perfectly balanced, interpretively fresh performances, couched in consistently warm hues.’ They always take Spanish music with them wherever they go, giving audiences exciting new discoveries alongside their masterful interpretations of the classics.

Next Razumovsky event at EVENT 12: RAZUMOVSKY TALK

On Saturday of ENF 2026 we have all three of Beethoven’s Razumovsky Quartets over the course of three concerts. Why? Partly just to enjoy the sheer, amazing and astonishing musical journey they offer. But also, to test the idea that they are not so much three quartets as one mega-quartet. Join Festival Director Svend McEwan-Brown part way through for some thoughts on Beethoven’s ‘mega-quartet’.

Next Razumovsky event at EVENT 13: RAZUMOVSKY 2

Turnage: Arietta (UK Premiere, ENF co-commission)
Beethoven: Quartet in Em, Op. 59 No. 2

Calidore Quartet

Beethoven plus music inspired by him. From its defiant opening chords to its playful but disturbing finale, the second Razumovsky is as revolutionary, dramatic and intense as anything he wrote. Many commentators find connections between these three quartets and the Eroica symphony – a heroic spirit of grand ambition and disregard for convention. Calidore Quartet have paired No. 2 with music by Mark Anthony Turnage, whose new quartet (commissioned by ENF) is inspired by Beethoven’s late piano sonatas.

The Calidore Quartet released their complete Beethoven cycle on CD to huge acclaim. They said: ‘This recording serves as a snapshot of our twelve years of working, growing, listening and collaborating with one another. Though this music speaks in a language that is hundreds of years old, its message remains immediate, relevant and comforting to listeners of today and of generations to come even, and especially in the most challenging of times.’ Listeners have been left shaken, thrilled and moved in the best way by this cycle.

Next Razumovsky event at EVENT 15: RAZUMOVSKY 3

Rihab Azar, oud
Donald Grant, fiddle
Su-a Lee, cello
Antonio Romero, percussion

Rihab Azar has broken through quite a few barriers in her life. As a woman she is rare among professional Arab oudists – she was also the first female oudist to perform accompanied by the Syrian National Orchestra for Arabic Music. Since relocating to the UK, she has built relationships with many different groups from East and West, and taken her music into major venues including the Wigmore Hall, Barbican and South Bank Centre. Her latest venture is a set for oud, fiddle, cello and percussion for which she has joined up with a stellar trio of musical adventurers. As a performer she draws you in – her playing is often quiet, reflective and poetic: expect a mesmerising hour of music.

More East–West fusion from Kolektif Istanbul in EVENT 16: KOLEKTIF ISTANBUL

Stenhammar: Quartet in Am, Op. 25
Beethoven: Quartet in C, Op. 59 No. 3

Opus13

A meaty double bill closes Razumovsky Day. Parallels abound between Stenhammar and Beethoven – and Stenhammar certainly took inspiration from Beethoven as you hear very clearly in today’s piece. His seven quartets have been called the most important Late Romantic cycle and are heard all too rarely in the UK. Here’s a chance to sample his work alongside the towering Razumovsky quartets. No. 3 opens in darkness and closes with a rocket of a finale: a finish to leave you breathless.

Opus13 made their UK debut at ENF in 2024, thrilling audiences and critics alike, especially with their Beethoven. Since then, they have gone on to win multiple prizes at two of the most prestigious competitions for quartets (Wigmore and Bordeaux) and travel the world reaching new audiences for their extraordinary performances.

Take a traditional Turkish wedding band and add a wildly eclectic range of inspirations – from powerhouse club music, jazz, Balkan traditions, to Grieg’s Peer Gynt – and you have the musical party that is Kolektif Istanbul. For us they will perform an hour or so of high energy, inexhaustibly inventive genre-hopping fusion of East and West.

Kolektif Istanbul grew out of a meeting of traditional musicians with others from a jazz/improvisation background. The result is a sound that stays close to the melodies while crossing borders with great freedom. The six-part line up makes a sound you will hear from no one else!

Barber: Adagio
Schubert: Quartet in D, D. 810 (Death and the Maiden)

Calidore Quartet

There could not be a more contrasted pairing than this. Barber and Schubert were both in their mid-20s when they wrote these pieces, and both, in their different ways, hit veins of pure gold. Barber’s prayerful Adagio captures a moment of pure transcendence while Schubert’s driven, passionate storm of a piece is the quintessence of tempestuous romanticism.

The Calidore first appeared at ENF 11 years ago and were immediately reinvited. The Scotsman captured the moment: ‘they unleashed a sunburst of emotions, from the capricious delicacy of the Op.12 Canzonetta to the whirlwind apotheosis and subsiding calm of the later work. This is an ensemble as capable of whipping up storms as enchanting us with breathless moments of utter magic.’ Since then, they have completed major projects like their complete Beethoven Cycle and continue to inspire reviews like this the world over.

Hear Calidore Quartet play Beethoven in EVENT 13: RAZUMOVSKY 2

Mozart: Symphony No. 31 in D, K. 297/300a (Paris)
Stravinsky: ‘No word from Tom’ (from The Rake’s Progress)
Mozart: Don Giovanni: Overture and aria ‘In Quali eccessi . . . mi tradi’
Haydn: Symphony 94 in G (Surprise)

Anna Dennis, soprano
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Maxim Emelyanychev, conductor

ENF 2026 closes on a high note with Haydn and Mozart at their most splendid and entertaining, plus vocal fireworks from Stravinsky. There’s a hidden agenda of travel behind the music, too: all these composers were far from home. Haydn in London, Mozart in Paris and Prague, Stravinsky in the USA.

Anna Dennis has had a phenomenal few years since her ENF debut in 2023. She had a spectacular success recently in the title role of Susanna at Opera North, praised for her dazzling coloratura as much as her moving dramatic performance. Recent appearances around the world have included singing music by Thomas Adès with the LA Philharmonic conducted by the composer – quite a contrast. She gives us two very different women here: loyal Ann Truelove and fiery Donna Elvira. She returns to ENF to join the matchless team of the SCO and Emelyanchev.

Hear more Mozart with an operatic edge in EVENT 6: MOZART SERENADES.

Please note, this performance includes an interval.