Chiltern Camerata brings Elgar, Brahms and rediscovered composer to Chesham

Chiltern Camerata opens its new season at St Mary’s Church in Chesham on 14 November 2026, with music by Elgar, Brahms and Emilie Mayer, while raising funds for Breathe Arts Health Research’s work supporting children recovering from brain injury and stroke.

Chiltern Camerata will return to Chesham on Saturday, 14 November 2026, with an evocative programme of music by Elgar, Brahms and the rediscovered composer Emilie Mayer, while raising funds for Breathe Arts Health Research.

The orchestra will perform in the beautiful setting of St Mary’s Church for the opening concert of its new season, with conductor Simon Walton leading the programme and cellist Nicola Tait Baxter joining as soloist.

The evening will feature Elgar’s much-loved Cello Concerto. Composed in 1919, the work is renowned for its emotional depth, with its haunting opening chord and reflective atmosphere capturing something of the mood of a nation emerging from the devastation of the First World War.

The programme also includes Brahms’ Symphony No. 2, a work with a warmer, pastoral character. Composed during a summer in the Austrian Alps, it reflects its peaceful surroundings through sunlit melodies, flowing phrases and lyrical beauty.

Opening the concert is Emilie Mayer’s Faust Overture, Op. 46. Mayer (1812–1883) was one of the most prolific German women composers of the Romantic era. Her major orchestral works were performed during her lifetime, but much of her music later slipped into obscurity. Her work is now enjoying a long-overdue revival.

Nicola Tait Baxter will be familiar to regular Camerata audiences, having previously performed Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto and appeared alongside violinist Ruth Schulten in Brahms’ Double Concerto.

She said: “Elgar’s cello concerto absolutely brings together some of the finest orchestration and deeply heartfelt cello writing of the 20th century. It is a masterpiece of the soul and always the greatest thrill & honour to perform!”

The concert will also raise funds for Breathe Arts Health Research, which uses creativity and the arts to support health and wellbeing.

Donations will go towards the charity’s Breathe Magic intensive therapy programme, which combines magic tricks with specialist occupational therapy. The approach helps motivate children recovering from brain injury or stroke to practise exercises designed to improve movement in partially paralysed limbs.

It promises to be an evening in which beautiful music helps create some real magic.

Tickets £16pp, with under-18s £4pp, available on the door or at ticketsource.co.uk/chiltern-camerata.

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