From the shadow of a haunting funeral march to a blazing, celestial finale – Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony is one of the great journeys in all of music.

Vast in scale, fierce in ambition, and brimming with human hope, it is a work that demands to be heard live. For this festival finale, the Bristol Symphony Orchestra is joined by two exceptional soloists: soprano Ana Beard Fernandez and the multi-award-winning mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, whose extraordinary expressive range brings singular depth to Mahler’s hauntingly beautiful Urlicht. In the resonant surroundings of Clifton Cathedral, this promises to be an evening to remember.

Presented by Clifton Festival: Saturday 13th June 2026, 7.30pm

Bristol Symphony Orchestra / Nailsea Choral Society / The Olympia Singers

Rob Weaver (Conductor)

Ana Beard Fernandez (Soprano)

Helen Charlston (Mezzo-Soprano)

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Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston joins pianist Sholto Kynoch for Schubert’s immortal song cycle Die schöne Müllerin — a poignant tale of youthful love, longing, and loss. Charlston, praised for her expressive warmth and depth, and Kynoch, renowned for his insight into German Lied, bring vivid life to Wilhelm Müller’s verses and Schubert’s flowing melodies.

Together they chart the miller’s journey from innocent optimism to quiet heartbreak, revealing the timeless beauty and emotional power of one of the greatest works in the song repertoire

Helen Charlston & Sholto Kynoch (piano)

Friday 5th June 2026, 1pm

TICKETS

The Bach Choir was formed in 1876 to give the UK premiere of Bach’s Mass in B minor in the now-closed St James’ Hall in Piccadilly. 150 years later, the Choir will return to the work that started it all at the Royal Festival Hall with a century and a half of experience and a stellar cast joining them.

BACH: B MINOR MASS

David Hill (conductor)

Nardus William / Helen Charlston / Sam Furness / Neal Davies

Tuesday 26th May 2026, 7.30pm

Royal Festival Hall, London

TICKETS

To celebrate the release of their new album A Poet’s Love on BIS records, Helen and Sholto Kynoch head to the Presto Music Headquarters in Leamington Spa to perform selections from the album and give a Q&A about the programme.

Come to hear the album and pick up your own copy!

Friday 15th May, Doors open 6pm, performance begins at 6.30pm

23–25 Regent Grove, Leamington Spa, CV32 4NN

FREE TICKETS

To celebrate the release of their new album A Poet’s Love on BIS records, Helen and Sholto Kynoch give a performance of the album programme at Leighton House, in London.

Come to hear the album and pick up your own copy direct from the artists!

Wednesday 13th May, 7.30pm

Leighton House, 12 Holland Park Road, W14 8LZ

TICKETS

Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and pianist Sholto Kynoch present a programme celebrating Heinrich Heine’s vivid poetry and the blurred boundaries between reality and imagination in life and love. At its heart is Dichterliebe, Schumann’s 1840 song cycle drawn from Heine’s Lyrisches Intermezzo, alongside Knight’s Dream – a 2023 BBC Radio 3 commission by Héloïse Werner, alumna of the Leeds Song Young Artists Programme, written as a contemporary companion piece.

Heine’s poetry anchors the programme, guiding us from the 19th to the 21st century through works by Josephine Lang, Carl Loewe, and Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, each offering a unique take on Heine’s concise and evocative texts. Werner’s imaginative setting closes the programme – part homage, part playful dialogue with both Schumann and Heine—bringing past and present into lyrical conversation.

LEEDS LEFT BANK | Leeds Song

15th April 2026, 20:00

TICKETS

Helen reunites with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment to perform Bach John Passion in London, directed by Johanna Soller.

QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL | London

Southbank Centre, 29th March 19:00

TICKETS

The award-winning Helen Charlston and pianist Sholto Kynoch invite us to take a journey into the 18th century with music by Fanny Hensel, Felix Mendelssohn and Carl Loewe leading us to Robert Schumann’s extraordinary song-cycle Dichterliebe where the songs trace the poet’s experience of falling in love, of joy and pain. Explore in exquisite detail the themes of love, loss, longing and the power of meory and imaginaton in shaping one’s experience of love.

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR EARLY MUSIC | York

6th December, 12:30pm

TICKETS available as part of the NCEM Christmas Festival

Joined by Sholto Kynoch on piano, Helen performs her Knight’s Dream programme at Luton Music Club.

LUTON MUSIC CLUB

Schumann Dichterliebe, Heloise Werner Knights Dream, Loewe, Hensel, Lang

St Mary’s Church, Luton, 24th Nov 19:30

TICKETS

Helen heads to Canada to join pianist Roman Rabinovich in Calgary as part of Chamberfest West’s Shoulder Season. They perform Haydn’s dramatic cantata Arianna a Naxos and Schumann’s exquisite Dichterliebe.

ARTSPLACE | Canmore

20th Nov 2025, 19:30

TICKETS

Helen heads to Canada to join pianist Roman Rabinovich in Calgary as part of Chamberfest West’s Shoulder Season. They perform Haydn’s dramatic cantata Arianna a Naxos and Schumann’s exquisite Dichterliebe.

ST STEPHEN’S ANGLICAN CHURCH | Calgary

18th Nov 2025, 19:30

TICKETS

Helen returns to Wimbledon International Festival with pianist Sholto Kynoch to share a programme centred on Schumann’s exquisite Dichterliebe.

ST JOHN THE BAPTIST CHURCH | Spenser Hill, Wimbledon

12th November, 14:30

Tea and Coffee will be served before the concert

More details and tickets from Wimbledon International Festival

Helen returns to Porto to perform Mozart Requiem with Porto Symphony Orchestra Casa da Música & Casa da Música Choir under the direction of Andreas Spering.

CASA DA MUSICA | Porto

8th November 18:00

TICKETS

Helen and the Consone Quartet, return to their programme of lieder arrangements for voice and string quartet culminating in Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben

BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL

C Schumann, R Schumann, Mendelssohn, Hensel

TICKETS

Helen and Sholto Kynoch close this years Oxford International Song Festival in a programme following the tales of two mythological heroines: Ariadne and Phaedra.

OXFORD INTERNATIONAL SONG FESTIVAL

Britten, Werner, Barnard, Haydn, Schubert

Holywell Music Room, 25th Oct 19:00

TICKETS

Helen and the Consone Quartet, return to their programme of lieder arrangements for voice and string quartet culminating in Robert Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben

OXFORD INTERNATIONAL SONG FESTIVAL

C Schumann, R Schumann, Mendelssohn, Hensel

Holywell Music Room, 24th Oct 13:00

TICKETS

Helen sings the title role in Handel Solomon with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment directed by John Butt.

QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL | London

Southbank Centre, 12th October 19:00

TICKETS

Helen returns to the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford to give the premiere of Bob Chilcott’s Mass in Time of War with the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir and Samuel Hudson.

THREE CHOIRS FESTIVAL | Hereford

Chilcott, Bach, Tavener

Hereford Cathedral, 28th July 19:30

TICKETS

Spend a morning in paradise with Helen and Toby Carr on Lute in the atmospheric acoustics of Duns Parish Church.

PAXTON FESTIVAL | Garden of Eden

Purcell, Strozzi, Charpentier

Duns Parish Church, 24th July, 11:30

TICKETS

Joined by Sholto Kynoch on piano, Helen returns to Paxton Festival.

PAXTON FESTIVAL | Notes of Old

Schubert, Bach, Viardot, Ravel, Schumann

Paxton House, 23rd July, 19:30

TICKETS

“…Fine singing, powerful stage presence… Coups de théâtre in a well-constructed programme”

Inspired by the vivid music of Purcell, Charpentier, Stozzi and Monteverdi, this programme is specially curated for the glorious surroundings of the Merchant Adventurers Hall and showcases the premiere of a 2025 NCEM commission from composer Anna Disley-Simpson.

YORK EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL | Heaven & Hell

Purcell, Strozzi, Charpentier, Anna Disley-Simpson

Merchant Adventurer’s Hall, 9th July 18:30

TICKETS

Helen joins Fretwork viol consort to open the 2025 York Early Music Festival in an evening of tribute to Orlando Gibbons, who died 400 years ago this year.

YORK EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL | My Days: Songs and Fantasias by Orlando Gibbons

Gibbons, Nico Muhly

Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, 19:30

TICKETS

Joined by Sholto Kynoch on piano, Helen performs her Knight’s Dream programme at SongEasel festival in South East London.

KNIGHT’S DREAM | SongEasel

Schumann Dichterliebe, Heloise Werner Knights Dream

St Matthew’s Church, Elephant and Castle, 19:30

TICKETS

Helen makes her debut at the Smetana Litomysl Festival with Prague Philharmonis and Lukáš Vasilek to perform Honegger’s Le Roi David.

SMETANA LITOMYSL | Czechia

Castle Courtyard, 15th June 19:30

TICKETS

Joined by Sholto Kynoch on piano, Helen makes her debut at LIFE Victoria Barcelona

NOTES OF OLD | Barcelona

Schubert, Bach, Viardot, Ravel, Schumann

Sala Domènech i Montaner – Sant Pau Recinte Modernista, 20:00

Tickets available from LIFE Victoria Barcelona

“…Fine singing, powerful stage presence.. Coups de théâtre in a well-constructed programme”