The Armed Man at Regents Park Music Festival

Saturday 2 August 2025 6.00pm
Lakeside Marquee, Holme Green, Regents Park, London NW1 4NR

The Aldbourne Band
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Katherine Rudge mezzo-soprano
Zands Duggan hand percussion
Osama Kiwan muezzin
David Temple conductor

Crouch End Festival Chorus and Aldbourne Band perform the world premiere of the brass band version of The Armed Man, conducted by David Temple MBE.

The Lakeside Series closing concert and a highlight of the 2025 Regent’s Park Music Festival, features the world premiere of a brass band version of this hugely popular work written specially for the festival by the composer Sir Karl Jenkins CBE.

Performed over 3,000 times since composed 25 years ago, the mass includes the famous Benedictus, one of the greatest melodies ever written. Featuring the Aldbourne Band with Crouch End Festival Chorus and soloists, it will be conducted by David Temple MBE in the presence of the composer, recently voted the world’s most loved living composer in Classic FM’s poll of 90,000 listeners.

Bruckner, Stravinsky, Curry, Glass

Friday 24 October 2025 7.30pm
Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, London SW1X 9BZ

Stravinsky Mass
Jessica Curry Songs from So Let Us Melt and Shielding Songs
Philip Glass Vessels (from Koyaanisqatsi)
Bruckner Mass in E minor

Crouch End Festival Chorus
David Temple Conductor

Bruckner’s Mass in E minor, originally composed for the outdoors, sounds glorious in a large church. A 15-piece woodwind and brass group join the full choir in music that echoes earlier times – the world of Palestrina, Gabrieli and Schütz. 

Stravinsky’s Mass is scored for similar forces but inhabits a different sound-world – uniquely chant-like, stark and hypnotically beautiful. 

Jessica Curry, whose award-winning music for video games has touched so many listeners, wrote several songs during a time of extreme personal difficulty that are featured on her 2025 release 'Shielding Songs'. Powerful and pure, they are both a catharsis and an offering: "Now more than ever, we have to look after one another and I hope that this music brings hope and solace to listeners".

Finally, the choir presents Vessels – an energetic, mesmeric number from Philip Glass’s iconic score for the cult documentary film Koyaanisqatsi. 

This vastly contrasting feast of a programme is characteristic of the much-admired Crouch End Festival Chorus under their conductor, David Temple.

How To Train Your Dragon - In Concert

Sunday 2 November 2025 1.30pm & 5.30pm
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP

The animated classic How to Train Your Dragon, performed live to picture by orchestra and choir.

Relive the adventure of animated classic How to Train Your Dragon as part of our Films in Concert series, with the beloved soundtrack performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by Ben Palmer.

A winner with audiences and critics alike, DreamWorks’ How to Train Your Dragon is a captivating and original story that combines humour, fire-breathing action and epic adventure!

Hiccup is a young Viking who defies tradition when he befriends one of his deadliest foes – a ferocious dragon he calls Toothless. Together, these unlikely heroes must fight against all odds to save both their worlds.

How To Train Your Dragon in Concert features this acclaimed film presented in HD, with composer John Powell's Academy Award®-nominated score performed live to picture by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra in a thrilling experience for all ages.

How To Train Your Dragon © 2010 DreamWorks Animation LLC.  All Rights Reserved.

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Ben Palmer conductor

Home Alone in Concert

Saturday 6 December 2025 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Saturday 13 December 2025 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AP

Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Anthony Gabriele conductor
Ben Palmer conductor

This beloved festive favourite features renowned composer John Williams’ charming and delightful score performed live to picture by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus. Since its debut in 2013, Home Alone in Concert has become a seasonal favourite with orchestras and audiences around the world! Nominated for two Academy Awards® for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Somewhere in My Memory) Home Alone is hilarious, heart-warming festive fun for the entire family!

Sing Christmas!

Saturday 20 December 2025 4.00pm & 7.30pm
St Michael's Church, South Grove, London N6 6BJ

Crouch End Festival Chorus
Peter Jaekel organ/piano
David Temple conductor

Join us for a heartwarming and enchanting evening of festive music at our annual Christmas Concert.  Immerse yourself in the spirit of Christmas as Crouch End Festival Chorus perform a delightful repertoire of traditional carols and festive music to captivate and uplift you. From timeless classics to modern favourites, it will evoke joy, nostalgia, and bring the magic of the Christmas season to you and your family and friends.

Christmas with Sir Karl Jenkins

Tuesday 23 December 2025 3.00pm

Sir Karl Jenkins conductor
John Suchet OBE presenter
Lucy Crowe soprano
Philip Cobb trumpet
Crouch End Festival Chorus
London Concert Orchestra

A unique programme celebrating the festive spirit with carols and classics from Sir Karl Jenkins’ festive albums; Joy to the World and Stella Natalis

Stella Natalis is a gift to music lovers of all spiritual backgrounds. Drawing inspiration from Zulu text, the Old Testament and references to Hindu gods, Sir Karl Jenkins’ compositions spread the message of peace, compassion and new beginnings. Joy to the world features arrangements of carols from around the world, embodying the composer’s universal approach to the message of his music.

Featuring beloved classics Silent Night, In Dulci Jubilo, Go Tell it On the Mountain, The First Nowell and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Amidst a beautiful selection of Jenkins’ favourite compositions; from The Armed Man, Palladio, Healing Light from The Peacemakers and many more.

Elgar The Kingdom

Thursday 29 January 2026 7.00pm
Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX

Verdi Requiem

Francesca Chiejina Soprano
Dame Sarah Connolly Mezzo
Benjamin Hulett Tenor
Ashley Riches Bass
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Hertfordshire Chorus
London Orchestra da Camera
David Temple Conductor

Crouch End Festival Chorus presents a monumental performance of Elgar’s The Kingdom, a richly expressive oratorio that explores themes of faith, community, and spiritual transformation.

Set to take place at the prestigious Royal Festival Hall on 29 January 2026, this concert celebrates the launch of CEFC’s 2024 recording of The Kingdom. Under the baton of David Temple, the choir will be joined by Hertfordshire Chorus, the original soloists from the recording, and Nick Turner’s London Orchestra da Camera.

Known for its lush orchestration and soaring choral passages, The Kingdom promises to be an unforgettable evening of grandeur and emotional depth, showcasing CEFC’s exceptional artistry and commitment to Elgar’s legacy.

Brahms German Requiem

Sunday 8 March 2026 6.00pm
Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, Oxford OX

Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem, Op. 45

Fflur Wyn soprano
James Atkinson baritone
Crouch End Festival Chorus
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
Marios Papadopoulos conductor

In 1857, grieving his late mother, Johannes Brahms began work on his choral masterpiece Ein deutsches Requiem. Brahms’s colleague Schumann believed Brahms would deliver ‘wonderful glimpses of the spirit world’. Brahms obliged with a Requiem unlike any other: a piece that carries the gift of spiritual comfort rather than the threat of impending judgment – a glowing message of brotherhood and consolation, a work of its time and place but with universal resonance. Two outstanding soloists and the Crouch End Festival Chorus join the orchestra and Music Director Marios Papadopoulos for Brahms’s consolatory masterpiece.