CHICHESTER CHAMBER CONCERTS HISTORY

In January 2006 a new season of chamber concerts was introduced to the Assembly Room.  The inaugural concert took place on Mozart’s 250th birthday, 27th January 2006, and was given by the Royal String Quartet before a capacity audience in the Assembly Room.  The Royal Quartet, from Warsaw, had recently been selected as Quartet-in-Residence at the Wigmore Hall in London. Three more concerts followed featuring the Aurora Wind Ensemble, the Angell Piano Trio and the Artea String Quartet.

Following this success the new society, under its founder and chairman Michael Nott, adopted the name of Chichester Chamber Concerts and established an annual season running from October to March. Programmes have become more ambitious and some very fine artists have performed in the concerts including the Danish String Quartet, pianist Martin Helmchen, the Sitkovetsky Piano Trio and the Brodsky Quartet.

In 2009 Chichester Chamber Concerts acquired a president and new chairman after the sad and unexpected death of Michael Nott. The president, Michael Follis, was chairman of South West Sussex Arts Group (SWAG), deputy chairman of The Culture and Sports Alliance, and director of the Petworth Festival from 2000-2007.

Anna Hill had been chair and artistic director of HHH Concerts in Haslemere for over 20 years and a CCC committee member since its foundation.  She worked closely with Michael Nott on the selection of artists and programmes, and now, with the support of the CCC committee, aims to continue to plan concert seasons with the same standards of excellence and variety of programmes.

In June 2018, as part of the Festival of Chichester, The Camarilla Wind Ensemble (supported by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust) gave a short family concert for young children and their parents, which was a great success.

More recently, in January 2024, Connaught Brass did a school outreach workshop, again supported by the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust, and through Meg Hamilton (viola teacher at Chichester University and attendee of CCC), Jaren Ziegler gave a masterclass at Chichester University in February 2025 with the Heath Quartet.

At Chichester Chamber Concerts we are proud of our connection with music education in Chichester and its environs and looking to the future we are very keen to continue in a similar vein.

See the artists who have appeared here in the past