The Gustav Holst Ensemble is a collaboration amongst a group of musicians who have worked with some of Europe’s most acclaimed ensembles and orchestras. It is steadily building a reputation for its expressive playing and vibrant sound.

“…it all started during lockdown, at the time when indoor concert venues were not operating and there were limits on groups of people allowed to gather in one place.

In order to keep ourselves busy and morale up, a musician friend, Lucy and I decided to play some impromptu performances for her neighbours in a street in North London.

Even though the playing conditions were far from ideal e.g. the weather conditions, competing traffic noise etc. the atmosphere in the audience was fantastic. I believe that this was partly due to the informal and intimate setting, but also the wide variety of people in the audience, some of whom would not have normally attended a classical music concert, but who really connected with the music.

This was the inspiration for me to start my own concert series, with the intention of bringing the joy of classical music to local communities and that our concerts would be accessible and available to all.

And so the Gustav Holst Ensemble was born.”

Rachael Sheehy, Gustav Holst Ensemble