Bach and Kodaly with cellist Miguel Angel Villeda Cerin

Regular supporters of the Islington Festival each July will already know Miguel Angel who has delighted Islington audiences with his late night Bach. But this year he added Kodaly's extraordinary Sonata for solo cello, widely regarded as the most significant work for unaccompanied cello since Johann Sebastian Bach composed his Cello Suites.

'A century after its release', says  Laurence Vittes in his excellent blog post on Strings, 'the sonatas's challenge remains absolute: Every generation’s aspiring cello virtuosos must learn how to speak Kodály.' A 30 minute work, inspired by Bach's Cello Suite No 5 which Miguel will play first, the sonata includes 'Hungarian rhythms, folk inflections, opera tunes, and daring harmonic invention' including the use of the scordatura, the lowering the cello’s C and G strings, first employed by Bach in his suites.

So brace yourselves for a thrilling evening....

PROGRAMME

Johann Sebastian Bach - Cello Suite No. 5 in C minor

Zoltán Kodály - Sonata for Solo Cello in B minor, Op. 8

SUPPER:

The concert will be followed as always by a buffet supper

TICKET 'PRICE':

Because we are not a public venue we cannot 'sell' tickets. Instead we ask you to make a donation - suggested minimum £35 per ticket.
Of this, £5 from each ticket will go to the Camden Music Trust. The Trust supports music in Camden schools with particular emphasis on children who might not otherwise have access to instruments or music lessons.
The remaining £30 enables us to pay our musicians a reasonable fee with any surplus going towards the cost of supper and wine.

ABOUT THE PLAYERS:

Although Mexican cellist Miguel Angel Villeda Cerin spent 10 years as Associate Principal of the National Symphony Orchestra in his home country and is now a musical ambassador for Mexico, he did his master studies at Trinity Laban and now lives and works mainly in London.

Miguel Angel has a busy career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player and this year he was appointed Principal Cello in the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra.

With his internationally awarded Waldstein Trio, Miguel Angel has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Musikverein. The Waldstein Trio recorded two CDs in 2026, the first one of which was released by Orpheus Classical.