COVID UPDATE. Since it looks unlikely that the final 'unlock' will happen on 21st June, we have restricted the audience numbers for this concert to 30. Since the Highgate chapels holds over 200 this means that you will be extremely well socially distanced. Following track and trace guidelines, there will be a QR code for you to log into at the chapel or, if you do not have the QR code, we will be taking names and addresses with a good old fashioned pen and paper.

For our third live concert in the Highgate Festival series we are delighted to welcome:

The Alacris Quartet

Elise Scheurer, violin
Susie Griffin, violin
Charles Whittaker, viola
Benedict Swindells, cello

They will be playing:

Haydn String Quartet in D Minor, Op.76 No.2 ('Fifths')
Mendelssohn String quartet No. 2 A minor, Op. 13

There will be drinks available in the courtyard before the performance. NOTA BENE! We are offering a FREE GLASS of WINE at each concert to anyone booking for two of more of our four Salon Music concerts at the festival.

The Festival would like to thank Highgate School, their music director Jonathan Murphy and the chaplain, Father Robert Easton for generously allowing us to use their lovely 19th century Gothic chapel for so many of our concerts.

The Festival will run from the 19th-27th June. Please check in to the festival website for more events.

About the players:

Elise Scheurer was born in Switzerland and started learning the violin at a very young age with the Suzuki Method. In 2020 she graduated with distinction from the Hochschule für Musik Luzern, and is now studying as a postgraduate with Professor David Takeno at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.
Susie Griffin is a Northern Irish violinist studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the tutelage of Simon Blendis. As a chamber musician, Susanna has performed with the Endellion Quartet, RNCM Spotlight Series and Chamber Music Festival. She was leader of the Ulster Youth Orchestra in 2017 and 2018 and, as a keen performer of contemporary music, she was appointed as the Hard Rain Soloist Ensemble's Young Artist.
Cardiff-born violist Charles Whittaker began his musical studies aged 6, later training with Simon Rowland-Jones at the Royal College of Music. Now a Postgraduate Scholar at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, he studies with Matthew Jones and received Commendation for Excellence in Recital Performance in 2020. Recent performances include at the Penarth Chamber Music Festival, Saint David’s Hall Young Artists’ Showcase, Birmingham Conservatoire, Cardiff University and Institut français de Londres.
Born in Ishihara, Japan, Benedict Swindells first played the cello aged 7 and began his studies with Tim Lowe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama’s Junior Department aged 12. Now a Postgraduate Scholar at the Guildhall, he has performed in venues across Europe including recent tours to Vienna and Amsterdam as well as major concert venues in London. His studies have been generously supported by Help Musicians, The Kathleen trust and the Kochan Trust.