Joanna MacGregor and Principle Players of Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

Joanna MacGregor is back in Brighton on Sunday 21 February 2027, playing at The Corn Exchange with principle players from the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra. MacGregor has a long history with the city: she's a pianist with a dazzling career who also served as Music Director of the Brighton Philharmonic, a role in which she became known for her bold programming. This concert continues that streak, pairing three trios from three very different composers.

On the piano is MacGregor herself, joined by Ruth Rogers on violin, Alexei Watkins on horn, and Ben Rogerson on cello. Together they'll work through Beethoven's Piano Trio in C minor Op. 1 No. 3, written in 1795; it's his earliest masterpiece and the first published of his Op. 1 trios. Then there's Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 1 Op. 8, originally titled Poème and dedicated to Tatyana Glivenko, whom he fell in love with while convalescing. The third is Brahms' Horn Trio in E flat major Op. 40, written in 1865 in Baden-Baden's Black Forest; it invented a new art form and commemorates the death of the composer's mother, Christiane.

Between them, the three pieces span nearly two centuries of chamber music, from the early Beethoven to the mid-century intensity of Shostakovich and the late-Romantic warmth of Brahms. It's a programme that asks a lot of the musicians, switching from the piano-violin-cello combination of the first two to the horn-violin-piano of the third.

It's a Sunday morning concert, starting at 11:00 with doors opening at 10:15. A single ticket is £27, or £25 for concessions. If you're planning more, there's a four-concert saver for £97.20, or £90 for concessions. Tickets are free for ages 8-25, supported by Strings Attached, and Brighton Dome and Brighton Festival members save £2 on full-price tickets.