If you fancy a bit of a trip out of Cambridge next week, Ely Cathedral has something on that is not your usual sit-and-listen concert. On Wednesday 28 October at 7.30pm, the Britten Sinfonia brings its 'Surround Sound Playlist' to the nave, and the whole idea is to put you right in the middle of the music rather than at the back of it.
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The setup is the first thing worth knowing about. Instead of rows of seats, the audience sits or lies down on the floor of the nave, with cushions and mats laid out. The lighting shifts to match the mood of each piece, and the music fills the space from all directions, played live by more than 100 musicians. It is part of a tour of five cathedrals funded by a National Lottery Touring Fund grant from Arts Council England, a project conceived by the Britten Sinfonia's chief executive and artistic director, Meurig Bowen.
The programme is built to keep you on your toes, mixing well-known classics with newer favourites. You will hear Handel's Zadok the Priest and The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, Purcell's Funeral March for Queen Mary, Ennio Morricone's Cinema Paradiso suite, and Parry's I was glad, alongside pieces by Grieg, Ravel, Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Caroline Shaw and Ēriks Ešenvalds. There is folk in the mix too, with Will Pound's take on Amazing Grace and a traditional Danish tune, Shine you no more, plus Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man and Allegri's Miserere. It is a long, varied list, which is the point: the 'playlist' format means the mood changes from one piece to the next.
The line-up is as broad as the programme. The Britten Sinfonia is led by Zoë Beyers, who takes the role fully for the 2026/27 season after leading the ensemble through this summer and early 2026. Joining them is Tenebrae, the award-winning chamber choir directed by Nigel Short, described by The Times as phenomenal and by Gramophone as devastatingly beautiful. The local connection runs deep, too, with the Cambridge Community Chorus, musicians from Coleridge Community College and the Cambridge Philharmonic Chorus all taking part. Soloists include saxophonist Amy Dickson, a two-time Grammy nominee, and oud virtuoso Joseph Tawadros, who has won eight ARIA Awards, plus Will Pound on folk melodeon and harmonica.
On tickets, there is a genuine choice depending on how you want to experience it. The Immersive Zones, where you sit or lie on the floor of the main nave with a cushion or mat, are pay-what-you-can from £6, as are the unreserved chairs in the transepts. If you would rather a guaranteed seat with an ideal view of the main performance area, the premium chairs are £40. A couple of house rules are worth flagging: folding or collapsible chairs are not allowed in the immersive zone, the bar is paid and card only, and glass and alcohol cannot be taken into the cathedral.
It is a big night for a building that has seen its fair share of them. Ely Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Ely, traces its origins to the abbey founded in 672 or 673 by St Æthelthryth, daughter of Anna, King of East Anglia, with the earliest parts of the present building dating from 1083. It is the third longest medieval cathedral in England at 161 metres, and its 14th-century Octagon tower, with its unique wooden lantern, took twenty years to build. It pulls in around 250,000 visitors a year, so a night like this is a good excuse to see it from a different angle.
Published Date
22 October 2026
