Keystones Piano Festival 2026: Laura Cole String Quartet + baleine
Schedule
Sun, 10 May, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC+01:00Location
Samuel Worth Chapel | Sheffield, EN
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Jazz at The Lescar is partnering once again with the Samuel Worth Chapel to put on two gigs over the weekend of 9th/10th May. The second of two nights of jazz and improvised music centred around the Steinway D grand piano in the Samuel Worth Chapel, features two ensembles and 9 musicians, explorative and beautiful music, a string quartet, and gently explorative ambient electronic sounds.
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VENUE: Samuel Worth Chapel
TIMES: Doors 6.30pm, music 7pm
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TICKETS:
Full price ticket £20
Students + under 25s £10
ALSO! Weekend ticket (limited number, covering this gig and the gig featuring Corey Mwamba/Robert Mitchell + Lucas Walters/Reece Soko-Fogg on Saturday 9th May): £30
Pay on the door, or alternatively get advance tickets by emailing [email protected] or messaging us here.
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Laura Cole - piano + string quartet
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Leeds-based pianist, composer and writer Laura Cole’s second solo double album, Sky Chord/ Haptic Space, featuring her arrangements of Ron Caines’ compositions for piano and string quartet, was released on the Discus label in 2025. We’re thrilled that she can bring this wonderful music to the Samuel Worth chapel, joined by the wonderful Ember string quartet (Gemma Bass, Seth Bennett, Aby Vulliamy, Semay Wu).
A thoughtful and creative presence on the UK improvised music scene, Laura has visited The Lescar previously with her wonderful dynamic octet Metamorphic, with whom she recorded three albums, as well as in bands led by Corey Mwamba, Martin Archer, and Johnny Hunter. Other collaborations include with Martin Archer/Julie Tippetts, Faye MacCalman, Lara Jones, Keith Jafrate’s group Orfeo 5, Seth Bennett.
Violinist and composer Gemma Bass is a member of Manchester Camerata, the Tulchinskaya Quartet and the experimental piano trio, Little Pillars, and has released 3 albums of her own music on Efpi records.
Originally from Sheffield, and an energising presence in any line-up, bassist Seth Bennett lives in Dundee, and works internationally, with a musical life that finds him performing in settings from straight-ahead jazz and contemporary composition to free improvisation and heavy riffs, in bands such as Sloth Racket, New String Collective and Moonmot.
Multi-instrumentalist Aby Vulliamy features on more than 50 albums recorded over the last 20 years as well as collaborating and performing in a wide range of ensembles, and in 2018 releasing a collection of piano-based songs reflecting on her experience of motherhood.
Semay Wu is a Scottish-based composer, improviser, cellist and sound/media artist. Semay has released four solo albums: Raspberry Hotel (Akashic Records, 2022), Sharmanka & Unsteady Stones (scatterArchive, 2023 & 2024), with a self-released CD version of Unsteady Stones, including The Spinal Cactus #001 (2024).
“Five brilliant musicians in the flow of their musical thought, playing radiantly and subtly.” – Marie Mesmer, Highlands
baleine
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Mixing ambient and subtly emotive electronic and acoustic soundscapes, baleine are a band formed from two duos; balo are Manon McCoy on pedal harp/electronics and Will Shaw on drums/electronics. whale detective are Hannah Brady on clarinet/alto clarinet and Jez Matthews on piano/electronics.
Their music brings together elegiac melodies, loops, rhythms and textures, and explorative group improvisation, veering from the delicate and beautiful to the intense.
The musicians in baleine have performed at Lancaster Jazz Festival, Refujazz, Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music, Jazz at The Lescar, as well as in line-ups including with John Pope, Juliana Day, Assembly Trio, Mishra, Emergence, Pocket, Life Aquatic Band, Pete Lyons, Nicola Farnon, Seth Bennett and Johnny Hunter.
"…a sonic palette more prismatic than their understated setup would suggest… obvious musical affinity." - Now Then Magazine, about balo
"their improvisations mesmerise" - Now Then Magazine, about whale detective
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Where is it happening?
Samuel Worth Chapel, 294 Cemetery Road, Sheffield, S11 8FT, United KingdomEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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