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The London Song Festival:
Small Performing Arts Event of the Year 2023.
(seventh annual Greater London Awards)
The LSF's mission is to "fly the flag" for the wonderful art-form of song, collating recitals with repertoire ranging from Schubert to Britten and beyond. It is a unique joining together of music and poetry that is capable of expressing great beauty and emotional depth in ways that can equal or even surpass any other genre.
The 2025 London Song Festival:
Women, as composers, as poets, and as visionaries and pioneers who changed the world
17th October – 12th December 2025
LSF Director Nigel Foster writes:
The 2025 London Song Festival explores the theme of “Women in Song, as composers, as poets, and as visionaries and pioneers who changed the world”. Some of these women are far less known today than they would be if they were me, all of them had to fight to get their voices heard, and some really did change the world. There are concerts devoted to Ethel Smyth and the Suffragettes, to African American women composers (and native American), to Latin American women composers, a concert celebrating women immigrants and refugees who have come to Britain and made such huge contributions and given so much to this country, often in the face of huge prejudice, and a concert celebrating women who have written songs for films and stage shows (I am certain that many people would be surprised to discover how many well-known songs from films were actually written by women - I certainly was). Other concerts are devoted to individual composers (the Boulanger sisters, Nadia and Lili) and to individual poets (Christina Rossetti and Sara Teasdale), there is a concert of the entire Vasnier songbook, comprising songs that Claude Debussy wrote for his muse and lover Marie-Blanche Vasnier, and the series ends with an over-view of songs written by women composers and setting women poets from both sides of the English Channel/La Manche.
I am thrilled to be joined by a host of incredible singers for these concerts; Susan Bullock, Kitty Whately, Guy Cutting, Lotte Betts-Dean, Katie Bray - too many to name here, plus a concert by Eyra Norman and Abhisri Chaudhurt, winners of the 2024 London Song Festival Schubert Song Prize.
All the concerts are at the LSF’s usual venue of Hinde Street church in the heart of London’s West End. Tickets are now available to buy on the Concerts Page of this website, where you will find details of all ten concerts. Tickets are priced at £20, £15 (usual concessions*) and a special price for students at £5.
I’m sure you will agree that the 2025 London Song Festival is a feast of Song. See you there!
Nigel Foster(Director - The London Song Festival)
*Ticket concessions are available to those under 18, students, over 65, registered unemployed or registered disabled.
Testimonies from past attendees:
"Superbly organised and executed. World class singers – Thank you"
Our Founder:
Nigel Foster was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Graham Johnson, and also privately with Roger Vignoles. At both the Academy and the Guildhall he won every prize and award available for piano accompaniment, and has been appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
Nigel enjoys a busy schedule performing on the concert platform. He has played for artists including the late Philip Langridge, Sarah Walker, Ian Partridge, Roderick Williams, Neil Jenkins, Yvonne Kenny, Jeremy Huw Williams, Maire Flavin, Anna Devin, Ruby Hughes, Gillian Keith, Nicky Spence, Jane Manning, Marcus Farnsworth, Benedict Nelson and violinist Madeleine Mitchell, as well as many of Britain's leading young singers. He performs at major venues including the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre, St John Smith Square and Royal Opera House (Crush Room) in London, and St David's Hall in Cardiff.
In his formative years Nigel played for Graham Johnson's Songmakers Almanac, the Park Lane Group and several opera companies including Glyndebourne. Nigel has worked with John Eliot Gardiner CBE, and he has happy memories of his time as a rehearsal pianist for the late Georg Solti, playing for singers including Renee Fleming, Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. Nigel worked closely with Sarah Walker in the Vocal Department at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Nigel's CD recordings include several discs of contemporary music and anthologies of songs of Alun Hoddinott and Mansel Thomas with baritone Jeremy Huw Williams for the Sain label. He features on the soundtrack of the French film L'Homme est une Femme Comme les Autres.
Nigel performs extensively abroad. He has played all over Europe, Asia (Japan, Malaysia), New Zealand and the Americas (USA, Canada, Colombia) and has broadcast on BBC Radio 3, Classic FM and on French, Welsh and Greek television.
