About Music at Paxton
Music at Paxton: Bringing world-class chamber music to the heart of the Scottish Borders.
Background
Established in 2006, Music at Paxton is a charitable organisation dedicated to bringing exceptional chamber music to a wide audience – both young and old, north and south of the Scottish Borders – to share, inform and inspire.
Music at Paxton has become an established fixture on the cultural calendar, and its unique character reflects the close relationship with Paxton House itself. The Picture Gallery where the main concerts are held creates the ideal setting and acoustic, and provides a unique and intimate ambience.
Testimonials
Music at Paxton is passionate about opening the world of chamber music to the widest possible audience, and the Festival enjoys a thriving partnership with Live Music Now Scotland. Each spring, they perform in our free ‘taster’ concerts, and deliver programmes in schools, care homes and day centres throughout the Borders in the weeks leading up to the Festival.
Music at Paxton programmes feature artists working on the international stage at major venues, including Aldeburgh, Edinburgh and Salzburg festivals, London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Vienna’s Musikverein. The Festival also actively seeks out young prize-winning musicians, including those on the BBC New Generation Artists scheme, Young Classical Artists Scheme, and winners of BBC Young Musician and Wigmore International String Quartet competitions. Many Music at Paxton artists have visited on several occasions, including violinist Alina Ibragimova, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani, pianists Alasdair Beatson, Steven Osborne and Cédric Tiberghien, cellists Pieter Wispelwey and David Watkins, the Chiaroscuro and Doric Quartets and the Hebrides Ensemble.
In 2018 Music at Paxton appointed a new Artistic Director to succeed founding director Helen Jamieson. Angus Smith brings with him considerable experience from differing perspectives of the music business. He is a founding member of the award-winning Orlando Consort, and a choral consultant for Stainer & Bell. Between 2010 and 2020 he was Artistic Director of Sheffield-based ‘Music in the Round’, the largest promoter of chamber music in the UK outside London and winner of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s Award for Chamber Music and Song in 2013.
