performances & events
past
September 2026 St Pancras Clocktower, London
Zahrah Hutton + James McIlwrath premiere of ‘Saturday Songs’ in double bill with Open Union
August 2026 Morocco Bound Bookshop, Bermondsey
body loud perform ‘small feelings’
August 2026 Pan-Pan, Birmingham
body loud perform ‘small feelings’
July 2026 José Tomás International Guitar Festival, Petrer, Spain
Mela Guitar Quartet
July 2026 St Gile Cripplegate, London
Mela Guitar Quartet
July 2026 Pageant Gardens, Warwick
Warwick Pageant community theatre performance with A Book of Portraits
July 2026 EP release
body loud - ‘small feelings’
June 2026 the Pumphouse, Aldeburgh Festival 2026
‘How to Start Stamp Collecting?’ Premiere as part of Composition, Alternative Performance & Performance Art (CAPPA) with Britten Pears Young Artist Programme
May 2026 Fitzrovia Chapel, London
‘talked so long I almost learned to sing’ premiered by Duo Vona as part of serpentine.iii MIDDLE WORLD
March 2026 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Mela Guitar Quartet play new works by RBC composition students
January 2026 King’s Heath, Birmingham
Community Wassail with A Book of Portraits
November 2025 EP release
zahrah hutton - ‘here I am briefly’
October 2025 South Birmingham Works, Stirchley
Artefact house band performance
October 2025 Balestrand, Norway
Mela Guitar Quartet for the Tino Andersen International Guitar Festival
October 2025 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Mela Guitar Quartet
September 2025 St Andrew’s Church, Surbiton
Mela Guitar Quartet for Thames Concerts
July 2025 Darmstadt, Germany
Darmstädter Ferienkurse Guitar/Electric Guitar Studio
July 2025 The Assembly Rooms, Buxton
Mela Guitar Quartet for Buxton International Festival
July 2025 Kenilworth Castle
‘Will We Impress Good Queen Bess?’ community theatre performance with A Book of Portraits to celebrate 450th anniversary of the 1525 Festival for Queen Elizabeth I
June 2025 Great Comp, Sevenoaks
Mela Guitar Quartet for Great Comp Music Festival
June 2025 St Mary the Virgin, Twickenham
Mela Guitar Quartet for Richmond Concert Society
May 2025 Long Island Guitar Festival, New York
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
April 2025 Emerson Unitarian Church, Houston, Texas
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
March 2025 St. Andrew's Church, Toronto, Ontario
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet, for Guitar Society of Toronto
March 2025 Shenandoah University, Winchester, Virginia
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
March 2025 Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet, for Minnesota Guitar Society
March 2025 UNLV Performing Arts Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
March 2025 Meng Concert Hall, Fullerton, California
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
March 2025 St Mark’s Church, San Francisco, California
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet, for Omni Foundation
February 2025 Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University, California
US Premiere of Anthony Burgess ‘Concerto Grosso for four guitars and orchestra’ with Mela Guitar Quartet and Stanford Philharmonia, conducted by Paul Phillips
February 2025 Knox Presbyterian Church, Calgary, Alberta
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet, for Classical Guitar Society of Calgary,
February 2025 Blake Library, Stuart, Florida
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
February 2025 Central Congregational Church, Providence, Rhode Island
GFA North America tour with Mela Guitar Quartet
January 2025 Hoxton Hall, London
‘Overtures & Dances’ album launch concert with Mela Guitar Quartet
January 2025 Sherbourne Valley Allotments, Coventry
Wassail performance with A Book of Portraits
January 2025 Broadcasting House, London
BBC Radio 3 ‘In Tune’ live performance with Mela Guitar Quartet
December 2024 South Birmingham Works, Stirchley
Artefact house band performance
October 2024 Centrala, Birmingham – electric guitar
Improviser for ‘Tell It to the Music’ poetry and music night
October 2024 Deptford Town Hall, London – electric guitar
’45 Minutes of Music on the Subject of Football’, with James Creed, Omri Kochavi, and Saurabh Shivakumar, presented by the Listening Proejct
September 2024 Bridport, Ilminster, Crewkerne, Pendomer
Mela Guitar Quartet tour presented by Concerts in the West
September 2024 Croome Court, Worcestershire
Performance with James McIlwrath and Jamie Knowles, providing music for event run by Hipkiss & Graney
August 2024 d’Rentmeester, Netherlands
Album recording for ‘Overtures & Dances’ with Mela Guitar Quartet
August 2024 Kew Gardens, Richmond
Mela Guitar Quartet for Nash Sessions at Kew Gardens
August 2024 Church Stretton Arts Festival, Church Stretton
Mela Guitar Quartet
July 2024 Kenilworth Castle – lute, recorders, singing
‘Will We Impress Good Queen Bess?’ community theatre performance with A Book of Portraits
June 2024 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
‘Medium Desk Concert’ with James McIlwrath, Vato Klemera, and Jamie Knowles
June 2024 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
‘Music for Pairs’, featuring work by Jamie Knowles, Vato Klemera, James McIlwrath, and myself, with Zinnia Smart and Kinna Whitehead. Performance of ‘two-letter code signals’.
May 2024 Printmakers Arms, Birmingham
Performance of ‘étude' for Rikard Eklund's 'étude' for Flatpack Film Festival
May 2025 Radley College, Oxford
Mela Guitar Quartet
April 2024 Centrala, Birmingham
Performance of ‘bit pieces’ with James McIlwrath
March 2024 the Jago, Dalston
Mela Guitar Quartet presented by through the noise
February 2024 Tate Modern
Mela Guitar Quartet presented by Sofar Sounds
June 2023 Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
Performance of ‘music for stairs’ by Jamie Knowles
May 2023 Printmakers Arms, Birmingham
‘Queens of Disruption’ for Flatpack Film Festival
May 2023 Centrala, Birmingham
Improviser for ‘Tell It to the Music’ poetry and music night
April 2023 Hatton, Warwickshire
‘A Book of Portraits’ community theatre performance
March 2023 Organ Studio, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
‘Guitars Made of Old Hats’ concert of chamber music arrangements
upcoming
tbd Artefact, Stirchley
Stirchley Printworks Residency exhibition and performance
October 2026 Blow water Cafe, Birmingham
Zahrah Hutton + James McIlwrath performance of ‘Saturday Songs’ in double bill with Open Union
October 2026 Santo Tirso International Guitar Festival, Portugal
Mela Guitar Quartet