Updated 30 September 2026

Header photo: LISE VANDERSMISSEN

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Dear Friends,

We are delighted to welcome Lise and Gabriela to Concerts in the West for the first time.

Belgian harpist Lise Vandersmissen travels with her modern pedal harp and her Italian Triple Harp to perform across Europe and Asia. As a soloist, Lise has won many prizes including the Guildhall Harp Prize. She recently completed a six-month residency in Hong Kong where she was teaching and performing at an international harp academy.

Lise released her debut solo album in 2023: TRANSFORMED, consisting of her own transcriptions for pedal harp solo. Last summer she released her second solo album TRE. Brian Robins from Early Music Reviews wrote: “She displays a mastery of the instrument, playing with an admirable fluency of technique. … Most importantly, one senses that behind the technical expertise lies true musicality.”

Lise performed the Händel Harp Concerto on the Italian Triple Harp with the Bach Academie under Luc Ponet and the London Händel Festival Orchestra under Laurence Cummings. In June 2019, Lise gave the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s new piece for solo harp: “Four Meditations”, which was dedicated to her.

Lise graduated Magna cum Laude from her Bachelor’s Degree at LUCA School of Arts, Belgium and with Distinction from her Master’s Degree at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. Upon graduation, she completed a two-year Fellowship at the Guildhall.

Lise lives with her harps on a blue houseboat on the London canals. When she is not playing the harp, she loves to knit jumpers and run along the canal.

www.lisevandersmissen.com

Gabriela Opacka-Boccadoro is a Polish-British musician who has built a multifaceted career as a violinist, conductor, and recording artist across classical performance, theatre, and film. She holds a PhD in violin from the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw and an Artist Diploma from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

As a violinist, Gabriela has performed as a soloist with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Katowice and at the OCM Festival in Prussia Cove, UK. She has led the International Philharmonic Orchestra in New York, including performances at Carnegie Hall, and is a prizewinner of the 2012 Young Paganini International Violin Competition. She tours and records with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and has released the album RAVEL with Oliver Wass, featuring violin and harp transcriptions of works by Maurice Ravel.

opackaboccadoro.com

Programme – Ilminster and Crewkerne

Claude Debussy  Arabesque No. 1
Barbara Strozzi  Che si può fare
Jeanne Adrienne Kufferath   Deux Pièces: Simple Histoire & Autrefois
Handel  Lascia ch’io pianga – Aria from ‘Rinaldo’
Andy Scott  Sonata for flute and harp

Interval

Henry Purcell  When I am laid in earth
Lise Vandersmissen  Lullaby for a child & Nature’s Calling
Arvo Pärt  Spiegel im Spiegel
Astor Piazzolla   Histoire du Tango: Café 1930, Nightclub 1960
Giulio Caccini   Amarilli Mia Bella

Bridport –  
Claude Debussy  Arabesque No. 1
Barbara Strozzi  Che si può fare
Handel  Lascia ch’io pianga – Aria from ‘Rinaldo’
Andy Scott  Sonata for flute and harp
Henry Purcell  When I am laid in earth
Lise Vandersmissen  Nature’s Calling
Astor Piazzolla   Histoire du Tango: Café 1930, Nightclub 1960
Giulio Caccini  Amarilli Mia Bella

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Booking started on 5 January for the whole season. We look forward to seeing you at one of our venues – all our regulars and new faces.

You can download the Brochure 2026 HERE.

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You can now view the dates and performers for the 2027 Season.
Detailed pages will be available by the end of October.

Booking will start for all tours via this website for Ilminster Arts Centre and Crewkerne on 4 January.

Bridgwater Arts Centre will start booking on 11 January, via their website, for the two concerts taking place there in 2027.

Bridport Arts Centre will start taking bookings in early January via their booking system.

Any changes will be posted to this website and by email.

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The best way to hear about upcoming concerts is by receiving our email newsletters. You can join the list very simply by filling in the form at the bottom of this page.

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You can find the dates for 2026 HERE. Details are available via the BOOK TICKETS button above.

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News – please check for news about our artists.

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Taking part – We are delighted to hear from musicians who would like to take part in the series. However we get so many requests that it is difficult to respond to every email (we do try) but thank you for your interest. I am sorry if this appears rude but we are a very small team. If you don’t hear from me then I am afraid there are no dates available for the foreseeable future.

Applications will be considered carefully but as we only have eight to ten tours a year I can make no promises. You will need to email me a CV, a concert biography and a photograph. Our performers have generally been trained to a minimum of post-graduate conservatoire level and are in the process of establishing themselves in the profession; some are a little older and returning to CinW. A little warning: we are not able to pay big fees as we play in small, intimate venues; we are a small charity; and out of London, where life is very different.

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To return to this Home page click on the Concerts in the West logo at the top of any page.

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Bridport Arts Centre – please note that bookings for Bridport go through their booking arrangements. All the concert tours go to Bridport.

Ticket prices for 2026: £20 for evening concerts – £16 for the morning concerts in Bridport.

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2019, 2020, 2020 Online, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 Seasons – you can see the list of performers for each year under our News section.

Archived concerts from 2006 when the concert series began – if you go to Concerts by date, scroll down to Previous concerts, this will take you back to earlier seasons.

Under Concerts by venue you will find venues where we have held concerts in the past as well as those we go to currently. In 2026 we will be visiting Bridport (all tours), Ilminster (all tours), and Crewkerne (all tours).

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Concerts in the West was launched in 2006. We aim to bring talented young professional musicians to small, intimate venues in the West Country, in areas that may not have easy access to music of this quality. Short intensive tours, lasting a few days, are arranged mainly in Dorset and Somerset.

We feel privileged to hear music performed to such a high standard. The repertoire is enormously varied and gives local audiences a wonderful opportunity to hear both familiar and unusual works for voice and instrument in many combinations.

IAN BUCKLE

GABRIELA OPACKA-BOCCADORO violin
LISE VANDERSMISSEN harp

16-17 October 2026

Organisations putting on all sorts of arts events in Somerset and Dorset
This is not an exhaustive list but will be added to bit by bit.

Somerset Art Works
Somerset Art Weeks Festival 2026
https://somersetartworks.org.uk/

FilmCrew – The Crewkerne and District Community Cinema – 18 September 2026 to May 2027
https://crewkernefilm.wordpress.com/

South Somerset Music Centre, Crewkerne 
https://www.southsomersetmusiccentre.co.uk/

Bridport Arts Centre
https://www.bridport-arts.com/

Ilminster Arts Centre
https://www.ilminsterartscentre.com/

The Warehouse Theatre, Ilminster
https://www.thewarehousetheatre.org.uk/

Forde Abbey
https://www.fordeabbey.co.uk/

Beaminster Festival
https://www.beaminsterfestival.com/

Bridgwater Arts Centre
https://www.bridgwaterartscentre.co.uk/

CICCIC, Taunton
https://www.creativeinnovationcentre.co.uk/

Bridport Music Appreciation
www.dorsetruralmusicschool.co.uk/courses-and-groups/

Guildhall Young Artists Taunton is a vibrant, creative space, welcoming children and young people to learn and perform music and drama. They are based at Wellington School.
www.gsmd.ac.uk/taunton

The David Hall, South Petherton – https://www.thedavidhall.com/

Cherubim Music Trust – https://cherubimtrust.org/