NEWSDESK
PORT SUNLIGHT INTERNATIONAL PIANO FESTIVAL
Port Sunlight International Piano Festival (PSIPF), Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September 2026, is a project committed to bringing world-class music-making to the village of Port Sunlight on the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside. It aims to allow residents and attendees to celebrate the stunning but little known Lady Lever Art Gallery, which will host the performances. Founded by our much admired POP pianist William Bracken, the Festival proposes to expose the community to musical excellence from around the globe whilst keeping performances free to attend.
It will also serve as a testament to the legacy of Paula Browning, William's grandmother, who was born in Taranaki, New Zealand, but spent the last two decades of her life living on the Wirral. Paula was a pianist of formidable ability and reputation. The festival is built on values that she held dear: curiosity, enthusiasm, exacting standards, work-ethic, pleasure and, above all, a deep love for music and an inexhaustible passion for sharing it with the community.
There will be six concerts at the gallery over the weekend from solo piano recitals to chamber music including performances by pianists Alexia Eleftheriadou, Kasparas Mikuzis, Elisabeth Tsai and Sophia Prodanova (violin).
For more information about the Festival see William's website, where you can sign up to receive his newsletter. william bracken - piano
William Hesketh Lever (1851–1925) was a multi-millionaire who made his fortune by selling just one product – household soap in pre-wrapped bars under a brand name: Sunlight Soap. In 1888 he built a village to house his employees and named it Port Sunlight. The Lady Lever Art Gallery, pictured above, built in memory of his beloved wife Elizabeth, houses one of the UK's finest art galleries, including a famous collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.
"THE TEMPEST"
Cristian Sandrin will be presenting a new programme inspired by Prospero's speech in Shakespeare's play The Tempest as he reflects on the fleeting nature of life, "We are such stuff as dreams are made on and our little life is rounded with a sleep", a sentiment that appealed to the Romantics. Cristian's recital features piano sonatas by three pioneers of Romanticism: Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert, in a sparkling musical feast of colour and drama, intimacy and elemental fire.
Tickets are on sale for performances on the following dates:
VIOLA VIRTUOSOS
The viola adds a radiant warmth to many orchestral works but there is also a body of masterpieces, frequently overlooked, where it is the star.
Jaren Ziegler, a Londoner, was accepted at the Junior Royal Academy of Music (RAM) at the age of 8 to study with Jacky Woods. In 2022 at 16 Jaren became the first violist to win the strings final of the BBC Young Musician competition. In 2024 he was named as one of Classic FM's Rising Stars. Jaren is currently at the RAM studying under Professor Hélène Clément.
Lithuanian-born pianist Kasparas Miikužis is also at the RAM studying under Professor Christopher Elton. In 2024 Kasparas became an Imogen Cooper Music Trust scholar, and in 2025 he was named as one of Classic FM's Rising Stars and was also accepted as a Young Classical Artist Trust (YCAT) musician. His Wigmore Hall debut was described as "masterly" with "fluidity and ravishing beauty".
PROGRAMME
Johannes Brahms (1833–97) Viola sonata No. 1 in F minor op. 120 No. 1 (1895)
Originally written for the clarinet, Brahms was skeptical about whether his reluctant arrangement for the viola would be viable.
Paul Hindemith (1895–1963) Viola sonata op. 11, No. 4 (1919)
Hindemith was a versatile musician, composer, performer and teacher who liked to write music for solo instruments whose potential had been neglected by other composers.
Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) Four Spanish Pieces (1906–09)
Originally scored for piano solo and dedicated to Albeniz's Iberia, de Falla also arranged them for viola and piano.
