The Next Generation of World-Class Performers

For the third year running, our Rising Stars programme unites up-and-coming young musicians with mentors for performance opportunities and professional development.

Rising Stars: Classical Jam
Fri 15 Aug, 7.00pm

This year, members from our 2025 Rising Stars Strings cohort will be joined by Festival Director Nicola Benedetti in The Hub. Rising Stars: Classical Jam is a spontaneous, audience-led performance where you choose the repertoire.

2025 Rising Stars: Classical Jam will feature Mira Marton and Tiago Soares Silva on violin, Ayano Nakamura and Elena Kuessner on viola and Layla Ballard and Hoda Jahanpour on cello. 

Rising Stars of Woodwind
Fri 8 Aug, 7.00pm

Clarinettist Mark Simpson, described by the Evening Standard as having ‘bucketloads of panache’, mentors Rising Star wind players before they perform together at The Hub. 

Rising Stars 2025 participants include Karen Wong on Flute, Ella Dorothea Delbruck on Oboe, Guillermo Ramasasa on Clarinet, Emily Ambrose on Bassoon, Tom Findlay on French Horn.

Rising Stars of Voice 
Tue 19 Aug, 11.00am

Emerging vocalists perform Johannes Brahms's enchanting love waltzes under expert guidance from James Baillieu. Setting folk-inspired poetry by Georg Friedrich Daumer, Brahms moves effortlessly between joy, longing, and playful mischief. Originally written for intimate salon performances, the waltzes became widely popular, with Brahms himself often playing the piano parts alongside Clara Schumann.

Rising Stars 2025 To Be Announced.

And Finally...

The original 2023 cohort of Rising Stars will perform alongside the NFM Leopoldinum at Usher Hall in Benedetti and Sitkovetsky’s Tribute to Menuhin. 

Yehudi Menuhin, one of the foremost violinists of the 20th century, is honoured in this tribute by two of his former pupils: Festival Director Nicola Benedetti and fellow violin virtuoso Alexander Sitkovetsky. This deeply personal programme features the original 2023 cohort of Rising Stars throughout which embodies Menuhin’s lifelong commitment to nurturing talent and extending his influence across generations.

With Anaïs Feller, Letizia Gullino and Alexandra Peral on violin, Suzie Wanshu Qiu on viola and Maxim Calver on cello.

Discover all Rising Stars performances at the 2025 International Festival.