Peter Sheppard Skærved Concert Series

Various dates, 15 May – 4 September 2026

Internationally acclaimed violinist, Peter Sheppard Skærved returns for a set of his popular solo performances at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens. Each concert day consists of music in the James Turrell Skyspace, followed by a concert in the Gallery.

The programmes put the music of the past in dialogue with works of our time, with a particular focus on composers collaborating closely with Peter.

‘…this is violin playing of the highest level. Sheppard Skaerved has dedicated his life to the violin music of our time, inspiring a whole new repertoire, and this is one of the finest fruits of his activity. Sheppard Skaerved’s virtuosity is pretty much a given, but he outdoes himself in the extended final movement. How he maintains tuning at that speed is beyond me.’ Fanfare Magazine October 2025 (Review of works by Robert Saxton – see concert 3).

Each ticket includes entrance to both the Skyspace concert at 5pm and the Gallery at 6.30pm, as well as Garden entry for that day. Peter’s recordings of the composers heard in these concerts will be available for purchase at the concerts. Concerts are organised in association with UYMP. Three events are confirmed for summer 2026 (15 May, 3 July & 4 Sept), with a ticket for each costing £25, however there is a discount for booking all three:

Full details and booking for individual concerts below:

Fri 15 May 26  – Echoes and Pastorals

Peter has worked closely with the Cypriot composer Evis Sammoutis for two decades. In recent years, they have collaborated on an extended cycle of works inspired by Sammoutis’ hometown of Nicosia, and most particularly the almost-forgotten three centuries when it was French, after Richard the Lionheart gave the island to Guy de Lusignan and his descendants. The resulting ‘Nicosia Etudes’ reflect on the music and architecture of the medieval island, and its timbres and textures today. ‘The Holy Spring’ was written for Peter to play on Nicolo Paganini’s violin in Genoa.

Cornish composer Jim Aitchison is key to Peter’s dialogue with Tremenheere, and earlier this year, his two piano quintets, written in response to the Gardens, and premiered here by Peter’s Kreutzer Quartet in 2024, were released as an album, to critical acclaim.

Fri 3 July 26 – Woods and Gardens

Peter has collaborated with composer Sadie Harrison for the whole of his career, and in 2024, her work for string quartet and reader, Ahouse of countless rooms, was premiered here by Peter’s Kreutzer Quartet, with Malene Skærved, who wrote the poetry which inspired it. ‘Gallery’ consists of two books of miniatures counterpointing Peter’s graphic work. Sadie has written a new group of pieces about the flora of Cornwall, especially for Tremenheere.

Nicola LeFanu’s prelude was written in response to a panel by the Grinling Gibbons, in Fairfax House, York, where was premiered in 2018.

Fri 4 Sept 26 – Seascapes and Love Songs

Robert Saxton is one of the UK’s great composers. As a boy, he studied with Benjamin Britten, and later with Elisabeth Lutyens, whose music will be heard today. Peter has collaborated with him for three decades, resulting new quartets and solo works.

Over the past two years, Robert has been working on a series of miniatures inspired by Peter’s drawings and paintings, as well as their shared interests and conversations (the first version of ‘A local train of thought’ was played at a Christmas supper table a year ago. The pair of new works written for Tremenheere, counterpoint seascapes which Peter painted of the nearby Atlantic Ocean.