Wye Valley Music starts its 2026 season of monthly concerts with a recital by pianist Mishka Rushdie Momen on Sunday 11th January 2026 at 3pm in St Mary the Virgin Church, St Briavels.

Mishka played for Wye Valley Music four or five times during the early stages of her professional career. She now returns as the 2025 winner of the prestigious Critics’ Circle Music Award for piano, awarded at a ceremony held at the London Coliseum, which honours musicians who made an outstanding contribution through their performances in 2024.

The critics are unanimous in their praise of her playing. Richard Goode said: “Mishka Rushdie Momen plays the piano extraordinarily well, but it is the purity and depth of her musical feeling that impress me most. She has the rare ability to communicate the essential meaning of whatever she plays.”

Hailed as ”one of the most thoughtful and sensitive of British pianists, Mishka Rushdie Momen captivates audiences with her refined and expressive playing” (The Times)

For her recital on Sunday, January 11th, Mishka is presenting an all Beethoven programme including some of the composer’s greatest compositions for piano.

Programme. Sonata op. 10 no. 2 Sonata op. 90 Sonata op. 27 no. 2 (Moonlight) - Interval - Sonata op. 101 Sonata op. 109 no 37

It would be difficult to list all the accolades Mishka has received for her playing in recent years. Her recital highlights include performances at Wigmore Hall, Leeds Piano Competition, Carnegie Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, and the re-opening festival of the Frick Collection in New York. Equally at home as a chamber musician, her partners include Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore, Joshua Bell, Midori, Angela Hewitt and Steven Isserlis,

Her latest CD release Reformation (Hyperion, 2024) presenting the works of William Byrd, John Bull, Orlando Gibbons and their 16th century contemporaries was described in The Times’ selection of the best releases of 2024 as “a triumph”, as “quietly beguiling” (The Guardian), “performed with thrilling exuberance and subtlety” (The Spectator), topped the Classical Charts in July 2024 and was chosen as a Classic FM Discovery of the Week.

Mishka was The Times Arts critics’ nominee in the field of classical music for their 2021 Breakthrough Award, given by Sky Arts and the South Bank Show, who profiled her for an episode of the programme broadcast in July 2021. She studied with, among others, Imogen Cooper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama as well Richard Goode, and Sir András Schiff, who has presented her in recital and orchestral dates across the USA and Europe.

We are privileged and excited to welcome Mishka back to St Briavels and look forward to another memorable and immensely rewarding performance. Do book early to avoid disappointment on https://wyevalleymusic.org.uk.

Tickets are £20 (£17 for WVM members, £2 for under 25s, under 14s free). The ticket price includes a printed programme. If you have any difficulty booking, please leave a message on our help line, 01291 330020.