The History of West Meon Music Festival
The first West Meon Music Festival took place in 2011, but the Quartet’s involvement in West Meon began earlier.
John & Penny Clive, owners of a fine Blüthner grand piano that was chosen by Brahms himself for John’s Grandmother in the 1890s, were holding ‘Music at Walnut” concerts in Swanmore. The Primrose (John & Susanne and violist Robin Ireland), now with their new cellist Andrew Fuller who replaced Bernard Gregor-Smith did a concert there and the quartet fell in love with the piano and soon hatched plans to do a CD featuring Brahms’ great G minor piano quartet on the Blüthner.

The Blüthner grand piano owned by John & Penny Clive
The only thing missing was a venue, and after visiting all the churches in the area discovered the perfect acoustics in St John the Evangelist, West Meon.
The sessions were booked in 2010 and it was decided to do a charity concert in the church the night before the sessions.
The concert was such a success and the welcome so warm from the West Meon audience that the idea of a Music Festival in West Meon was born.

The first festival in 2011 with Penny and John Clive seated in the front row.