On Saturday 6th June at 7:30pm, Buckfast Abbey in South Devon will open its 2026 series of evening organ recitals with a special performance of Messiaen’s Livre du Saint-Sacrement, a cycle of eighteen pieces presenting a meditation on the Eucharist, given by Tom Bell, a renowned concert organist and Messiaen specialist.
The recital series continues on Saturday 18th July with Robert Quinney, Organist and Tutorial Fellow in Music at New College, Oxford, who will play works by Bach, Howells, Giles Swayne, Dupré, and his own arrangement of Vaughan Williams’s Romanza from Symphony No. 5.
On Saturday 19th September, Johann Vexo from Nancy Cathedral, France, will play a programme of works by Handel, Couperin, Bach in the first half, followed by Gigout, Franck and Duruflé after the interval.
Finally, the Abbey’s own Organist, Charles Maxtone-Smith, will play a recital on Saturday 17th October, including Edward Elgar’s magisterial Organ Sonata in G.
There’s a flyer covering the whole series to download here. Tickets for the concerts are priced at £10 each and are available to purchase from www.buckfast.org.uk/events or from the Abbey Gift Shop. Advanced booking is advised, as seating is unreserved and on a first come, first served basis. Doors will open at approximately 7:00pm, following the conclusion of Monastic Vespers.
There is also a series of lunchtime recitals taking place on the remaining Bank Holidays in 2026, namely 25th May, 31st August and 5th December, featuring Carolyn Craig, Stephen Hargreaves and Richard Gowers. See this flyer for who and when.