Continuo Connect — Profile // The Hampstead Collective

The Hampstead Collective was formed in 2020 in response to the devastating effect of the global pandemic on the arts, and live classical music in particular. We were proud to bring world class music into Hampstead and, in addition, support musicians – both those in the Collective and our collaborators – during that time of immense financial insecurity. As a Collective, we work together on equal footing to present an innovative programme of concerts, curated to demonstrate both our connection to our home of Hampstead Parish Church and our distinct musical voices.

In our inaugural 2020-2021 season we presented seventeen weekly concerts in the face of enormous uncertainty and instability due to the pandemic. Now we perform monthly concerts occurring on the first or second Monday evening of each month from October to August.

The Players of The Hampstead Collective, brought together by baroque cellist Jacob Garside, is a group of instrumentalists specialising in period performance and forms the orchestra for our larger scale concerts. These have included Handel’s Theodora, Dixit Dominus and Bach’s Magnificat as well as smaller scale chamber music concerts. Drawn from the leading young players in the profession we have built a flexible ensemble with a great familiarity for each others' playing.