World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens, London launches ‘International Piano in the Elms Festival’, March 2026.

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

The festival features 6 concerts by acclaimed classical & jazz pianists, plus a piano trail through Nine Elms, masterclasses, free piano lessons, café concerts, & a concert showcasing young pianists.

We have received the following press release;

Music venue World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens launches International Piano in the Elms Festival.

  This March, Nine Elms will be transformed by music. The International Piano in the Elms Festival, curated by World Heart Beat, returns for two weeks celebrating resilience, creativity and community through the universal language of the piano. The festival features six concerts by internationally acclaimed classical and jazz pianists, alongside a piano trail through Nine Elms, masterclasses, free piano lessons, café concerts, and a concert showcasing young pianists. The annual festival is inspired by the elm tree—the enduring emblem of Nine Elms—symbolising community and connection, and the place where World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens has been based since 2022.

At the heart of the festival lies the world premiere of jazz maestro’s Julian Joseph’s Nine Elms Suite, a landmark new work for piano and strings inspired by the history and transformation of this area, to be performed and recorded at World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens on Saturday 14 March. 

The festival features piano masterclasses led by Hilary Coates, Professor of Piano at Trinity College of Music, and Cyrill Ibrahim, World Heart Beat Artist in Residence and an acclaimed concert pianist. Cyrill Ibrahim will lead a Chopin masterclass for young World Heart Beat pianists, with members of the public welcome to attend. 

The festival opens with a performance by Liberian-Norwegian pianist Kamilla Arku alongside visual artist Jordan Söderberg working in installation, sculpture, and design (International Piano in the Elms Festival: Kamilla Arku & Jordan Söderberg (Thursday 12 March); the profound musicality of Romanian concert pianist Andrei Gologan - International Piano in the Elms Festival: Andrei Gologan (Friday 13 March); Jazz maestro and World Heat Beat Patron Julian Joseph presents his new suite - International Piano in the Elms Festival: Julian Joseph: Nine Elms Suite and String Orchestra (Saturday 14 March); Romanian-born pianist Cristiana Achim follows blending classical, jazz, and Romanian folk music - International Piano in the Elms Festival: Cristiana Achim (Thursday 19 March) and World Heart Beat Artist in Residence is British-Dutch concert pianist Cyrill Ibrahim presenting his unique insight on Frederick Chopin - International Piano in the Elms Festival: Cyrill Ibrahim – A Journey of Chopin’s Heart (Friday 20 March). The festival concludes with Greek piano virtuoso Nefeli Mousoura, with a focus on Mozart in the first half followed by the lyrical romantic masterworks of Liszt in the second - International Piano in the Elms Festival: Nefeli Mousoura (Saturday 21 March).

The piano festival supports arts and community engagement by hosting piano concerts and a piano trail across cafés, galleries, residential buildings, and public spaces. Audiences will experience a vibrant programme of piano performances, children’s concerts, free lessons, and world-class headline events including free café concerts as well as a young pianists’ concert. Local primary schools will receive free concerts and pre-performance discussion sessions delivered by the visiting artists.

With every concert ticket bought, audiences will enjoy outstanding performances by international pianists in a warm, intimate setting, but will also help support young musicians at World Heart Beat Music Academy. Every ticket contributes to the academy’s bursary scheme, enabling students who might otherwise face financial or social barriers to access the transformative power of music.

CALLOUT: LOCAL BUSINESSES AND PIANISTS TO TAKE PART IN PIANO FESTIVAL
World Heart Beat invites participation from local businesses and pianists keen to support arts and community engagement by hosting a piano concert and taking part in a piano trail across Nine Elms. Please email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register your interest.

HISTORY OF NINE ELMS
For centuries, a row of Nine Elm trees marked a place where travellers’ entering London along the south bank of the Thames rested beneath a line of elm trees, shared stories, and exchanged goods. The International Piano in the Elms Festival draws on this rich history of movement and connection, transforming Nine Elms once again into a meeting place, this time through the expressive, unifying voice of the piano at World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens. 

March

International Piano in the Elms Festival: Kamilla Arku & Jordan Söderberg, Thursday 12 March 2026, 7:30pm (classical)
Liberian-Norwegian pianist Kamilla Arku draws on her diverse background as inspiration for her work as a performer, scholar and educator; she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the US, Europe and Africa. Recent highlights include performances for Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, Lyric Opera of Chicago, MoMA PS1, the Royal Opera House, the International Florence Price Festival, and Works & Process at the Guggenheim. Jordan Söderberg Mills is a Canadian visual artist working in installation, sculpture, and design objects; his work explores ideas of identity, perception and the sublime, playing with the borders between physical and digital realities, and pushing the material possibilities of light. 

International Piano in the Elms Festival: Andrei Gologan, Friday 13 March 2026, 7:30pm (classical)
Deeply connected to the traditions of the past and eager to shape the future of classical music, Romanian Andrei Gologan is earning an international reputation as a thought-provoking concert pianist. His poetic interpretations have garnered the support of legendary pianists such as Sir András Schiff and Richard Goode, leading to invitations from some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals and concert halls, including the Herkulessaal in Munich, Wigmore Hall in London, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, and Heidelberger Frühling. This concert is hosted in partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute. 

International Piano in the Elms Festival: Julian Joseph: Nine Elms Suite and String Orchestra Saturday 14 March 2026, 7:30pm (jazz)
Join us for an intimate performance by internationally renowned jazz maestro Julian Joseph and his powerful orchestra as together they perform the specially dedicated Nine Elm Suite.

International Piano in the Elms Festival: Cristiana Achim, Thursday 19 March 2026, 7:30pm (classical)
Bucharest-born classical pianist, composer and educator, Cristiana Achim is recognised as a standout talent for her generation. Graduating with First Class Honours in 2024 from the Royal College of Music in London, under the tutelage of Professor Nigel Clayton, she earned both a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Performance degree. An exceptional classical pianist whose repertoire spans classical, jazz and folk music, Cristiana creates a vivid solo piano show rooted in folklore, combining virtuosity, warmth and expressive freedom. She continues to inspire and nurture the next generation of musicians as a dedicated piano teacher at the World Heart Beat Music Academy. 

International Piano in the Elms Festival: Cyrill Ibrahim – A Journey of Chopin’s Heart, Friday 20 March, 7:30pm (classical)
Chopin’s Heart is an intimate solo piano experience exploring the inner world of Frédéric Chopin — his exile, his loves, and the extraordinary journey of the physical heart he left behind. The programme centres on the Heroic Polonaise, a powerful expression of Chopin’s longing for Poland, and the monumental Third Sonata, one of his most personal and emotionally revealing works. These are interwoven with pieces by other composers that reflect themes of memory, identity, and belonging, creating a musical narrative that follows Chopin’s path across countries and across the fault lines of his own life. An immersive and atmospheric concert that invites audiences to experience the beating heart behind the musical genius, Cyrill Ibrahim.

Piano in the Elms: Nefeli Mousoura – Saturday 21 March, 7:30pm (classical)
Steinway Artist and Greek piano virtuoso Nefeli Mousoura’s presents in the first part of her recital a focus on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, exploring different facets of his musical world through variations, minuets, and a sonata. The second part moves into the deeply expressive universe of Franz Liszt, featuring pieces such as the Consolations, a Hungarian Rhapsody, and Venezia e Napoli, tracing a journey from introspection to virtuosity and colour.

Venue Details
Address: World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens, 3 Ponton Rd, Nine Elms, London SW11 7BD
Tel: 0204 547 1075

Link to all Piano in the Elms Festival shows
https://worldheartbeat.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows?tags=international

About World Heart Beat

In 2023, World Heart Beat opened World Heart Beat Embassy Gardens, a state-of-the-art digital music education and concert venue in Nine Elms, featuring a 200-capacity auditorium and industry-standard recording studio. Through our Music Leader and EMERGE training programmes, and GLA-funded South London Music Mentors, programme we are supporting Black, culturally diverse, female and LGBT+ South London talent to find their path in the music industry. 

Wandsworth-based World Heart Beat Music Academy was founded in 2009 to meet the need for affordable music education, from grassroots to professional level, for South Londoners, no matter what their age, background or skills. Fronted by award-winning musician and educator Sahana Gero MBE, World Heart Beat is a leading music educator and hub – supported by Arts Council England as an NPO, and known for its inclusive global music programmes, youth-led approach and contribution to a more diverse and representative music sector. 

The charity provides music tuition and performances opportunities for c.446 young people each year outside of school hours. World Heart Beat’s mission is to provide opportunities for all, with an ‘open door’ approach that welcomes any young person interested in learning music. This commitment sees them providing bursaries and free instruments to more than half of the students that come through their door.