Fenella Humphreys [Matthew Johnson]

FORGET the hard seats, drafts and smell of recently cooked cabbage: churches these days make a massive contribution to the nation’s concert life. They tend to be more interesting than concert halls. They’re often easier to get to. And there’s no better advertisement for what they do than the annual festival of Summer Music in City Churches which is up and running this week with events in some of London’s more impressive ecclesiastical interiors.

They open June 16 with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra decamped to St Giles Cripplegate playing Ravel, Rodrigo, Mendelssohn. June 17 has the Brother Tree Sound string quartet playing Debussy and the currently uber-fashionable Dobrinka Tabakova at St Andrew by the Wardrobe (which, should you ask, was the wardrobe where royalty kept their ceremonial bling until the Great Fire burnt it down).

June 20 in St Mary-at-Hill, Hackney Choral join the RPO for John Rutter’s celebratory cantata London Town. And among other highlights are contributions from the City of London Choir who sing a giant (free-entry) choral evensong at St Giles Cripplegate, June 17, and close the whole festival at the same venue, June 26, singing Elgar under their conductor Daniel Hyde – who, when he isn’t directing this ensemble, runs the celebrated choir at King’s Cambridge. Details: summermusiccitychurches.com

• Given that churches understand about sin, it isn’t too shocking to see that St George’s Hanover Square has an event June 12 called Seven Sins of Tango, which appears to be an X-certificate celebration of lust, gluttony, greed etc through the music of Piazzolla and other Argentine composers. It’s given by the London Concertante, a spirited group I saw recently playing their hearts out at Camden Town’s Koko. Gutsy would be understatement. londonconcertante.com

• There isn’t too much classical content in this year’s Highgate Festival, but worth noting is a recital by Katya Apekisheva, June 13, when the renowned pianist plays Beethoven, Haydn & (Highgate resident) Elena Langer. At the Red Hedgehog venue, Archway Rd. highgatefestival.org

• As Wigmore Hall winds down from its momentous 125th anniversary festival, pioneering violinist Fenella Humphreys is there June 12, pushing the envelope of modern British repertoire. And June 19 & 20 brings pianist Andras Schiff playing one of his lucky-dip programmes where none of the content is announced in advance. Too bad if it’s music you don’t care for. wigmore-hall.org.uk

• Roderick Williams is one of those polymath musicians who excel at whatever they do; and not content with being a baritone and composer, he’s now conducting – which he does (for the first time) June 17 with a band called the Great Little Orchestra, at St Gabriel’s, Pimlico: an all-Mahler programme that sees him sing as well as wave a baton. stgabrielspimlico.org.uk

• Finally, if the prospect of summer puts you in the mood for a seaside break, the Aldeburgh Festival opens June 12 with a two-week programme that, this year as ever, amounts to the best festival experience going. Founded by Benjamin Britten and now marking the 50th anniversary of his death, it’s a big deal in idyllic surroundings on the Suffolk coast. The 2026 season starts with performances of Debussy’s opera Pelleas et Melisande, then runs on to June 28 with performances by Lise Davidsen, Sophie Bevan, Nicky Spence, Steven Osborne, Guy Johnston… Worth it, if only for a day trip. brittenpearsarts.org