Lunchtime concerts every Friday, raising funds for our
beautiful 205-year-old Grade II listed building
Concert: 12.30-1.15pm - £5 suggested donation on the door - cash or card
Tea, coffee & biscuits available in the church hall from 12 noon
on a pay-as-you-feel donation basis
Our Friday lunchtime concerts are diverse - mostly classical but also contemporary, jazz and folk, with many showing off our beautiful Steinway piano.
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The performers are a mixture of top local talent and touring musicians from across the globe. These affordable concerts are the perfect way to spend your Friday lunchtimes, enjoying a rich variety of music within the reverberant walls of our beautiful Grade II listed church, with your donations helping us to maintain our welcoming sacred space in the cultural heart of the city.
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Enjoy a hot drink before the concert starts, browse our home-made and repurposed cards which are sold to raise funds for the church, and get to know your fellow concert-goers.
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Wheelchair accessible venue.
Everyone welcome.
Listings: January - May 2026
Leaflets covering 2-3 months of our concert listings are available at the church and can be found at various other venues and community buildings in and around the city.
To receive updates by email about our Friday lunchtime concerts, including changes to performers, dates, times or programmes, plus occasionally other performances or events which may be of interest to you, please email buc@brightonunitarian.org.uk and ask to be added to our lunchtime concert email list. These emails are usually sent out no more than 5-6 times per year
You can unsubscribe from this list at any time and your details will not be used for any purpose other than to keep you up to date with our concerts and other performances here at Brighton Unitarian Church.​
If you are interested in applying to perform in our Friday lunchtime concert series, please contact Cat Stead, Church Administrator/Venue Manager, email: buc@brightonunitarian.org.uk or telephone (01273) 696022.
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9 January 2026
We launch our 2026 lunchtime concerts in style with popular local pianist and BUC favourite John Bruzon who presents a romantic programme of music by Chopin and Liszt.
16 January
Melody Magpies (3 sopranos and a talented pianist) offer a pick-n-mix of melodic gems. This will include a wide variety of art songs from home and abroad plus opera arias and ensembles covering a range of eras - Baroque to Romantic and later. Some works will be familiar, others perhaps less so; the common factor in all the music is melody.
23 January
BAFTA award-winning pianist and composer Joss Peach returns with Parliamentary Jazz Award-winning saxophonist and composer Josephine Davies to explore the wonderful music of Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek.
30 January
We welcome back the Plaegan Trio who will perform Tchaikovsky’s monumental and heart-felt Trio, written during 1881-2 ‘in memory of a great artist’, his close friend and mentor Nicolai Rubinstein.
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6 February
South Downs Folk Singers arose from a 2013 Heritage Lottery project promoting the music and culture of the Downs, both old and new. Around 50 singers still meet monthly in Chichester, Lewes and Worthing and perform at many events across the region. This programme comprises seasonal songs of reflection, winter and wassailing.
13 February
The Kelleth Piano Trio: Rachel Ellis (violin), Siriol Hugh-Jones (cello) and Stephen Carroll-Turner (piano) play music by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
20 February
Paul Richards will be performing the rich classical guitar music of South America & Spain sprinkled with some jazz. Expect Samba, Choro, Milonga, Venezuelan Waltzes & more!
“A gem on the stage. Paul Richards beautifully updated the Laurindo Almeida nylon-string Brazilian guitar style” Jazz Wise Magazine Sept 2013
27 February
A recital of Indian Classical music by James Pusey on sitar accompanied by Marc Clayton on tabla. The duo will perform an afternoon Raga to be announced on the day.
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6 March
Brighton Guitar Quartet bring the unique sound and energy of classical guitar ensemble to BUC in a programme that explores a range of classical music spanning continents and centuries, including “Habanera” from Bizet’s Carmen.
13 March
Berniya Hamie, pianist and founding member of the Astatine Trio (BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists 2025-27), performs Chopin's Four Ballades.
20 March
Experience 45 minutes of vibrant colour and irresistible energy with the LIPS Wind Quintet, where five distinct voices blend into one thrilling sound. Join us for a concert that celebrates brilliance, intimacy, andthe sheer joy of live chamber music.
27 March
Alastair Penman (saxophone) and Jonathan Pease (piano) perform much loved favourites and lesser-known gems from the saxophone and piano repertoire, as featured on their albums Soar and Quietude, praised by critics as "an extended dazzling display of talent" and "a project that reaches out and touches us all".
3 April
Bringing together the soundscapes of North Indian ragas with the rich harmonic world of jazz has been a shared journey for Mark Edwards (piano) and Kate Hogg (Bansuri flute), culminating in an album release in September 2026 on Rubicon Jazz. Slow down, relax, listen and enjoy.
10 April
Nick plays Bach: BUC regular, pianist Nick Andrews presents his annual Bach recital. This year he will play the rarely played 5th English Suite BWV810 and the joyful D major Toccata, BWV912. There'll also be a couple of transcriptions by Rachmaninoff, if he can get his brain around them in time!
17 April
Neil Crossland (piano) & Hannah Lewis (cello) join forces to perform Neil’s compositions “Through the Hourglass” Op.70 and Cello Sonata No.2 Op.68, combining Neil’s visionary interpretive voice with Hannah’s refined and passionate chamber-music approach.
24 April
Highly experienced and popular recitalists, Jennifer Janse (cello) and Fiona Harrison (guitar) present a flavour-filled programme featuring Vivaldi, Ravel, Glazunov, folk tunes and Richard Charlton’s contemplative “As the rain passes”, premiered by the duo in 2025.
1 May
Phil Hopkins is one of the leading UK chromatic harmonica players. He and prize-winning pianist Rachel Fryer take you on a musical journey from Broadway to Baroque and back, visiting Clara Schumann, Piazzolla, Handel and Bernstein along the way!
8 May
Brighton-based Turkish Cypriot pianist Emre Öztek will perform a recital of solo piano repertoire by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Bartok.
22 May
Anglo American Duo: Timothy Schwarz (violin) and Jane Beament (piano) explore works by British and American composers, starting with the ever popular "Hoe-Down" from Rodeo, and ending with the massive and tumultuous Sonata by Ethel Smyth. In-between is a new work by the living British composer, David Osbon.
29 May
Concert pianist and world traveler Roman Rudnytsky returns with his own transcription of Mozart’s Piano Concerto in A and a piece composed by his father, Antin Rudnytsky (1902-75), alongside Debussy’s “Estampes”.
If you are interested in applying to perform in our Friday lunchtime concert series, please contact Cat Stead, Church Administrator/Venue Manager, email: buc@brightonunitarian.org.uk or telephone (01273) 696022.
Please note that these get booked up a year in advance...