A MUSICAL soiree was held in Hampstead Garden Suburb to launch the 19th annual Proms at St Jude’s.

Around 150 guests at Henrietta Barnett School were given a taste of what to expect at this year’s music festival which will take place in the Suburb from June 18 to 26.

Proms’ patrons, sponsors and friends were entertained by a piano and accordion trio and a medley of Russian folk music played on stringed instruments known as balalaikas.

Sarah Aaronson OBE, joint founder and current artistic director of the London International Orchestra, led the trio playing a mixture of classical and gypsy music, supported by Roman Broide on cello and George Hlawiczka on violin.

Bibs Ekkel, his wife Lara and son Alexei, performed on the balalaikas alongside Sergei Pachnine on a bayan, a type of accordion.

The Proms will showcase a series of evening concerts by performers including singers Dame Felicity Lott, Sir Thomas Allen and three times Olivier Award winner Maria Friedman.

Instrumental music will also be provided by the likes of The Wihan String Quartet and The Greenwich Trio which has won many international prizes including the Beethoven Society of Europe Chamber Music Competition.

There will also be free lunchtime concerts and six guided walks to give visitors a cultural context to the festival.

Proms chairman Niamh O’Donnell-Keenan said sponsorship to date is down on last year but the demand for tickets is high.

Online and postal applications for tickets open on Tuesday April 26 and telephone bookings can be made from June 1 on 020 8458 8798.

To become a Friend and the chance to apply for tickets earlier call: 020 8455 1025.

For more information on this year’s Proms and a full festival programme visit www.promsatstjudes.org.uk