penelope turner

I have loved the music of Kurt Weill since I was a child. On this page you will find links to my various past and upcoming vintage cabaret projects, featuring his music as well as some gorgeous works by his contemporaries – Benjamin Britten, Francis Poulenc, George Gershwin, Harry Warren …

Upcoming Events

A Special Relationship

Vintage cabaret songs from America’s golden years with pianist Helen Crayford

Saturday September 6, 2025 at 5pm in St Mary’s Church, Church Lane, Chartham, Kent CT4 7JW.
Sunday September 7, 2025 at 3pm for the Charlton Fine Arts Series, St. Peter and St. Paul Church, St. Alphege Road, Charlton, Dover CT16 2PU, UK.
Saturday April 18, 2026 time TBC at St. Leonard’s Church, Hythe, CT21 5DN.
Sunday April 19, 2026 at 3pm at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Vicarage Lane, Elham, Canterbury, CT4 6TT.

Past Events

The Lighter Side of Weill 2024/2025

Vintage cabaret songs by Kurt Weill, Benjamin Britten, George Gershwin, and Francis Poulenc with pianist Helen Crayford.

“On Sunday 5th May, an audience of about 60 was treated to a performance that would have earned accolades in the West End or Broadway. The superb duo performed music of Kurt Weill and his contemporaries (1920s -1950s) with enormous skill and panache. Crayford’s technical virtuosity and Turner’s compelling voice and dramatic skill made this a thrilling show that commanded one’s attention from start to finish.
Cheers rang out after their first number, Cabaret, and often thereafter. Mack the Knife, September and Youkali were perhaps the most familiar to the audience, but less known numbers – for example, Tell me the Truth about Love (Auden/Britten) and Hotel (Apollinaire/Poulenc) were greeted enthusiastically. Crayford’s spectacular solo items, The Man I Love, I Got Rhythm and Tango Ballade, gave us the chance to enjoy the piano at its best, with lid raised, and to appreciate her astonishing skill as a performer.” Charlton Fine Arts, May 2024