The British Have Come!

The British Have Come! is a classical concert featuring music by British composers, beginning with a contemporary work inspired by an iceberg off Newfoundland and concluding with Ralph Vaughan Williams’s celebrated Symphony No. 5. The program also includes William Boyce’s Symphony No. 4 and Benjamin Britten’s atmospheric Four Sea Interludes from the opera *Peter Grimes*.

The concert takes place at MassBay Community College in Wellesley, followed by a reception. The venue is close to Route 95 and offers free parking, with dining and shopping available nearby in Wellesley Square.

When: Sunday, November 8, 2026

Showtime: 2:00 p.m.

Venue: MassBay Community College Auditorium, 50 Oakland St, Wellesley, Massachusetts

Program: Peter Gardner, *ICE, From Signal Hill*; William Boyce, *Symphony No. 4*; Benjamin Britten, *Four Sea Interludes*; and Ralph Vaughan Williams, *Symphony No. 5*

Program details: Peter Gardner’s *ICE, From Signal Hill* musically portrays an iceberg passing Signal Hill, Newfoundland, the easternmost point in North America. The work evokes daybreak over the Atlantic, when sunlight reveals the iceberg moving south and cracking in the light. Boyce’s *Symphony No. 4* provides an 18th-century contrast, while Britten’s *Four Sea Interludes*, adapted from *Peter Grimes*, depicts Dawn, Sunday Morning, Moonlight, and Storm.

Featured work: Vaughan Williams’s *Symphony No. 5*, premiered in 1943 during World War II, closes the concert. Its serene character was regarded as an expression of the peace and better future people hoped to build after the war.

Tickets: Pay what you can

After the concert: A reception will be held following the performance.

Parking: Free parking is available at MassBay Community College.