Avoiding flights and trains, Sarah Small will travel 2,500 miles sustainably by bicycle with her instrument in tow, to raise awareness of the environmental impact of musicians on tour
Viola da gambist Sarah Small will embark on a three-month tour of the UK from 7 May to 10 July 2025, travelling 2,500 miles (4,000 km) by bicycle.
By reducing the carbon footprint of the tour to almost zero, Small hopes to raise awareness of the environmental impact of musicians on tour, which often sees artists resort to flying between venues.
In her tour, entitled ‘Good Again?’, Small will perform live at 26 venues across the UK, from the Home Counties to the furthest reaches of Shetland, and from the Northumberland coast to rural Mid-Wales.
Taking a greener, slower approach to touring, Small will cycle between venues, carrying her viola da gamba with her strapped to her bike, to present a programme that explores themes of grief, contemplation and hope.
’My aim is to demonstrate a new and sustainable way for musicians to tour, massively reducing the environmental impact of the traditional zipping between distant cities with no thought for the environmental consequences,’ commented Small, a soloist and chamber musician with ensembles including Fretwork, Musica Antica Rotherhithe, Charivari Agreable, and her own ensemble Hex.
’This works for audiences, too, as they have shorter distances to travel as I visit numerous smaller venues along the way.
’Unfortunately, because of things like the cost of air fares vs train fares, along with the sense of pressure to reach certain well-established places in a short space of time, flying continues to be the norm. This urgently needs to change.
’I’m cycling between venues to show that the journey can be as meaningful as the destination. This tour is about slowing down, reflecting, and sharing music that resonates with our shared experiences.
’By cycling and playing, I aim to inspire broader thinking and encourage discussion about how and why we travel and tour the way we do – and how to make it considerably more sustainable and viable.’
The tour takes its name from Good Againe, a work by the 17th-century English viola da gamba luminary Captain Tobias Hume. The programme also features music by Marin Marais, Antoine Forqueray and Sainte-Colombe, among others.
The opening concert of the tour on 7 May will take place in Cambridge at the Church of St John the Evangelist, where Small will be joined by viol players Emily Ashton and Isaac Harrison-Louth. Together they will present a programme featuring Christopher Simpson’s rarely-performed ‘Spring’ and ‘May’, alongside Forqueray’s Pièces a trois violes and Purcell’s Fantasias Nos 1 & 3.
This performance also will include the world premiere of Small’s composer friend Lillie Harris’ Good Again? for solo viol, specially commissioned for this tour with support from the Francis Routh Trust and the Vaughan Williams Foundation. A second world-premiere commission takes place in Durham on 19 May. Nothing Gold Can Stay, for voice and gamba, will be performed by its composer, alto Kim Porter, in a setting of the poem by Robert Frost.
A full list of Small’s tour dates can be found on the Continuo Connect website.
Photo credits: Sarah Small
Read: No planes, just trains: how our string quartet completed a sustainable international tour
Read: Former vicar embarks on 2000-mile cycle ride with cello
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