ASIDE from singing the right notes, in tune, what makes a great voice is a matter for debate. But an undoubtedly great voice was that of Kathleen Ferrier, the English contralto who died more than 70 years ago but is still famous for the haunting darkness of her sound as heard in old recordings. And her name lives on, too, in the Ferrier Competition that endeavours, every year, to find great singers of the future.

The 2026 finals run April 24 at Wigmore Hall where Ferrier worked her magic many times. And I’m glad to say there are also prizes for the collaborative pianists (aka unsung heroes) without whom the competitors couldn’t function. It’s a long evening with an early start (take note). But a long supper interval too (take sandwiches). And if you live in Camden, Ferrier was local: she lived in Frognal Mansions, Hampstead, with a blue plaque to go contemplate in preparation. Details: wigmore-hall.org.uk

• The BBC Symphony Orchestra might just be regretting the so-called “Making America” evening planned for Apr 24 at the Barbican – as if we don’t hear enough from that part of the world these days. But if you can tolerate more stars & stripes, there are Hollywood scores by Bernard Hermann and Korngold, and a new trumpet concerto by composer Ryan Latimer who doesn’t seem to be American at all. barbican.org.uk

• People forget that a musician is a kind of athlete: it’s hard labour sometimes. So it’s illuminating to see musicians paired onstage with other kinds of physical performance, and there are two examples this week. At the Queen Elizabeth Hall, April 24-25, the touring Australian Brandenburg Orchestra joins forces with acrobats in an adaptation of Bach’s Art of Fugue that will presumably enlarge the intricacies of the piece into something like semaphore. Meanwhile, in Papillons at the Purcell Room, April 30, the Manchester Collective and cellist Laura van der Heijden pair up with queer-culture dance duo Thick & Tight in music by the late Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. Could be interesting…Details for both: southbankcentre.co.uk

• The Royal Opera’s Linbury Theatre is small enough to take risks and push envelopes that the main stage wouldn’t dare. And May 1-8 it runs a triple-bill of unfamiliar chamber works by women composers: two of them contemporary, Charlotte Bray and Elena Langer, and one a neglected figure from the mid-20th century whose reappraisal is long overdue, Elizabeth Maconchy. Worth exploring. rbo.org.uk

• Also on the opera front, Berg’s Wozzeck – a magnificently grim appraisal of a human soul oppressed, abused, destroyed – plays in concert at the Royal Festival Hall, April 25, under Edward Gardner. Stephane Degout sings the hapless title role. southbankcentre.co.uk

• The words viola and electrifying don’t invariably go together, but they do in the case of star violist Antoine Tamestit who graces the lunchtime series at LSO St Luke’s, Apr 30, alongside equally starry pianist Bertrand Chamayou. Brahms & Shostakovich. lso.co.uk

• Lastly, there’s a concert series called Discoveries that I keep urging people to try because it happens in the fabulously exotic, atmospheric and intimate context of Leighton House, Holland Park; it features generally rather brilliant young artists; and it hospitably supplies wine and cheese afterwards – all of which makes for a joyous experience. Apr 28 has a new string quartet, the Valegro, playing Mozart & Janáček. Go. Details: lisapeacock.co.uk