While the pandemic saw plenty of musicians embrace impromptu concertising from their bedrooms, others, it appears, reached for an easel and paintbrush. Now, a three-day British chamber music festival aims to show how musicians, from pianists like Stephen Hough and Roger Vignoles to cellists like Nathaniel Boyd and Moray Welsh, are also gifted artists. Entitled the Fermata Festival, four live concerts will take place in conjunction with a visual art exhibition, and the good news for Australians who can’t get to London right now is the paintings are all for sale online.

Yuri Kalnits and Julia Morneweg

It’s the idea of Moscow-born London-resident violinist Yuri Kalnits and London-based cellist Julia Morneweg who run ChamberMusicBox, a collective of British and European artists promoting concerts across the UK. The festival will form part of the 2021 Kensington and Chelsea Art Week and the exhibition of 100 artworks created by classical musicians during lockdown has been curated by gallery owner and arts consultant Alan Kluckow.

“As the dark winter days dragged on, more and more artworks made their way onto Julia’s and my social media,” explains Kalnits, whose award-winning Weinberg cycle was recently reviewed by...