When we think of shards we think of something broken, shattered into tiny fragments. But have you ever marvelled at the beauty that can emerge from such small shards? It might be a ray of sunlight catching in a piece of glass, a doubled reflection in a cracked mirror, a speck of light refracted through a teardrop, or the autumnal sun breaking through the clouds and lighting up the world below.

Spanning the centuries from Arvo Pärt’s kaleidoscopic minimalism, a set of Renaissance dances and folk music from Eastern Europe, to Stockhausen’s twelve tone music and a newly commissioned piece by Simone Cardini, this programme traces the subtle changes in the simplest patterns — changes that can turn darkness into light, sadness to joy, something old into something new.