Festival Guide 2013

Chester Cathedral and Town Hall

Discover the finest classical and chamber music at the North West’s International Music Festival.

Brand new for 2013 is the creation of a specially formed chamber group consisting of 11 core players. Ensemble Deva will be made up of the finest soloists cherry-picked from the North West’s most prestigious orchestras.

As a result of this innovation, the Chester Music Festival will principally be a musicians’ festival, curated from within by the musicians themselves.

A 16 day programme of chamber music, celebratory concerts and lunchtime recitals.

Norfolk

The 62nd King’s Lynn Festival will mark both the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics with an exciting programme featuring top names from the worlds of classical and popular music, literature and jazz.

Leading the line-up will be the Philharmonia Orchestra, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Endellion String Quartet, The King’s Singers, film critic Barry Norman, pianist Freddy Kempf, guitarist Craig Ogden and jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth. The Parley of Instruments, Susanne Heinrich & Lynda Sayce, King’s Lynn Festival Chorus, historian Dr. Michael Scott author and traveller Hugh Thomson, top thriller-writer Philip Kerr, and musical comedy from Instant Sunshine.

Booking opens Monday 21 May | 01553 764864

Photo: istockphoto.com

8 – 14 October 2013

Our Chopin Festival is based in the picturesque village of Banyalbufar overlooking the sea on the glorious north coast of Mallorca, close to where Chopin spent one of the best known periods of his life, with his lover, Baroness Dudevant, better known as George Sand. Pianist Tim Horton performs in three recitals, Cellist Gemma Rosefield will join him for one as well as giving her own solo recital and the classical guitarist Morgan Szymanski will perform a programme of Spanish music. Concerts are given at the Carthusian monastery at Valldemossa and in the church in Banyalbufar

Price from £1566 for six nights including flights, accommodation with breakfast and dinner, two lunches, five exclusive Kirker concerts, a full programme of sightseeing and the services of Barry Cheeseman, the Kirker Tour Leader.

Suffolk

Since the first Aldeburgh Festival in 1948, the Suffolk coast has become a world-renowned meeting place for classical music lovers. Established by Benjamin Britten, the Festival boasts an impressive programme of superb concerts, recitals, master-classes, films, lectures, walks, and free events in Aldeburgh and on the beach, and this year is no exception. Now under Artistic Director, musicien exceptionnel Pierre-Laurent Aimard, this year celebrates Oliver Knussen’s 60th birthday with an invitation as Artist in Residence; Aldeburgh premieres of pianists Dezsö Ránki and Menahem Pressler, and cellist Miklós Perényi; and a residency of composer, Helmut Lachenmann with artists including Ensemble Modern.

Co.Galway, Ireland

The medieval town of Galway on Ireland’s west coast provides the perfect venue for this small festival, known for its excellent and innovative programmes.

This year’s festival, ‘Social Harmony: When Tradition and High Art Meet’, looks at what happens when tunes played at a peasant’s wedding find their way into the music at a castle feast, when hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes become the fashion at court, and when baroque harp discovers New World rhythms. Concerts feature François Lazarevitch and Les Musiciens de St-Julien, Andrew Lawrence-King and The Harp Consort, and Coracle.

A foot-tapping weekend of simple melody and complex harmony in the liveliest medieval town in Europe!

20 July - 4 August 2013

The Cambridge Summer Music Festival is the city’s annual festival of classical music offering outstanding musical performances in some of the city’s most historic buildings.

This year's line up will include top international performers such as Mikhail Rudy, Pascal Roge and Emma Johnson, and will feature performances of the great Brahms German Requiem, Stravinsky’s ballet music, Petrushka, and the premiere of a new piano trio from Cambridge-based composer and performer Jeremy Thurlow.

Of course the Festival is not just about classical music. We are delighted to present rising jazz star Gwilym Simcock and the leading lady of folk, Kathryn Tickell.

Glastonbury Abbey, Somerset

Orchestra in a Field is an exciting new music festival created by ‘the BBC’s pin-up conductor and resident interpretive guru’ Charles Hazlewood, bringing world-class classical music to new audiences in a relaxed, family-friendly setting. The event will feature a colourful and eclectic musical programme offering something for everyone, from Tchaikovsky to Tubular Bells by way of Opera, Hip Hop and hand bells!

Main stage concerts include Carmen; Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition; and the 1812 Overture, and a debut performance by the new British Paraorchestra. Plus, there'll be delicious food, free camping, a huge Kids Area and a Talk Tent for music-themed talks by celebrity speakers and a host of quirky but compelling acoustic performances and workshops. This is a festival like no other!

Tickets range from £18 for concession day tickets to £55 for an adult weekend ticket with 3 nights free camping thrown in. Under 13s get free entry making this a great value weekend and the perfect way to introduce kids to classical music. Tickets can be bought via the website.

Scotland

Quality abounds at the 42nd Perth Festival of the Arts. Van Morrison, Jools Holland, Sir James Galway will all headline the Festival. It will also stage three operas, host a world-class choir and a big Russian Gala Concert in the stunning Perth Concert Hall, Edwardian Theatre and the 15th century St John’s Kirk.

Sir James Galway & The English Chamber Orchestra
Van Morrison
Jools Holland &his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra
The Sixteen – Choral Pilgrimage
English Touring Opera - Cosi fan tutte, The Siege of Calais & Simon Boccanegra
The Importance of Being Earnest
Beloved Clara by Lucy Parham, Martin Jarvis & Joanna David
Jacquel Brel in Song and Dance
Horrible Histories Barmy Britain
Festival Ceilidh
Perth Youth Orchestra
Art on the River
And more to be announced...

www.perthfestival.co.uk

Wexford, Ireland

Since 1951 Wexford Festival Opera has prided itself in giving new life to unjustly neglected operas and introducing artists and audiences to forgotten masterpieces. It is in this charming seaside town where opera lovers can uncover a rare operatic treasure.

The 2013 Wexford Festival Opera will run for 12 days from Wednesday, 23 October until Sunday, 3 November. This year’s programme includes Il cappello di paglia di Firenze (The Florentine Straw Hat) by Nino Rota, a double bill of Thérese/La Navarraise by Jules Massenet and Cristina, regina di Svezia by Jacopo Foroni, plus afternoon ShortWorks, recitals, lunchtime concerts and orchestral concerts. In addition, a vibrant Fringe Festival offers a variety of events from art exhibitions through to singing and swinging pubs.

Suffolk

At venues all over town including the magnificent apex, the 2012 Bury Festival is packed with great music. Imogen Cooper, Andy Sheppard’s Trio Libero, John Williams & Richard Harvey, Viktoria Mullova’s Peasant Girl, Britten Sinfonia, Sinfonia Viva, Clare Teal and the BBC Big Band, The Sixteen, Roberto Fonseca, Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal, International Baroque Players and the Honeymead Ensemble are just some of the top artists appearing this year.

Northamptonshire

This year, we are pleased to be welcoming the Choir of Jesus College, Cambridge as resident musicians. They will be performing at many events throughout the Festival, including the Monteverdi Vespers with His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts, as well as singing at a live broadcast for BBC Radio 4.

Starting the Festival off in great style is Tasmin Little and the European Chamber Orchestra, and through the generosity of Yamaha UK, we will be featuring a number of Piano Recitals including Young-Choon Park and the exciting ‘Piano 4 Hands’ by Joseph Tong and Waka Hasgawa.

Highlights this year include: Picnic in the Park at Boughton House with Courtney Pine, Dominic Alldis Trio, Richard Suart, Prime Brass, Imropera and Babe, The Sheep Pig by Illyria!

Kent’s International Arts Festival

The 30th Canterbury Festival continues to deliver an exciting and diverse programme of arts events throughout the city, including performances in Canterbury Cathedral and the Marlowe Theatre. The Festival comprises over 200 events across two weeks including world music, theatre, dance, literature, comedy and visual arts.

The full programme will be announced in July but highlights for 2013 include the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra and the mesmerising Tallis Scholars. The programme also features pianist Yevgeny Sudbin, cellist Matthew Barley, opera singer Lesley Garrett with Emma Johnson and Andrew West, plus a special performance with Mikhail Rudy in the new Colyer-Fergusson Concert Hall.

Saint-Prex, Switzerland

St Prex Classics, is a Festival by the Lake Geneva performing internationally celebrated stars and much promising young talent on a new – technologically ground-breaking – stage, especially developed for the St Prex Classics 2012 by Lausanne’s Polytechnic University. This year, From August 23 to September 2, St Prex Classics is entering the ranks of the great Swiss summer festivals.

The old town of Saint-Prex will stage 10 outstanding concerts, which features pianists Yuja Wang, Murray Perahia, violinist Nigel Kennedy and violoncellist Gautier Capuçon, as well as Russian ballet superstars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, and the most promising young talents.

“One of the world’s best value music Festivals” Frommer’s “…an unmissable event…” BBC July 2012

Against the spectacular backdrop of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, you can feast both ears and eyes for this welcoming week. In its 44th year, the 2013 Festival programme includes celebrations of the works of Benjamin Britten and Francis Poulenc. Orchestral concerts showcase performances by The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. Other highlights include Peter Donohoe, Graffiti Classics, Dante Quartet, Gary Griffiths with Joseph Middleton, Tony Jacobs and Friends, Tenby Male Voice Choir, Dyfed Choir, St.David’s Cathedral Singers, Daniel Cook, Tim Kliphuis, Johannes Möller and Young Musicians' Platforms.

Northamptonshire

This year’s Festival sees a diverse range of music and arts offerings set around a storytelling theme. Classical music – in particular the organ – remains at the heart of our programme, but in a break with tradition jazz ensemble The Darius Brubeck Quartet will open the Festival. Annapurna Indian Dance will also have their own colourful stories to tell during a vibrant evening of traditional Indian dance. With a nod to the Olympics, internationally-acclaimed performers include Canadian string ensemble Trio Fibonacci, Australian organist Sarah Kim and Eastern European group Paprika.

Highlights this year include: Aurora Orchestra, Cantamus Girls Choir, Radio 4’s Kit Hesketh-Harvey, organist Dame Gillian Weir, Radio 2’s Folk Duo of the Year Nancy Kerr & James Fagan, and excursions to Boughton House and John Clare’s Cottage.

Hereford

A 300 year old annual choral festival with an outstanding series of concerts by our Festival Chorus, the Philharmonia Orchestra and artists of international renown, supported by a daytime programme of recitals, chamber music, lectures, theatre, jazz and masterclasses. The city of Hereford will be transformed for festival week into a musical and cultural mecca!

Programme to include Haydn The Creation, Elgar The Music Makers, Fauré Requiem, Bach St John Passion, Dyson The Canterbury Pilgrims, Berlioz Te Deum and new works by Dobrinka Tabakova, Joseph Phibbs & Judith Bingham
Guest conductors: Diego Matheuz, Martyn Brabbins
Guest artists include: Dame Felicity Lott, Julian Lloyd Webber, The King’s Singers, Sarah Connolly & John Mark Ainsley

The world’s oldest and greatest choral festival!

Cumbria

THRILLING PERFORMANCES Experience some of the world’s leading musicians and ensembles performing great repertoire.

INTIMATE VENUES Enchanting settings for chamber music blaze at the heart of our programme.

SOMETHING TO INSPIRE EVERYONE Hear orchestral concerts, rare masterpieces, family-friendly events, the latest works, and the earliest, and much more.

UNIQUE COLLABORATIONS LDSM’s resident festival provides opportunities to hear new artistic partnerships being born.

SPECIAL DEALS Book early and save up to 35% on tickets.

For full information on one of the “ten most festive festivals” in the world (Daily Telegraph) see www.ldsm.org.uk

Facebook: www.facebook.com/lakesmusic Twitter: www.twitter.com/lakesmusic

Essex

This year the Thaxted Festival will featuring another fantastic lineup with performances from the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists, Brodowski Quartet, Red Priest, The Yehudi Menuhin School Orhcestra and the Brandenburg Sinfonia!

Feel free to take a look at our website which has more information about the fifteen concerts the Thaxted Festival offers!

London

The London English Song Festival returns to the Forge this May. Award-winning pianist William Vann will accompany ten outstanding singers, including world-renowned tenor James Gilchrist, and one oboist in performances of music written by more than twenty-five English composers.

The Festival explores settings of the poetry of William Blake and Walter de la Mare, music by female composers and songs celebrating London. There are pre-concert talks by Richard Stokes and Rhian Samuel and “bring a song” coaching sessions for amateur singers.

£15 (£12 conc.) on the door or £14 (£11 conc.) in advance. “Bring a song” sessions: £10 for a 15 minute session, £2 to watch. To book tickets online, please visit www.forgevenue.org

Istanbul, Turkey

The 41st Istanbul Music Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, centres on the theme of Time and Transformation. Hosting 22 concerts with nearly 500 artists this year, the festival brings some of the world renowned virtuosos and ensembles, including Khatia Buniatishvili, Mario João Pires, Shlomo Mintz, Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Kim Kashkashian, Sol Gabetta, Magdelena Kožená, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, and Munich Chamber Orchestra. The festival's commission to Kamran Ince, "Nasreddin Hodja", will receive its world premiere by the Berlin Counterpoint Ensemble. Festival's co-commission to Peteris Vasks, a cello concerto, will be performed by Sol Gabetta and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Glasgow

Now in its third outing, The Cottier Chamber Project, part of Glasgow's West End Festival, includes 38 events, centred around the stunningly restored Cottier's Theatre. Highlights include an opening weekend hosted by the Pavel Haas Quartet; a chronological sweep through music history in our lunchtime performances at the University of Glasgow and an intriguing mixture of the familiar and the unknown in a series of 29 hour-long concerts, workshops and talks from Scotland's top ensembles and soloists at Cottier's. With a line-up that includes string, brass, wind, vocal and mixed chamber music, the festival has a treat for everyone!

14 – 21 October 2013

Join the Kungsbacka Piano Trio, Sarah-Jane Brandon and James Baillieu on the idyllic island of Ischia in the Gulf of Naples, for six exclusive concerts at La Mortella, the home of Sir William & Lady Walton.

Our concerts are held in the lovely concert hall overlooking the garden and next to the villa where the Waltons lived. We stay at the 4* Albergo San Montano in the small resort of Lacco Ameno, a few minutes’ drive from La Mortella with spectacular views overlooking the Bay of Naples.

Price from £1,998 for seven nights including flights, transfers, accommodation with breakfast, seven dinners, six exclusive Kirker concerts, a full programme of sightseeing and the services of the Kirker Tour Lecturer.

Llangollen

Six days of the best music and folk dance, and all the world in one place!

Every summer since 1947 Llangollen has staged one of the world’s most inspirational cultural festivals. Each year around 4,000 performers converge on this beautiful small Welsh town and The Royal International Pavilion; to sing and dance in the unique combination of competition, performance, and international peace and friendship. Our artists for 2012 are: Alison Balsom, Lesley Garrett, Alfie Boe, Karl Jenkins, Wynne Evans, John Owen Jones and many more.

Book your tickets now!

Switzerland

What was in 1994 merely an ambitious idea - to unite the greatest talents of the musical world in the heart of the Swiss Alps- has become the Verbier Festival which today attracts more than 40,000 people every year. The sixty concerts during this year’s 17 day event contain the ingredients which, over the last 20 years, have come to define the unique character of the Verbier Festival: musical encounters between virtuosi from around the world, a showcase of surprising young talent, and a carefully chosen repertoire. In the twenty years of its existence, the Verbier Festival has become a major draw for the world's top musicians and artists such as Evgeny Kissin, Maxim Vengerov, Hélène Grimaud, the brothers Capuçon and Martha Argerich count among its regulars. It has also become an international centre for music education and talent development. But the essential nature of the Verbier Festival is not found only in the musical programming: the festival is a complete experience which combines the beauty of the music with the magnificence of the natural environment.

This summer, the Verbier Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary!

19-28 July 2013

This Borders-based festival presents top level chamber music performed in the intimate surroundings of Picture Gallery at Paxton House, on the banks of the river Tweed. This year’s line-up includes the Endellion Quartet, Arcadia Quartet, William Berger, baritone, Alasdair Beatson, piano, Ursula Smith and Nicholas Ashton, Florilegium, Pascal Roge and Emma Johnson and Jane’s Minstrels. Pre-concert buffet suppers are available at weekends and the café is open throughout. Enjoy drinks in the courtyard and a stroll round the extensive grounds. Tickets on sale from 15 April www.hubtickets.co.uk

Cheltenham

Cheltenham Music Festival is one of the country’s most prestigious classical music events, with a programme of show-stopping concerts in Cheltenham Town Hall, Pittville Pump Room, and in cathedrals, abbeys and churches across the picturesque Cotswolds.

The 2012 line-up features some of the world’s finest musicians – including violinist Nigel Kennedy, cellist Stephen Isserlis, guitarist Milos Karadaglic, and pianists Benjamin Grosvenor, Melvyn Tan and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

Falling between the Jubilee celebrations and the Olympics, the Festival will fly the flag for the best of British music; will celebrate the 150th anniversaries of Debussy and Delius; and will focus on the years 1914-1918 in music, talks, and film.

East Sussex

We are currently planning another exciting programme of literary, musical and special events.

Last year's programme included an impressive line up of speakers, performers, musicians and special events.

Classical music lovers were treated to performances from Emma Johnson, Richard Frewer, Stephen Kovacevich, Aquarelle Guitar Quartert and the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company. The Festival staged it's first opera by Gluck and also had two world premieres by Roxanna Panufinik, performed by the Wihan String Quartet and Julie Price as well as a new composition by Paul Lewis.

Contemporary music fans enjoyed traditional Irish music by Dervish, folk and blues from Martin Simpson and Paul Lamb. The National Youth Orchestra delighted the audience with an extensive repertoire of jazz greats.

We look forward to welcoming you in 2012.

9 June - 3 July 2013, Lugano

The Martha Argerich Project, organised by the Lugano Festival, RSI Rete Due and BSI, will be held from 9 June to 3 July 2013. It will once again bring together some 50 artists around the great pianist, who will alternately take the stage in duos, chamber groups or with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana.

Pianists will include Stephen Kovacevich, Lilya Zilberstein, Gabriela Montero, Nicholas Angelich, Sergej Babayan, Polina Leschenko and Alexander Mogilevsky, while the line-up of violinists will feature Renaud Capuçon, Ilya Gringolts, Julian Rachlin and Dora Schwarzberg. Cellists Mischa Maisky and Gautier Capuçon will also perform.

There will also be an appearance by trumpeter Serge Nakariakov, who will perform at the evening concert in honour of Giuseppe Verdi and Richard Wagner. The concert has been organised to celebrate the bicentenary of the birth of the two composers, with a programme based on instrumental arrangements of their works.

Lastly, the centenary of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" will not be forgotten, with an arrangement for four pianos and percussion.

Corbridge, Northumberland

The Festival, now in its 15th year, brings more scintillating music to the glorious setting of St. Andrew’s Church, Corbridge, close to Hadrian’s Wall. The Gould Piano Trio (Lucy Gould violin, Alice Neary cello, Benjamin Frith piano), clarinettist Robert Plane and acclaimed guest musicians play works from Bohemia and England, with rarities by Vaughan Williams and York Bowen as well as by Sally Beamish, who is composer-in-residence. Beamish is represented by her Seafarer Trio with narrator Nigel Robson, her piano trio, Piobraechd and The Owl and the Pussy Cat at the Family workshop and concert.

Britten’s Phaedra, will be performed at a centenary concert, and his Jubilate in C will be sung at the Festival Service conducted by Martin Neary, which also includes Mozart’s Missa brevis K192, accompanied by Festival instrumentalists.

Florence, Italy

The 75th Festival of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino has a main leitmotiv: the voyage from the ‘Mitteleuropa’ to South America in the year that celebrates Amerigo Vespucci, in the 500th anniversary from his death. The festival opens with Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier (4 – 11 May 2012), staged by Eike Gramss, with on the podium, the Principal Conductor Zubin Mehta, who in 2012 celebrates 50 years from his debut in Florence. There is, as every year, a work specially commissioned for the Maggio, La metamorfosi (The Metamorphosis 22-25 May), by the young Italian composer Silvia Colasanti, and inspired by the text by Franz Kafka. From 31 May to 5 June, follow Bartók’s two masterpieces: The Miraculous Mandarin and Duke Bluebeard’s Castle. This is a co-production with the Saito Kinen Festival with staging and choreography by Jo Kanamori. As far as MaggioDanza (the ballet company) is concerned: the 1st event is in connection with The Miraculous Mandarin, the 2nd at Teatro della Pergola (17-20 May) with Balanchine’s choreography of Paul Hindemith’s Die vier Temperamente, followed by Susanne Linke with the music of Schönberg’s Verklärte Nacht. There will be more than 60 events in 5 weeks.

Westminster, London

In Olympic year the festival celebrates musical competition and the harmony of nations. Opening with revered viol-player Jordi Savall (above) and Le Concert des Nations, the programme includes the UK premier of Vivaldi's opera L'Olimpiade, the Dunedin Consort & Players in Bach secular cantatas, Harmonie Universelle in Georg Muffat, violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch and friends in Locatelli and Leclair, and finishes with some less than friendly operatic display when sopranos Rosemary Joshua and Mhairi Lawson enact Handel's 'Rival Queens' with the Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn. The festival's annual Westminster Abbey concert features Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day.

Lichfield

This 11-day festival centres around Lichfield’s impressive medieval cathedral and the Lichfield Garrick Theatre, and features a wide range of classical, jazz, folk and world music. 2012’s opening orchestral concert features Sir Mark Elder (pictured) conducting the Hallé in an all-English programme with mezzo soprano Alice Coote the soloist.

Ian Bostridge sings Schumann and Birmingham Bach Choir with soloists including Iestyn Davies sing Bach’s Mass in B minor, while contemporary folk band Bellowhead brings some very different sounds into Lichfield Cathedral.

Other artists include the Orchestra Of The Music Makers, the Escher Quartet, Ute Lemper, and authors Michael Rosen and Mark Kermode.

Dorset

Sherborne Abbey Festival offers five days of glorious music performed by both nationally acclaimed artists and gifted young musicians from the many fine schools around Sherborne. Twenty-two performances in all include concerts by The Tallis Scholars, The London Concertante, violinist Ruth Rogers, pianist Francesco Attesti, soprano Lesley Garrett and clarinettists Emma Johnson and Richard Hosford. Sherborne Festival Chorus will perform Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, there will be an organ recital by Simon Bell, a percussion workshop and concert by BackBeat and a talk by Michael Wright of La Folie fame. Something for everyone.

For more information and tickets:

Mayfield, East Sussex

The Mayfield Festival of Music and the Arts is an English Arts Festival primarily devoted to classical music, set in the ancient and beautiful village of Mayfield in East Sussex.

The 2012 Festival celebrates the year of the London Olympics with an impressive roster of Young Classical Olympians, together with our internationally established artists and loyal festival friends.

Highlights include a return to Mayfield by Tenebrae, plus an appearance by the sensational John Wilson Orchestra. Among others the line-up includes Sir Thomas Allen, Finzi Quartet, The Rose Trio, Sean Shibe (guitar), and the Mayfield Festival Choir performing Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle.