Elgar Festival
24 May 2025 to 01 June 2025
24 May - 1 June
at locations in Worcester and Malvern
The annual celebration of Sir Edward Elgar’s music in Worcester and Malvern. Orchestral and ensemble concerts, world-renowned guest artists and Worcester’s very own featured composer, Ian Venables, plus immersive events for all the family - this is ‘Elgar for Everyone’!
Concerts and events are individually priced and continue throughout the day. All concerts at the Elgar Festival offer free entry for under 18s accompanied by full-paying adults. Many other events are free-of-charge including relaxed concerts, talks, film and an exhibition.
Details of how to book tickets are provided on the website at the bottom of this page.
The annual celebration of Sir Edward Elgar’s music. Symphonic and ensemble concerts are given by the Festival’s orchestra-in-residence, the English Symphony Orchestra under Principal Conductor and Festival Artistic Director, Kenneth Woods.
World-renowned guest artists taking part include Raphael Wallfisch, Gareth Brynmor John, April Fredrick, Simon Callaghan and David Briggs. Worcester’s very own Ian Venables is celebrated as Featured Composer Since its inception in 2018, the annual Elgar Festival has grown from a weekend to a 9-day celebration of the life and music of Worcester’s most famous son and Britain’s great composer, Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), held at a number of integral venues of both historic interest and personal significance to the composer including Worcester Cathedral and Guildhall, St George’s RC Church and Great Malvern Priory.
GALA CONCERT IN WORCESTER CATHEDRAL Kenneth Woods will conduct the Festival Gala Concert in Worcester Cathedral when the English Symphony Orchestra performs Elgar’s Symphony no.2 and John Ireland’s oratorio ‘These Things Shall Be’ joined by the Festival Chorus and baritone soloist Gareth Brynmor John. Also featured in the concert will be a work by this year’s featured composer Ian Venables, entitled ‘Out of the Shadows’, in a World Premiere of the orchestral version.
“BRITAIN’S GREATEST LIVING COMPOSER OF ART SONGS” CELEBRATED AS FEATURED COMPOSER Ian Venables has made his home in Worcester and celebrates his 70th birthday in 2025. He is acclaimed as “Britain’s greatest living composer of art songs” by Musical Opinion, and as “a song composer as fine as Finzi and Gurney” by BBC Music. For those unfamiliar with Venables’ work, a film screening of ‘Hidden Music’; a biographical journey through the composer’s music, will explore the life of one of the country’s most respected composers, with contributions from Roderick Williams, Alessandro Fisher, Simon Heffer and Stephen Johnson amongst others. This will be followed by a Q&A with the composer himself hosted by Classic FM’s Zeb Soanes alongside chamber works.
CHORAL AND VOCAL SHOWCASE The abundance and variety of choral and song repertoire is showcased by the region’s well-loved ensembles at the Elgar Festival, represented this year in a programme of Part Songs by Elgar, Parry and Stanford performed by the Proteus Ensemble; an acclaimed Midlands chamber choir directed by Stephen Shellard. The Jenny Lind Singers - a virtuosic female voice choir named after the ‘Swedish Nightingale’ under the leadership of Lynne Lindner - provide a chance to hear works by Errolyn Wallen, Master of the Kings Music, and award-winning Worcestershire-based composer, Liz Dilnot Johnson. The Elgar Chorale perform works by Elgar, Coleridge-Taylor, Stanford and Ian Venables under the direction of Piers Maxim.
Also in recital, soprano April Fredrick, who is well-known to audiences for her many fine performances and recordings with the ESO, will be joined by Eric McElroy; “one of the leading composer-pianists of his generation'', for a performance of his own song-cycle, ‘A Dead Man’s Embers’ alongside works by Lennox Berkeley, Ian Venables and Elgar and to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Arthur Bliss.
ENGLISH STRING ‘GREATS’ AND NEW DISCOVERIES There are a number of opportunities to hear players from the English Symphony Orchestra, as orchestra-in-residence at the Elgar Festival, in romances and serenades for wind quintet and chamber orchestra by Elgar, Mozart and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was championed by Elgar himself. British composers have been at the forefront in writing some of the world’s most beautiful and accomplished music for strings throughout the 20th century and perhaps no other orchestra has done more to champion the tradition of British music for strings as the English String Orchestra.
Always highly anticipated, this year’s concert features award-winning viola soloist Rosalind Ventris and programmes works by Elgar, Peter Fribbins and Ian Venables, concluding with William Walton’s thrilling Sonata for Strings, arranged from his String Quartet no. 2. Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra, which Elgar helped to found in 1905, will perform popular works by Elgar and Mozart and a more recent discovery, ‘Cringlemire Garden’ by Ruth Gipps (1921-1999); a pastoral miniature inspired by the Lake District and first heard at Birmingham Town Hall in 1952.
The Elgar Festival is delighted to be welcoming esteemed organ virtuoso, David Briggs, who can be heard performing the organ arrangement of Elgar’s Symphony no.1, alongside a work by Ian Venables dedicated to composer Herbert Howells. Entitled ‘Elgar: A Critic’s View’, this year’s AT Shaw Lecture is to be given by long-time music critic and reviewer from the Birmingham Post, Christopher Morley.
Cellist Raphael Wallfisch and pianist Simon Callaghan bring the Festival to a close with an intimate programme of works by British composers Kenneth Leighton and Ian Venables alongside John Ireland’s powerfully intense Cello Sonata and Elgar’s Violin Sonata in the arrangement for cello and piano by Donald Fraser.
PARTICIPATORY EVENTS FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS As a major community event with a commitment to attract the widest possible audience, the Elgar Festival provides inspiring performance opportunities for children, young people and adults through initiatives including the ‘Elgar for Everyone’ Family Concert, Young Composers’ Competition, Elgar Festival Chorus, and by way of masterclasses and workshops, giving hundreds of people the chance to participate. Amongst the youth courses is a new performance partnership with students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
The ‘Elgar for Everyone’ Family Concert in Worcester Cathedral is to be presented by Classic FM broadcaster Zeb Soanes and provides a platform for ESO Youth Orchestras and Ensembles - young musicians from across the Midlands’ region. During the concert there will be the opportunity to hear the winning entries from this year’s Young Composers’ Competition.
Other participatory events include ‘Come and Play Elgar 1’ and a Young Singers Masterclass, where students work on a song of their choice by a British composer with soprano April Fredrick and featured composer Ian Venables.
‘ELGAR FOR EVERYONE’ FREE AND INFORMAL EVENTS Informal events include a performance by Worcester Concert Brass - also free-of-charge - in Cathedral Square, and early evening Club Elgar at West Malvern Social Club featuring a Retro 70’s Fusion where 70’s fancy dress is recommended!
‘In Elgar’s Footsteps’ is a guided walk from the top of the Malvern Hills to St Wulstan’s Church culminating with a short recital, while Festival Evensong in the Cathedral is a fitting conclusion celebrating the music of Edward Elgar and Ian Venables and to which all are invited to attend.
