Classical meets contemporary: The 78th Cheltenham Music Festival honours its heritage and looks to the future

Cheltenham Music Festival has closed another year’s vibrant programming with a remarkable performance by the lauded Scottish Ensemble featuring a striking reimagining of Vivaldi by Anna Meredith.

This finale offered an expression of the Festival in miniature: across eight days of performances, Cheltenham played host to musicians of international reputation who paid heartfelt tributes to the heritage of classical music… while looking forward to its exciting future.

The Festival welcomed the cream of the current UK classical music scene to Cheltenham, including headlining Town Hall concerts from Manchester Collective and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; recitals at the Festival’s signature venue, the Regencyera Pittville Pump Room, from BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and Kunal Lahiry and musicians from the UK’s first majority ethnically diverse orchestra, Chineke!; and leading-edge performances in venues as diverse as local brewery DEYA and the town’s converted Old Courthouse from musicians including Rakhi Singh and Laura Cannell.

From the 1930s popular songs of exile written by German and Austrian émigrés performed at Pittville by rising baritone James Newby to the two Bach programmes performed in twin recitals by the Dunedin Consort, the programme covered a swathe of what classical music is, and included several world premieres and new commissions: Soosan Lolavar, James MacMillan, Laurence Osborne, Aileen Sweeney and James B Wilson all composed brand new works which saw their first performances this year at Cheltenham.
 

Images by Still Moving Media
 

“Cheltenham has always had a focus on contemporary classical music, since its inception 78 years ago,” said Michael Duffy, Head of Programming for the Festival. “We're proud to both honour classical music's heritage and bring it into conversation with what the artform can be today. That's where the future of the Festival lies, and this year it's proven incredibly satisfying artistically, for both the musicians and our audiences.”

In one event, William Byrd’s 400th anniversary was marked with a tour of some of the spa town’s historic privately-owned drawing rooms, where in each one an ensemble performed some of the English Renaissance great’s music. These were joined by Sweeney’s new commission, fusing old and new in a single, dynamic programme. Similarly, emerging choral group The Carice Singers performed Lolavar’s premiere alongside the music of Vaughan Williams, while the 12 Ensemble and GBSR Duo performed Osborn’s TOMB! alongside Brian Eno and Harold Budd’s Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror.
 

Inspiring audiences and musicians of the future from across Gloucestershire

Through a carefully-planned Learning and Participation strand, the Festival also inspired audiences and musicians of the future from across Gloucestershire. A programme of music workshops in mainstream and Special Educational Needs & Disability (SEND) schools took 330 children on a trip through the “Musiverse” before the Festival even began, and more schools will enjoy this experience in December.

During the Festival, two bespoke Concerts for Schools - one of which was a relaxed event specifically designed for pupils in SEND schools - offered another 800 children a vibrant experience of live classical music. Both concerts were followed by the opportunity to meet the musicians and play, often for the first time, a range of instruments. All this took place alongside a family programme including the CBSO’s Musical Storytime event and MishMash Ensemble’s engaging, interactive style of woodwind play.

From these events to free performances across Cheltenham as part of the Festival’s “…around town” strand, run in collaboration with Cheltenham BID, the Festival takes seriously its commitment to expanding audiences and encouraging new talent. Its Composer Academy project, now entering its tenth year, offers mentorship to early-career composers from Daniel Kidane and The Carice Singers, showcasing their work in two showcase “Composium” concerts during the Festival. A striking performance from 2022 BBC Young Musician of the Year Jordan Ashman further emphasised Cheltenham’s place at the heart of the UK’s classical music talent development pipeline.

“We couldn’t be prouder of what this year’s Cheltenham Music Festival has achieved,” said Ali Mawle, co-CEO at Cheltenham Festivals, the charity which organises the Festival alongside its Jazz, Literature and Science festivals each year. “From continuing to curate the chamber music that forms so famous a strand of our Festival to building the next generation of exciting and electronic contemporary music, Cheltenham really is the place to come to sample the breadth of the current musical scene. It has been an honour to listen to all these recitals and concerts – and to begin to think about where the music might go next year! We are so grateful to our audiences, volunteers and performers for joining us in a week of inspiring musical adventure.”

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For more unmissable events read our guide to summer events in Cheltenham and our ultimate annual Cheltenham festivals guide.