Cheltenham Music Festival celebrates 80th anniversary with community work and “fresh” programme

Cheltenham Music Festival celebrates 80 years in July 2025, and is marking the occasion with a “vibrant, energising” programme featuring new kinds of concerts, an exciting fresh mix of music, and charitable outreach work which aims to develop the audiences and performers of tomorrow. 

Images (left to right) Cheltenham Town Hall, Braimah Kanneh-Mason by John Davis, Isata Kanneh-Mason by Karolina Wielocha.

The Festival’s parent charity, Cheltenham Festivals, is celebrating the 80th birthday by pledging to give 80,000 children access to the arts throughout the year. Special concerts at the Festival for children and families with additional needs will create accessible spaces for enjoying music and new kinds of artists for the Festival will welcome expanding audiences.

From the BBC Concert Orchestra performing favourite themes from stage and screen to Britain’s Got Talent stars Braimah and Isata Kanneh-Mason, the Festival’s anniversary programme has something for everyone. Senegalese superstar Seckou Keita will merge classical with pop, hip-hop, afrobeat and spoken word; Dames Sarah Connolly DBE and Imogen Cooper DBE will bring their breath-taking virtuosity; large-scale orchestral concerts at both Gloucester Cathedral and Cheltenham Town Hall will offer inspiring performances of Mozart and Berlioz; and youthful voices such as guitarist Alexandra Whittingham and trumpeter Aaron Akugbo will demonstrate that classical music is alive and well – and on social media.

The Festival also finds space for a range of genres. The annual highlight concert, Mixtape, will see musicians come together for unique collaborations in an informal atmosphere. Songs From The Earth will fuse folk and jazz, while the Idrîsî Ensemble brings the traditional music of the Mediterranean to Cheltenham. An awe-inspiring production of Berlioz’s Te Deum will take over Gloucester Cathedral, and the Gesualdo Six will present intimate interpretations of Glenn Gould’s favourite composer, Orlando Gibbons.

From large orchestras to solo recitals, folk and jazz to Mozart and Bach, audiences will find inspiring musical experiences across the programme.

Images (left to right) The Gesualdo Six by Ash Mills, Songs for the Earth by Matthew Johnson, Idrîsî Ensemble.

Welcoming All Audiences

With its focus on the future of classical music, the Festival’s 80th birthday also sees the return of the acclaimed Concert for Schools for mainstream primaries and a Relaxed Concert for Schools, for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. 800 young people will attend what for many will be their first classical concert.

A Relaxed Concert for Families is new for 2025, marking the first Cheltenham Festivals event intended specifically for families with a member who has additional needs. Over 200 children, families and carers will access music in a relaxed and inclusive environment. The event is made possible by an innovative partnership with the financial planning firm Attivo, whose support is enabling the charity to expand its SEND programming across its Festivals in 2025.

Elsewhere, a free ...around town programming strand will pack out venues across Cheltenham, offering free performances in informal settings. With emerging ensembles also welcomed onto the largest Festival stages, Cheltenham is in its 80th year re-asserting itself as one of the critical national centres for the best in music.

“Vibrant and Energising”

First established in 1945 following the Second World War, Cheltenham has always seen itself as a guardian of classical music – and a place for new work and new voices to come to the fore.  

“Our 80th year showcases every aspect of what makes Cheltenham Music Festival special today,” says the Festival’s Artistic Director, Jack Bazalgette. “This includes an emphasis on new work, and we have commissioned beautiful music from Deborah Pritchard and Anna Semple for 2025 to open and close the Festival.”

Fittingly, the 2025 season’s closing concert will also feature a performance by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Cheltenham Town Hall of pieces by Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten that were part of its very first concerts. Alongside a commitment to expanding the reach of the Festival and giving back to the community through charitable work, 2025 looks set to be an exciting year of celebration

“We’re renewing our legacy in 2025 with a birthday party to be proud of,” says Bazalgette. “Everyone is welcome!”