Announcing our 10th anniversary programme
Southwell Music Festival returns for a music-filled August Bank Holiday weekend.
This year’s 10th anniversary Festival will see Southwell teeming with musicians as we celebrate our town and the universal language of music. Our programme promises something for everyone, with music ranging from the medieval to the modern and everything in between. Read on for more programme details and to start planning your Festival weekend.
Tickets go on sale on Monday 17 June, with Festival Friends enjoying Priority Booking.
Tickets start from just £5, and with free events too, we hope to see familiar faces and new ones for this special anniversary year!
You can pick up our 2024 brochure in all the usual local places in and around Southwell, or you can view this digital version. Festival Friends will receive a copy in the post, along with details about how to book in your Priority Booking period.
Here are some of the highlights from this year’s jam-packed programme:
- Celebrated tenor Mark Padmore is our first-ever artist-in-residence, performing in several concerts across the Festival, including a Saturday afternoon English Song Recital where he will perform a distinctive selection of English songs from composers old and new, as well as Benjamin Britten’s song cycle Winter Words.
- On Sunday evening, the Festival Voices and Festival Sinfonia come together to perform Mozart’s Requiem. Joined by a cast of superb soloists, this promises to be a memorable performance of a great masterpiece.
- The Sunday evening concert will open with the world premiere of a new work by composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad and poet Kate Wakeling. Specially commissioned by Southwell Music Festival to mark this anniversary year, With What Sudden Joy features the words of Southwell residents and school children who were asked to share their personal perspectives on the power of music.
- British jazz singer and lyricist Norma Winstone brings unforgettable tunes and inspiring improvisations to Southwell for a Friday afternoon performance.
- Folk trio Leveret bring their unique sounds and approach to music-making to the Festival Marquee on Sunday afternoon.
- Fans of opera and musicals can experience a showstopper of a Saturday evening and hear stellar performances of some of the greatest tunes ever written for stage at our A Night at the Opera! concert.
- The Musical Picnic is back for its second year. Head to the Minster’s Palace Gardens for a Saturday afternoon of free music, workshops and fun for all. Pre-booking is essential.
- The free Festival Fringe returns for 2024, this year raising money for Beaumond House Hospice.
The Festival also sees the return of its unique Surround Sounds series in the intimate setting of the Chapter House, a Live and Late performance of Beethoven’s hauntingly beautiful String Quartet No. 15, a celebration of medieval repertoire and a performance exploring the scandalous life of poet Lord Byron.
Head to our What’s On page to explore the programme or download the digital brochure.
