New year, new faces at Southwell Music Festival

With 2026 promising to be another bumper year for Southwell Music Festival, we start the year by welcoming new General Manager, Peter Siepmann, who will play a leading role in planning and delivering the Festival.

Peter joins Southwell Music Festival from Peterborough Cathedral, where he has been working as a Fundraising Officer. This follows almost twenty years in music education at Uppingham School and Repton School, where he was Head of Academic Music. A local Southwell resident, Peter is also an active performing musician, serving as Director of Music at Nottingham Cathedral and Conductor of the Nottingham Bach Choir.

Peter says:

I am excited to be joining a Festival that is so uniquely embedded in its local community, where the warmth, joy and spirit in which music-making happens are as important as the world-class quality of the resulting performances. I am very much looking forward to working with Marcus Farnsworth and the whole team of hugely committed and hard-working volunteers, as together we shape the next chapter of this wonderful Festival.

Announcing new Southwell Music Festival Patrons

The Festival has also recently appointed three new Patrons: writer, public speaker and lecturer Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason; Wigmore Hall Artistic and Executive Director John Gilhooly; and Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward.

Speaking of his appointment, John Gilhooly says:

It’s a great honour to become a patron of such a forward-looking and innovative festival which continues to have both local and national impact. I wish it every success and look forward to many visits.

We thank Kadiatu, John, and Claire for their continued support of Southwell Music Festival, and warmly welcome Peter to the Festival team.