To mark Southwell Music Festival’s tenth anniversary, the composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad and poet Kate Wakeling are creating a new work for choir and string orchestra. This new piece will celebrate the power and possibilities of music and be premiered at the 2024 Festival.

Cheryl and Kate would like to invite the community of people who support the Festival to contribute to the text for this vocal work. In constructing the libretto, Kate will create a series of mosaic-like new poems which include transcribed snippets of comments and reflections about music from the Southwell Music Festival community.

For this, we’d love for you to take part.

How to get involved

We’d love to include your reflections in this libretto. If you’d like to contribute to this text, you are invited to respond to one (or more!) of the following questions:

• Can you tell us about a time music made you feel joyful?
• Can you tell us about a time music offered you comfort or solace?
• Can you tell us about a time music brought you closer to other people?
• Can you tell us about a time music brought you a feeling of peace and calm?
• Do you have a strong early memory of hearing or participating in music that you could share?
• What is the most important thing about music for you?
• What do you think a world without music would be like?

Feel free to answer as many (or as few) questions as you like! And the more informal and spontaneous these responses are the better. We’re keen to think of this like the start of a conversation among friends.

As you look through these questions, be reassured that all contributions to the project will be carefully anonymised in their usage in the libretto and will be not shared with anyone beyond the writer and composer.

Sharing your response

We’re inviting you to share your responses through email. Please send your responses to southwell.and.music@gmail.com

Important note

In sending us a message, you consent to its possible use in this new work. As noted above, all contributions will be carefully anonymised in their use in the libretto. However, if you’d be happy for your name to be listed as one of the contributors to the project, please indicate this in your message or email.

That’s everything

With huge thanks for taking the time to engage with this project. Any questions or concerns please feel free to email us at southwell.and.music@gmail.com and we’ll do our best to get back to you when we can.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts – and to meeting you at the 2024 festival!

Southwell Music Festival 2023 kicks of on Friday (25 August), with fours days of sensational live music across venues in the town. 

If you’re coming to the Festival (or maybe you still need to book your tickets), here’s the essential information you need to make the most of your Southwell Music Festival weekend.

Visit the Festival Hub (new location!)

The Festival Hub is this year located at Trebeck Hall on Bishop’s Drive. At the Festival Hub you can:

• Buy tickets for concerts – discover what’s on and buy tickets
• Buy your souvenir programme book (£5) and browse the range of Festival merchandise
• Festival Friends can pick up their Membership cards and buy tickets to the Sunday Friends’ Reception event
• Meet our volunteer Festival Makers, who are here to answer your questions and help make the 2023 Festival as brilliant as ever

Festival Hub opening times are:
Wednesday 23 August: 9am – 6pm
Thursday 24 August: 9am – 6pm
Friday 25 August: 8.30am – 9.30pm
Saturday 26 August: 8.30am – 7.30pm
Sunday 27 August: 8.30am – 7.30pm
Monday 28 August: 8.30am – 3.30pm

What’s on in the Festival Marquee

The Festival Marquee – to be found in the beautiful surroundings of the Palace Gardens – and is a popular meeting place for audiences and performers alike. 

This year the Marquee will be serving drinks, including tea and coffee, plus light snacks and is open until 11pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (closes at 2pm on Monday). Full opening times are on our website.

On Sunday at 1.30pm the Marquee becomes a jazz venue, with a performance from the Hugh Pascall Quintet. Tickets can be booked online.

And on Monday, join us at 1pm for free Music in the Marquee – grab a drink and enjoy! No booking required.

Marquee opening times are:
Friday 25 August: 3.30pm – 11pm
Saturday 26 August: 11am – 11pm
Sunday 27 August: 1pm – 11pm
Monday 28 August: 12pm – 2pm

Grab a bite to eat

If you are attending an evening concert you can pre-book a two-course Meal in the Marquee. Each evening there is a set menu with a vegan and gluten-free option available. Meals must be booked in advance – find out more and book online.

The Minster Refectory will also be open each day of the Festival, and on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 August, will be serving hot meals until 7pm. Advance booking is recommended. Please call 01636 815691.

The Festival Marquee in the Palace Garden will also be serving drinks, including tea and coffee, plus light snacks.

More about food and drink options in and around Southwell.

Support the Festival Fringe

The Festival Fringe is a selection of free performances taking place across the Festival. No booking is required, just turn up. This year the Festival Fringe is raising money for Trent Dementia.

Songs of Love & Passion (feat. Nottingham Young Musician Benjamin Staniforth) 
Friday 25 August, 3pm, Southwell Methodist Church

Pop-up jazz with Hugh Pascall
Saturday 26 August, various times and venues

Music for Ceramics in Southwell
Sunday 27 August, from 10am, Market Place

Annie McChrystal (piano recital)
Monday 28 August, 11am, Southwell Methodist Church

Introducing your 2023 Southwell Music Festival lineup.

This is the most varied Southwell Music Festival programme yet, with something for everyone including choral, baroque and chamber music, jazz and folk, the return of the free Festival Fringe and a brand-new Musical Picnic.

Tickets go on sale on Monday 19 June, with Festival Friends enjoying Priority Booking.

The 2023 Festival runs from Friday 25 – Monday 28 August, welcoming professional musicians and performers from across the UK, as well as shining a spotlight on the best of Nottinghamshire’s home-grown talent.

Acclaimed pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason makes a welcome return to the Festival for a headline recital at Southwell Minster on Saturday 26 August. Jeneba performed at the very first Southwell Music Festival back in 2014, aged just 11 and is the third of the Kanneh-Mason clan to establish herself as a soloist.

For classical fans, Saturday evening sees the Festival Baroque Sinfonia take you on a journey through the seasons in all their musical glory with a performance of Vivaldi’s iconic Four Seasons. And on Sunday, the Baroque Sinfonia is joined by the Festival Voices for a celebration of Handel to mark this coronation year, including performances of his Coronation Anthems and fabulous showcase for choir, Dixit Dominus.

We always like to bring moving and atmospheric choral music to the awe-inspiring Minster, regularly performing work by contemporary composers. This year the Festival Voices perform contemporary choral works alongside the poetry of writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou for a Friday evening concert of music and words to encourage, challenge, and inspire.

For folk and jazz enthusiasts, fiddler and composer Aidan O’Rourke returns to Southwell, joining forces with pioneering piper Brìghde Chaimbeul for a Friday lunchtime Festival Folk gig. Nottinghamshire-based jazz trumpeter Hugh Pascall is also back with his quintet for a Sunday afternoon of jazz in the Festival Marquee, plus watch out for Hugh’s free pop-up performances in locations across the town on the Saturday.

Head to Southwell Minster’s stunning Palace Gardens for a Musical Picnic – a free Saturday afternoon of music, workshops and fun for all. Make your own percussion instrument, play along with the Nottingham Samba Collective and enjoy performances from the Phoenix Saxophone Orchestra and talented young musicians from The Minster School.

For those with a love of singing, make sure to book your place at this year’s Come and Sing – the opportunity to fine-tune your vocal skills and perform alongside professional singers, culminating in an informal performance of Vivaldi’s Gloria, accompanied by the Festival Baroque Sinfonia.

As always, the free Festival Fringe brings even more music to Southwell, this year raising money for Trent Dementia. Fringe performers include Nottingham Young Musician winner Benjamin Staniforth and pianist Annie McChrystal. For the first time musicians will also bring classical, folk and jazz sounds to Ceramics in Southwell in the Market Square on Sunday.

Early-career musicians will be playing a central role, as part of the Festival’s apprenticeship scheme for string players and singers. Asaka Quartet from the Royal Academy of Music and alumni from the acclaimed Genesis Sixteen programme will play alongside established professionals and present their own concerts. Local young musicians will also receive expert tuition from Festival artists in the annual Masterclass.

I am proud that this is our most varied programme yet, with something for everyone including choral, baroque and chamber music, jazz and folk, the return of the free Festival Fringe and the brand-new Musical Picnic. With such a jam-packed programme I suggest you decamp to Southwell for the August Bank Holiday Weekend!

Marcus Farnsworth, Southwell Music Festival Artistic Director

The Festival brochure is available to pick up in all the usual local places in and around Southwell, or you can view the brochure online. Information about each concert can be found via our Online Box Office.

When can I book tickets?

Festival Friends enjoy Priority Booking for all ticketed events. Why not join today in order to secure your tickets for this year’s Festival? Membership starts from £50 – join the Friends.

💫Platinum Friends – Monday 15 May
💫Gold Friends – Monday 29 May
💫Silver Friends – Monday 5 June
💫Bronze Friends – Monday 12 June
💫Public Booking – Monday 19 June

Tickets can be booked online or by calling the Box Office on 01636 330014 (Mon – Fri, 9am – 7pm).

Southwell Music Festival seeks an exceptionally organised part-time administrator to support the Festival Management team with artist management and general administration. This is a fixed-term role that is contracted between May – September 2023.

Full details, including job description, salary and how to apply can be found here. The closing date for applications is 5pm on Monday 10th April 2023. Interviews will take place online on Monday 17th April.

Do you love music and have some time to spare?

Southwell Music Festival is looking for new volunteers to join the team. Volunteer roles include:

• Stewards
• Hosts
• Drivers
• Sound and lighting assistants
• Fundraiser

Why not volunteer with us this summer? Want to find out more?

Join us at our Volunteer Coffee Morning on Saturday 4 March to discover more about the festival, our volunteer roles and how you can play an important part in supporting what we do.

The Volunteer Coffee Morning takes place at the Old Theatre Deli (upstairs) in Southwell Town Centre, from 11am – 12.30pm. Drop in to meet our team and find out more. We can’t wait to meet you!