2023 Cheltenham Music Festival programme revealed

Cheltenham Music Festival - 8-15 July 2023

From world premieres at Cheltenham Town Hall and emerging talent in the Pittville Pump Room to a rule-free event in DEYA Brewery Taproom, the Festival will once again bring together music from across the classical spectrum, in venues across town.

Cheltenham Music Festival continues to spark musical curiosity and celebrate classical music’s vivacity through its 2023 Festival line-up. Across eight days (8-15 July), venues around Cheltenham will be filled with wide-ranging musical offerings from leading international artists and young up-and-coming talent.

The 2023 line-up reflects the Festival’s aim to bring high-quality classical and contemporary classical music to a wider audience, showcasing the vibrancy that classical music has to offer. Venues range from Cheltenham Town Hall and Pittville Pump Room to the DEYA Brewery Taproom, The Old Courthouse and historic Regency-era Cheltenham drawing rooms.

Michael Duffy, Head of Programming at Cheltenham Music Festival, commented: “It's a pleasure to share this year's Cheltenham Music Festival programme, which is inspired by both our heritage and our future. The festival celebrates the vibrancy of classical music today. I'm delighted we're welcoming artists who are pushing the boundaries and innovating, alongside the very best of next-generation talent. We feature music by 40 living composers, including five Cheltenham Festivals commissions. I hope that audiences will indulge their curiosity and enjoy the wide range of experiences on offer, from music in the splendour of Cheltenham Town Hall and the Pittville Pump Room to an intimate musical tour of private drawing rooms and our popular Mixtape at DEYA Brewery.

Unmissable highlights of the Cheltenham Music Festival 2023

− Championing new music with world premieres of works by James B Wilson [8 July], Soosan Lolavar [9 July] and Aileen Sweeney [9 July] plus performances of newly commissioned works by James MacMillan [9 July], and Laurence Osborn [14 July]

− Byrdwatching, an interactive and exclusive musical tour of Cheltenham’s private drawing rooms, celebrating Byrd’s 400th anniversary, including a newly commissioned work by Aileen Sweeney, an alumna/alumnus of Cheltenham’s Composer Academy [9 July]

− A morning series at Pittville Pump Room featuring leading international artists including Mark Simpson [8 July] and Pavel Kolesnikov [15 July], as well as BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Hugh Cutting [10 July], the Leonkoro Quartet (with pianist Elisabeth Brauß) [10 July], Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha [11 July], Kunal Lahiry [11 July], the Mithras Trio [12 July], and James Newby with Jan Philip Schulze [13 July]

− Platforming exciting young artists including the 2012 winner of BBC Young Musician Laura van der Heijden [14 July], and 2022 winner Jordan Ashman [11 July]

− A variety of electronic programmes, including two late-night sets at the Old Courthouse with Laura Cannell [8 July] and Rakhi Singh [14 July]; Sound Voice, a new audio-visual experience exploring voice loss [8-15 July]; and Anna Meredith’s ANNO, a stunning reimagining of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons featuring Scottish Ensemble and electronics [15 July]

− The Festival's popular, accessible and genre-bending Mixtape event returns in a brand-new setting at Cheltenham’s innovative DEYA Brewery Taproom [12 July]

− A genre-crossing programme exploring unsettling film music and classical music fixation with death from 12 Ensemble and GBSR Duo, featuring a co-commissioned 21st-century tombeau from Laurence Osborn and a brand-new arrangement of Brian Eno’s Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror [14 July]

− The 10th anniversary of the Cheltenham Music Festival Composer Academy, which supports composers taking their first steps into a professional career. This year’s participants will work with course leader – and alumnus of the first Academy – Daniel Kidane and have their works premiered by The Carice Singers [13-14 July]

---

For full line-up visit - cheltenhamfestivals.com/music

Members’ Priority Booking opens on 24 March 2023. Find out more - cheltenhamfestivals.com/membership

General public sale opens on 31 March 2023