| The Jubilee Elgar Festival www.elgarfestival.org 3 – 5 June 2022 in Worcester, the heart of Elgar Country GALA CONCERT Vaughan Williams Te Deum Ian Venables’ The Song of the Severn – World Premiere of orchestral version Elgar Spirit of England and In the South Performed in Worcester Cathedral by the resident English Symphony Orchestra, conductor Kenneth Woods with Elgar Festival Chorus British song showcase: baritone Marcus Farnsworth and pianist and composer Eric McElroy George Walker, David Matthews, John Joubert, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Doreen Carwithen |
| FULL PROGRAMME Friday 3 June 2022 at 1:00pm Tickets – £12 Huntingdon Hall, Worcester WR1 2ES Lunchtime Song Recital https://elgarfestival.org/huntingdon-hall-recital1/ Marcus Farnsworth, baritone Eric McElroy, pianist Elgar Rondel from Three Songs, Op. 16 (1885-1894) Is She Not Passing Fair? (1886) Speak, My Heart! (1903) Eric McElroy The Fetch (2019) John Joubert The Right Human Face (2018) (world premiere) John Ireland Sea Fever (1913) The Three Ravens (1920) Great Things (1925) Eric McElroy A Short Story of Falling (2021) Friday 3 June 2022 at 9:30pm Tickets – £10 Worcester Guildhall, High St, Worcester WR1 2EY Two for Tango: Club Elgar with Sophie Rosa (violin) and Miloš Milivojević (accordion) https://elgarfestival.org/club-elgar/ Programme includes: Piazzolla Histoire du Tango Libertango Grigoras Dinicu Hora Martiscione Pasona Kolo Traditional Dance Melody Bartok Romanian Dances Brahms Hungarian Dances Sarasate Ziegunerweisen Monti Czardas Violinist Sophie Rosa and accordion virtuoso Miloš Milivojević join forces for this evening of music for violin and accordion duo: an exploration of Argentine Tango, folk dances, virtuoso pyrotechnics and much more! Friday 3 June 2022 at 7:00pm Tickets – £16 Worcester Guildhall, High St, Worcester WR1 2EY https://elgarfestival.org/english-string-orchestra-worcester-guildhall/ English String Orchestra Kenneth Woods, conductor Elgar arr. Donald Fraser Nursery Suite (world premiere) George Walker Lyric for Strings David Matthews Shiva Dances (world premiere) Doreen Carwithen Lento for Strings Elgar Introduction and Allegro A Jubilee celebration of the unparalleled legacy of British string music, culminating in Elgar’s masterpiece for strings, the Introduction and Allegro. The programme also includes a thrilling new work from composer David Matthews written in homage of the Introduction and Allegro, and a new arrangement of Elgar’s Nursery Suite, written to celebrate the birth of Princess Margaret and dedicated to her, Her Majesty The Queen and the Queen Mother. The programme also includes Doreen Carwithen’s touching Lento for Strings and the Lyric for Strings in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of American composer, George Walker. Saturday 4 June 2022 at 11.00am Tickets – £8 St Martin’s in the Cornmarket, Worcester WR1 2DJ The Elgar Chorale in Concert https://elgarfestival.org/4-june-2022-at-11-00-am-the-elgar-chorale-in-concert/ Worcester’s own Elgar Choral present an engaging programme of choral settings of psalms by Elgar and other leading composers of his generation. O Hearken Thou – Psalm settings by Elgar and his contemporaries God omnipotent reigneth – Charles Wood O hearken thou – Elgar Two Unaccompanied Anthems – Charles Wood Out of the Deep Bow down thine ear The king of love my shepherd is – Bairstow Organ solo: Postlude in D minor Op.105 No.6 – Stanford Lord, I call upon thee – Bairstow The Lord is my shepherd – Stanford Light of the world – Elgar The Elgar Chorale Piers Maxim, Conductor Paul Trepte, Organ Saturday 4 June 2022 at 1:30pm – FREE entry St Martin’s, London Road, 157B London Rd, Worcester WR5 2ED Roundtable Discussion – Coleridge Taylor and Elgar https://elgarfestival.org/roundtable-discussion/ A diverse panel of musicians, historians and thinkers examine the issues of race and culture experienced by composer Samuel Coleridge Taylor, a composer of mixed race who Elgar actively supported. Hosted by Ian Skelly Panelists and details TBC Saturday 4 June 2022 at 3:00pm Tickets £12.00 St Martin’s, London Road, 157B London Rd, Worcester WR5 2ED The Carice Singers – Hark to those Sounds! https://elgarfestival.org/the-carice-singers/ Elgar The shower Coleridge-Taylor By the lone sea-shore Elgar The fountain Elgar 5 Part-songs from the Greek Anthology Coleridge-Taylor Summer is gone Elgar My love dwelt in a northern land Elgar Death on the hills Coleridge-Taylor Dead in the Sierras Coleridge-Taylor The fair at Almachara Rebecca Clarke Music, when soft voices die Elgar Serenade Coleridge-Taylor All my stars forsake me Coleridge-Taylor The lee-shore Details/biogs: Under their director George Parris, The Carice Singers are becoming well-known for superb performances and imaginative programmes. In their Elgar Festival debut they explore the dramatic part-songs of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor alongside those by Elgar, who described Coleridge-Taylor as “far away the cleverest fellow going amongst the young men”. Comparing and performing these choral songs side-by-side shows a predilection from both composers for landscapes, seascapes, ghosts and legends, revealing along the way some uncanny reflections and many innovations in choral writing. Saturday 4 June 2022 at 5:45pm (FREE entry) The Royal Porcelain Works, Severn St, Worcester WR1 2NE The A.T. Shaw Lecture https://elgarfestival.org/4-june-2022-at-545-pm-the-a-t-shaw-lecture-at-the-royal-porcelain-works/ Christopher Grogan: Edward Elgar: Music, Life and Landscapes Sponsored by The Elgar Society Saturday 4 June 2022 at 7:30pm Tickets – £5-28 Worcester Cathedral, 8 College Yard, Worcester WR1 2LA The Royal Platinum Jubilee Gala Concert https://elgarfestival.org/4-june-2022-at-730-pm-the-royal-platinum-jubilee-gala-concert/ English Symphony Orchestra Elgar Festival Chorus Baritone Marcus, Farnsworth April Fredrick, soprano Kenneth Woods, conductor Vaughan Williams: Festival Te Deum Elgar: Spirit of England Ian Venables: The Song of the Severn (world premiere in orchestral version) Elgar: In the South (Alassio) This year’s Royal Platinum Jubilee Gala concert opens with the Festival Te Deum by Ralph Vaughan Willams, a composer whose 150th birthday we celebrate this year. This dazzling work was written in celebration of of coronation of King George in 1937. Worcester-based composer Ian Venables has proved a worthy successor to Sir Edward Elgar, and his Song of the Severn is a poignant celebration of the natural wonders of Elgar Country. The concert sees the launch of the new Elgar Festival Chorus for a performance of Elgar’s powerful Spirit of England, and concludes with his brilliant tone poem, In the South. Sunday 5 June 2022 at 3:30pm Tickets – £5-£15 Bromsgrove School, Worcester Rd, Bromsgrove B61 7DU The Elgar for Everyone Family Concert https://elgarfestival.org/the-elgar-for-everyone-family-concert/ Programme to include: Elgar: Serenade for Strings Elgar: Nursery Suite arr. for Brass Additional works TBC ESO Youth Orchestras, Members of the English Symphony Orchestra‘Elgar for Everyone’ The Elgar Festival is an annual live celebration of the life and music of Worcester’s most famous son and Britain’s great composer, Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934). Set in and around the composer’s home city, the event comprises orchestral concerts given by the resident English Symphony Orchestra, as well as guest artists, and features composers Embodying the ethos ‘Elgar for Everyone’, the Festival engages with those of all ages and backgrounds in music and legacy at a number of integral venues of both historic interest and personal significance to the composer, including Worcester Cathedral and the Guildhall. Lauded as ‘Critic’s Pick’ in both The Guardian and The Times. Bringing Elgar home Of all the great British composers, there can be few places that have as strong a musical resonance as Elgar’s Worcestershire; from the spectacular walking country of the Malvern Hills, the Victorian splendour of the spa town of Malvern and its Abbey, the majestic Cathedral of the county town itself, and the nostalgia of a visit to the composer’s idyllic country cottage birthplace. The Festival provides the perfect stimulus to explore these iconic locations, and to hear Elgar’s music in situ; often an overwhelming experience for audience and performers alike. Elgar Festival 3 – 5 June 2022 Artistic Director Kenneth Woods Orchestra-in-Residence English Symphony Orchestra www.elgarfestival.org elgar@elgarfestival.org |
Jubilee Elgar Festival in Worcester, 3-5 June 2022.
