Festival: Cheltenham Music Festival

July 1st - 16th, 2017

One of the longest running music festivals in the UK, Cheltenham Music Festival has been held annually since 1945. It makes the most of its Cotswolds setting with concerts in cathedrals, abbeys, country houses and churches across Gloucestershire, as well as the beautiful Regency town of Cheltenham.  

From hands-on family concerts to world premieres by the world’s finest performers, Cheltenham Music Festival promises two weeks of sublime and surprising musical adventures for all ages. Expect orchestral concerts by world-class orchestras and soloists in the fine acoustic of Cheltenham Town Hall, superb chamber music concerts in the Pittville Pump Rooms set in beautiful parkland and choral concerts in the glorious spaces of Gloucester Cathedral and Tewkesbury Abbey. Mixed in to this are film, dance, drama, early music and world music in a range of venues in Cheltenham and beyond such as Cheltenham Ladies’ College Parabola Arts Centre; Everyman Theatre; Dean Close School Chapel and St Swithin’s, Quenington.  

Impressive past performers have included Nicola Benedetti, with whom the festival has had a long association, the Halle, the CBSO, Steven Isserlis, Alfie Boe, Milos and Evelyn Glennie and 2017 welcomes Bryn Terfel to perform a rare solo recital. The Festival is proud to offer a platform for emerging performers, including BBC New Generation Artists, BBC Young Musician winners and local young musicians from Gloucestershire. 

The inaugural festival saw Benjamin Britten conducting the first performances of his Interludes and Dances from Peter Grimes and a strong focus on British contemporary music continues to this day. The Festival’s Composer Academy, now in its 5th year, gives emerging composers the opportunity to have their compositions workshopped, performed and recorded, as well career advice from industry professionals.

In recent years the Festival has successfully reached out to new audiences, particularly young people, through its pioneering education programmes.

For full information, visit the Cheltenham Music Festival website.