Venue: Gloucester Cathedral

Adrian Partington opens the 2026 Three Choirs Festival with a powerful performance of music by Elgar and Walton, plus a UK premiere from Gavin Higgins. 

An eclectic evening of vividly communicative music-making in Gloucester Cathedral, superbly directed by Adrian Partington. 

Adrian Partington and the Philharmonia give an impersonal, soporific rendition of Elgar's The Apostles at Gloucester Cathedral. 

Effort and emotion collide at Gloucester Cathedral in music by Stravinsky, Berlioz and Walton

Adrian Partington directs a well-managed but ultimately disjointed performance of Mahler’s most idealistically challenging symphony.

Edward Gardner conducts a solemn, emotionally-charged performance of Berlioz’s radical masterpiece at Gloucester Cathedral

Gloucestershire is rich in musical heritage; well-known composers connected with the county include Parry, Vaughan Williams and Howells, but one name that is less familiar these days is that of Howells’ friend Ivor Gurney.

Over the centuries, the Three Choirs Festival has developed a commendable trait in presenting the very best in English choral music; in more recent years the Festival has been committed to resurrecting once popular works that have been considered worthy of reassessment and, following on from last year’s performance of George Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims, this year the lot fell to Samuel Coleridge-T