Date announced for Southwell Music Festival, in Nottinghamshire, as event set to celebrate 10 years with specially commissioned work written by award-winning British composer, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, with text by poet Kate Wakeling
A specially commissioned piece of music will be premiered as a festival celebrates it’s tenth anniversary.
Southwell Music Festival is set to return this summer, with the four-day festival runs from Friday, August 23 to Monday, August 26.
This year is also special as the event marks 10 years since it was established by Marcus Farnsworth and music-loving members of the Southwell community in 2014.
The festival welcomes professional musicians and performers from across the UK, as well as shining a spotlight on the best of Nottinghamshire’s home-grown talent.
To mark this special occasion, a brand-new 15-minute piece of music has been commissioned for choir and orchestra, written by award-winning British composer, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, with text by poet Kate Wakeling.
The as-yet-untitled new work will be premiered as part of the Festival’s Sunday night performance of Mozart's Requiem and is said to be a contemporary companion piece to Mozart’s traditional masterpieces.
As part of the commission, the poet Kate Wakeling visited Southwell to run a series of workshops in the community, including at Lowes Wong Junior School and The Minster School, plus two adult community groups.
Here, Kate collected texts about what music means to residents, embedding their words and experiences into the final piece.
The festival’s artistic director, Marcus Farnsworth, said: “Southwell Music Festival has always been grounded in the community, from the volunteers who help make the Festival a reality, to the young people and local groups who perform, and the audiences who have supported and championed the Festival over the past 10 years.
“Commissioning this special new work in our tenth anniversary year is a uniquely creative and fitting way to celebrate the rich and vibrant musical life of our town.
“We hope that Southwell Minster will be packed out for this very special world-premiere”.
Composer, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, said: “I am thrilled that Southwell Music Festival has chosen me as the composer of their first-ever commission.
“I am passionate about the message this piece will communicate and the opportunity to create a contemporary response to Mozart’s beloved Requiem that can be performed by choirs and orchestras in years to come.”
The new commission will also premiere in Scotland later this year and then in Northern Ireland and Wales in 2025, with the piece being made available for choirs worldwide via publisher Chester Music.
Continuing the Mozart theme, the popular Bank Holiday Monday ‘Come and Sing’ will be a performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass. It will give keen singers of all abilities a chance to perform alongside professional soloists and the Festival Sinfonia in the stunning surrounds of Southwell Minster.
British tenor Mark Padmore will be this year’s festival headliner and artist-in-residence, and will perform alongside the Festival Strings on Friday evening, curate and perform a Saturday lunchtime concert of English Song, perform as a soloist in Sunday’s Mozart Requiem, and will also feature as part of the Festival Marquee talks programme.
With an established international career in opera, concert and recital, Mark has previously performed at the Royal Opera House, Glyndebourne Festival and with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.
After a successful debut at last year’s festival, Saturday afternoon’s free Musical Picnic in the Minster Gardens is making its return.
The full four-day festival line-up will be revealed at a free launch concert on Saturday, May 11 at Southwell Minster and tickets can be reserved your free tickets online now at southwellmusicfestival.com.
Tickets for Southwell Music Festival go on sale from Monday, June 17.
As a registered charity, Southwell Music Festival also welcomes new sponsors and donors. Enquiries should be made by emailing: sar@southwellmusicfestival.com.