Tuesday 2 April 2019

Ludlow English Song Weekend

Church of St Laurence, Ludlow (Photo Tony Grist)
Church of St Laurence, Ludlow (Photo Tony Grist)
The Ludlow English Song Weekend, which takes place from 5 to 7 April 2019 in the lovely Shropshire town of Ludlow, has become something of a welcome fixture in the calendar since the first festival in 2001. 

This year, under artistic director Iain Burnside, the festival features music from composers Britten, Martin Bussey, Jonathan Dove, Elgar, Finzi, Grainger, Janet Hamilton, Muriel Herbert, Ireland, Moeran, Quilter, Edward Rushton, Will Todd, Huw Watkins, Roderick Williams and RVW, plus a new commission from Alex Woolf. The festival is also celebrating the development of a new relationship with English National Opera and its ENO Harewood Artists Programme, and Harewood Artists David Ireland (bass baritone), Soraya Mafi (soprano), William Morgan (tenor), Alex Otterburn (baritone), Rowan Pierce (soprano), Elgan Llŷr Thomas (tenor) and David Webb (tenor) will all be performing at the festival.

The festival opens at St Laurence’s Church, the largest parish church in Shropshire (where the ashes of A. E. Housman are buried) with Rowan Pierce, David Ireland, Elgan Llŷr Thomas, artistic director and pianist Iain Burnside; and violinist Michael Foyle in a programme which compares and contrasts A. E. Houseman settings by RVW, Moeran, Janet Hamilton and Muriel Herbert, plus a new commission from Alex Woolf who was a member of the festival's young composers workshop last year.

Saturday and Sunday feature a fine variety of concerts of music by the festival composers alongside two panel discussions hosted by Katy Hamilton, a public masterclass with soprano Susan Bullock who will be working with students from the Royal Northern College of Music and Eleanor Alberga, who happens to be a Ludlow local, leads the composition masterclass with four young composers.

Full details from the festival website.

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