A look at the highlights of the 2024 Tetbury Music Festival

But this year it is also unlocking something different by providing audiences with a fascinating insight into the stories behind the strings. How does an extremely valuable instrument that is hundreds of years old end up in the hands of a young musician? What is the narrative linking a musical object of a bygone era with a talented young man or woman who brings it to life in another?

It adds an extraordinary dimension which legendary interviewer Donald Macleod will unpack through a panel discussion entitled ‘Fantastic instruments and where to find them’ on Thursday, October 3 (3pm) at The Goods Shed.

Each year this prestigious week-long festival delights its audiences, who come from far and wide, with a fresh and diverse programme showcasing those who are at the top of their game and 2024 no exception. Tetbury Music Festival kicked off on Saturday, September 28 at The Goods Shed with Craig Ogden, one of the UK’s most-recorded guitarists. 

It’s no easy task putting the programme together, but Festival Director Caz Weller Knight, herself a former opera singer with a background in music, orchestrates it well along with fellow board members and a team of helpers. Time is given freely by everyone involved and the currency is passion – passion for music, passion for the community and passion to support the performers themselves.

It is a festival which has had the support of HM King Charles III since it was founded in 2003 by Elise Smith OBE and Graham Kean, and despite reviewing his involvement with the wide-ranging organisations and charities close to his heart since becoming King, Tetbury Music Festival remains firmly on his agenda.

Having lived in his beloved Highgrove, just outside Tetbury, for some 40 years, the King’s connections are strong. Whilst the house is not accessible to the public, the Gardens are open between April and September, allowing visitors to share imaginative and inspirational designs which are a haven for a rich variety of flora and fauna. Highgrove Shop in Tetbury’s Long Street is a popular hub for tourists and local visitors who appreciate luxury outdoor and garden ware, traditional crafted homeware, and beautifully designed artisan pieces, which showcase the traditional and artisan crafts from around the UK, including pieces that have been designed exclusively for Highgrove.

Polyphony will perform at the festival on Saturday, October 5 (Image: Anders Lillebo) Moving back to Tetbury Music Festival, one stunning landmark which ensures the best quality sound and atmosphere is the beautiful acoustic of St Marys’. Since at least 681 AD there has been a Christian place of worship on the site of St Marys'. It is thought to have been the location of Abbess Tetta’s Monastery, with some scholars suggesting this to be the origin of the name Tetbury. The present church was built following the demolition of the medieval church in 1777. For the past 21 years, some of the world’s leading classical musicians have performed here and often been recorded by BBC Radio 3. Festival director Caz Weller Knight believes the church adds something uniquely special to the performances.

‘As the festival takes place at the start of autumn when the nights are drawing in, those attending the concerts who get to the church early enough will see the two candelabras, each holding 36 candles, being lit. They are balanced by weights, and it is fascinating to watch as they are expertly lit. It is beautifully atmospheric,’ explains Caz.

‘It is also a great way to put summer behind us, see familiar faces and start to look forward to the autumnal evenings.’

Dame Imogen Cooper (Image: Sim Canetty-Clarke) During the festival, four performances will take place at St Marys’, which is short for The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalen. Dame Imogen Cooper takes the stage on Thursday, October 3 at 7pm, bringing her celebrated sensitivity and insight to some of the most profound masterpieces in music history. She will be playing the last three piano sonatas by Beethoven. On Friday, October 4, at 7pm, Amy Harman and the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective will impart their enthusiasm to music by Mozart, the fascinating Croatian composer Dora Pejačević, a world premiere for bassoon quintet by Gary Carpenter and Brahms’ G minor Piano Quartet with its exhilarating ‘Gypsy’ finale. The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective who are the Associate Ensemble of Wigmore Hall, describe themselves as ‘a flexible ensemble of wonderful, joyful, kind, passionate musicians’ who can’t wait to share chamber music with their audiences.

On Saturday, October 5 at 6.30pm, Stephen Layton and his universally acclaimed choir, Polyphony, will be enthralling music enthusiasts with an exciting programme featuring the work of Holst, Vaughan-Williams, Stanford, and other British and Anglo-Irish composers. Stephen formed Polyphony in 1986 for a concert in King's College Chapel, Cambridge. The choir has since performed and recorded regularly to great critical acclaim throughout the world.

Earlier in the day at 3pm at The Goods Shed, the distinguished arts administrator and music writer Sir Nicholas Kenyon will deliver the second festival lecture. Entitled ‘The Pied Pipers of Early Music – how period performance changed the musical world,’ Sir Nicholas will look at the interest in playing music of the past on the instruments of the past as well as in keeping with the manner of the composer who wrote the music. He looks at the influential figures who paved the way, assessing the lasting impact of the ‘early music’ movement.

Jonathan Cohen. Tetbury Music Festival Artistic Director (Image: Courtesy of Tetbury Music Festival) To bring the music festival to a dazzling finale on Sunday, October 6, Jonathan Cohen, Tetbury Music Festival’s Artistic Director for more than 10 years, returns with his internationally acclaimed period-instrument ensemble Arcangelo for a concert of music by the best-known masters of the Baroque era. Guest soloists Vilde Frang (violin) and soprano Julia Doyle will be adding their unique sound to what promises to be a celebration of Purcell, Handel, Telemann and two generations of the Bach family. This will take place at 5pm at St Marys’ Church.

Like all festivals, the success of this music festival relies on the support of not only those who organise it, but the enthusiasm of the sponsors, Friends of Tetbury Music Festival (known as Dolphins) and the audiences who attend. Before meeting with festival director Caz in The Close Hotel, one of the many hospitable and elegant places to chat, dine and stay in Tetbury, I challenged her to think what piece of classical music would best portray Tetbury. She called on the wisdom of fellow festival organisers for an answer. One suggested ‘The Swan’, the 13th and penultimate movement of ‘The Carnival of the Animals’ by Camille Saint-Saëns.

‘This is partly because the festival runs smoothly on the surface, but underneath we are all paddling hard!’ explains Caz.

Violin soloist Vilde Frang is performing in the festival finale on Sunday, October 6 (Image: Marco Borggreve) ‘I think we all agreed on ‘Sheep may safely graze’ by Johann Sebastian Bach because of the strong connection with the wool trade in Tetbury, the link with St Marys’ Church and J S Bach as his music is often played at the festival.’

One business which helps ensure the church looks its best for Tetbury Music Festival is Scentiments, the town’s stylish florist, based in Church Street.

‘We have been flowering for them pretty much since the beginning. The festival brings a lot of visitors into the town and it’s an honour to be included because it is such a high-profile event,’ says Jo Poole who set up Scentiments almost 30 years ago.

‘We think Vivaldi’s ‘Four Seasons’ is a good melody for Tetbury as the town looks great no matter what season,’ she adds.

Julia Doyle (Image: Courtesy of Tetbury Music Festival) Tetbury certainly has an active events calendar with an eclectic mix of festivals and unusual pastimes such as the famous Tetbury Woolsack Races in May where men and women race with heavy wool sacks on their backs, and a family music festival, called TetFest in July. The Cotswolds Comic-Con 2024, which promises ‘all things comic,’ takes place on Sunday, October 13 at The Goods Shed. This amazing venue also hosts piano recitals, jazz quartets, films, theatre, comedy nights, exhibitions, and workshops throughout the year.

As well as offering visitors an abundance of independent shops, boutiques, great food, beautiful surroundings, enchanting places to visit such as Westonbirt Arboretum, Chavenage House, Highgrove Gardens, and cycling and walking opportunities along the Thames Path, there is a strong community spirit and appreciation for the arts.

Spencer House Gallery, on Long Street, represents emerging, early-career and established Cotswolds artists and is enjoying partnerships with other arts organisations and entrepreneurs in the region.

Artist Angie Spencer delivers her Painswick Rococo Garden paintings to Spencer House Gallery (Image: Tracy Spiers) Curator and owner, Chris Woodcock, marked the gallery's second birthday this summer by instigating and staging an 'Everything in the Garden' festival featuring live music – choral and instrumental – fine art, plein air painting and other events, all on a garden theme.

One of the Gallery's exhibition stars was painter Angie Spencer (the name match is a happy accident) who had spent a year as 'Artist in Residence' at Painswick Rococo Garden. Angie is herself the embodiment of joint music-and-art talent, being a gifted landscape artist as well as a classical violinist and leader of Stroud Symphony Orchestra plus playing in a popular string quartet.

Also on Long Street, near the iconic Tetbury Market House, is Mayfair & Grace, awarded Best Salon 2024 in the National Beauty Awards. In keeping with the musical theme, every Saturday, this hair, beauty laser and aesthetic salon hosts a young pianist who plays its baby grand piano for the enjoyment of any passers-by and for their clients. This is Max Winfield, a year 8 Music Scholar at Westonbirt School and the 2024 Winner of the Philip Turner Cup at the Cheltenham Festival of Performing Arts.

Max Winfield plays the baby grand at Mayfair & Grace (Image: Tracy Spiers) As Tetbury Music Festival draws nearer, familiar visitors who annually attend this unique event, will return to the town, and enjoy its amenities, cafés, and restaurants. The town’s businesses will also take part in a music-themed shop window contest.

As festival director, Caz admits it is only when the audience is seated and the programme begins that she can remove the festival director hat and enjoy the music, knowing she and her team have fulfilled their role.

‘What has really made the 21st birthday year special is to have had confirmation from the King’s personal secretary that the King will continue the Patronage of Tetbury Music Festival which began when he was Prince of Wales,’ says Caz. ‘His support and enthusiasm were so inspiring when the festival first began 21 years ago and his re-commitment means a very great deal to us.’

https://www.tetburymusicfestival.org/