The Presteigne Festival returns with five eventful days from 27 to 31 August 2026 in the Radnorshire town. This year, composer Michael Zev Gordon is in residence, but the festival is also celebrating milestone birthdays for Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Adrian Williams.
The first evening features Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale with George Vass conducting the Presteigne Festival Ensemble, with Jonathan Gunthorpe (narrator), Alexander Knox (the soldier), Francesca Isherwood (the devil) directed by Ruth Evans. The evening also features Cecilia McDowall’s The Night Trumpeter and the premiere of a work by Lili Harris, with Rowan Pierce (soprano) and Imogen Whitehead (trumpet).
Horn player Ben Goldscheider is joined by Fenella Humphreys (violin) and Clare Hammond (piano) for an evening of trios by Michael Zev Gordon, Huw Watkins, and Lennox Berkeley plus music by Ravel and the young Dutch composer Mathilde Wantenaar. And Fenella Humphreys returns with pianist Jâms Coleman for music by Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Amy Beach, Prokofiev, Sally Beamish, Lili Boulanger and the premiere of an intriguing joint work by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Electra Perivolaris, Lynne Plowman, Claire Victoria Roberts and Mathilde Wantenaar.
Saturday evening sees Goldscheider, Pierce, the Festival Orchestra and George Vass joined by James Gilchrist (tenor), and the Choir of King’s College, London for music by Adrian Williams, Grace Williams, Michael Zev Gordon, Cecilia McDowall and the premiere of a new work by Cameron Biles-Liddell.
James Gilchrist and Jâms Coleman join forces for a song recital focusing on Britten’s Winter Words alongside music by Adrian Williams and Michael Zev Gordon. At Leominster Priory, Joseph Fort conducts the Choir of King’s College, London in a programme that mixes Imogen and Gustav Holst with Elizabeth Poston and Judith Weir plus works by Daniel Soley, and Olivia Sparkhall. The festival concludes with music for violin and harp (Fenella Humphreys and Sally Price) by Arvo Pärt, Saint-Saens, Lennox Berkeley and more, then a festal finale featuring music by Elgar, Dorothy Howell, Mathilde Wantenaar, Gabriel Jackson and Bartok.
Composers in the festival also include Natalie Roe, Thea Musgrave, Henriëtte Bosmans, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Robert Peate, whilst daytime recitals also feature solo cello, solo guitar, piano and string quartet.
Away from the music there are talks and walks along with open studios and exhibitions.
Full details from the festival website.
