Conductor and artistic director George Vass is pleased to announce the programme for the 43rd annual Presteigne Festival, taking place this year between August 21-25.
Under George’s leadership, the festival has gained recognition for its advocacy for contemporary music, support of emerging artists and dynamic programming.
Appointed as the festival’s artistic director in 1992, George also serves as the conductor of the Presteigne Festival Orchestra, with whom he has recorded commercially for Resonus. During George’s tenure, the festival has been nominated three times for a Royal Philharmonic Society award in the ‘Festivals and Concert Series’ category and has been listed in The Times top ten classical music festivals.
Respected nationally for his commitment to new music, George is proud to present works by Kerensa Briggs, James Francis Brown, Martin Butler, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Edward Gregson, Helen Grime, Gavin Higgins, Dani Howard, David Matthews, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Huw Watkins, James B Wilson and Derri Joseph Lewis during this year’s festival. The music of Dmitri Shostakovich takes its place at the heart of the festival’s programming in the 50th year since the composer’s death, and Anglo-Jamaican composer Eleanor Alberga is celebrated in her role as composer-in-residence.
George looks forward to conducting three concerts over the course of the festival. With Nova Music Opera, he will perform Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s ‘Scenes from ‘Under Milk Wood”, a work inspired by Dylan Thomas’s play of the same name. On 23rd August, he will lead the Presteigne Festival Orchestra in their concert with the Bath Camerata, in which they will perform Cecilia McDowall’s ‘Da Vinci Requiem’ as well as works by Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Eleanor Alberga and Aaron Copland. The festival closes with a finale concert given by the Presteigne Festival Orchestra under George’s direction, which will include world premieres of works by Huw Watkins and Edward Gregson as well as music by Britten, Steve Reich and Shostakovich.
General booking for the Presteigne Festival opens on 20th May. For complete programme information, please visit the festival’s website. You can view the brochure online here
