Lauded as ‘Critic’s Pick’ in both The Guardian and The Times, the Elgar Festival is an annual live celebration of the life and music of Worcester’s most famous son and Britain’s great composer, Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934). Set in and around the composer’s home city, the event comprises concerts given by the resident English Symphony Orchestra (ESO) under their Principal Conductor and Festival Artistic Director, Kenneth Woods, with guest artists including Zoë Beyers and Esther Abrami and featured composer, Steve Elcock.
This year’s Festival is built around Elgar's Violin Concerto – one of the composer’s most intimate works – and explores the composer’s personal inspirations, alongside those of his followers, with the theme ‘The Origins of Inspiration’. A performance will feature in the Gala Concert when Kenneth Woods conducts the English Symphony Orchestra in Worcester Cathedral, with Zoë Beyers as soloist, alongside another of Elgar’s finest works, his ‘Cockaigne’ Overture.