Cheltenham Music Festival have announced their 2015 programme including: Eric Whitacre, Edward Gardner, Ksenija Sidorova and Laura Mvula and new works by Graham Fitkin, Charlotte Bray and Rolf Hind. The event takes place between 30 June - 11 July 2015 in various venues in Cheltenham.

One of the artists featured is Grammy-winning American composer Eric Whitacre, who will be conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra in one of his most popular pieces, Water Night, and a unique concert at Gloucester Cathedral where his Eric Whitacre Singers will be joined by British soul-jazz superstar Laura Mvula.

Once again, the mainstream and contemporary are both diversely represented in director Meurig Bowen’s 8th Cheltenham programme, with blockbuster symphonies such as Rachmaninov’s 2nd and Mahler’s 3rd featuring alongside brand new works by Graham Fitkin, Charlotte Bray and Rolf Hind. Internationally-established performers such as Edward Gardner, Sarah Connolly, Alina Ibragimova, Jean-Guihen Queyras and Marc-André Hamelin appear alongside emerging figures such as conductor Ben Gernon, pianist Martin James Bartlett, accordionist Ksenija Sidorova and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists. There are thematic focuses on Paris, on the music of 1945 (the year Cheltenham Music Festival started), on dance and on film with live soundtracks.

2015 also welcomes the return of the Festival Proms, a series of 5 concerts in the grandeur of Cheltenham Town Hall, which kicks off the whole Festival with a night inspired by Gershwin’s ‘An American In Paris’ featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra, conductor Ben Gernon and BBC Young Musician 2014 winner Martin James Bartlett. The Proms continue with performances of Mozart and Rachmaninov from the CBSO, master pianist Steven Osborne and conductor Edward Gardner, and Mahler’s epic 3rd Symphony with Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra and Sarah Connolly. In the first of two ‘Live Music Screenings’ at the festival, Friday night will see Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Psycho projected onto a big screen with Bernard Herrmann’s famous score performed live by acclaimed orchestra the Britten Sinfonia, whilst The Kings Singers complete the series with a celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

70 years on from the end of World War 2 and the inaugural Cheltenham Music Festival, Cheltenham also focuses on iconic works written in and around 1945, featuring music by Richard Strauss, Britten, Poulenc, Howells, Tippett, Shostakovich and Messiaen. Paris is a musical centre-point at this year’s festival, with events ranging from the second ‘Live Screening’, the 1928 silent film Jeanne d’Arc with live music from the Orlando Consort, a Parisian cabaret with Jazz vocalist and BBC Radio 3 presenter Claire Martin, and a theatrical recital exploring the life and music of Erik Satie.

Festival Director Meurig Bowen says:

“I thought it would be interesting to celebrate a number of pieces that have deservedly made their mark in the repertoire since 1945 - music as important as Strauss’ Metamorphosen, Britten’s Four Sea Interludes, Poulenc’s Figure Humaine and Messiaen’s Vingt Regards. Our broader Parisian theme interlocks with this; the city emerging from wartime occupation 70 years ago, and with a figure like Messiaen making the traverse towards postwar modernism.”

The Festival’s ever-popular chamber music series in the Grade I listed Pittville Pump Room continues this year. The last and largest of the Regency-period spa buildings to be built in Cheltenham, the Pump Rooms will play host to the Arcanto Quartet, pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Gabriela Montero and Boris Giltburg, Danish String Quartet, “Harpsichord Ninja” (BBC) Mahan Esfahani and the New Zealand String Quartet with Julian Bliss.

Cheltenham has always had a reputation for championing new music, and this year is no different. A total tally of 22 premieres include a deconstruction of 1970s Disco by Graham Fitkin, Rolf Hind’s new work for contemporary Gamelan ensemble inspired by recent travels in Bhutan, ‘Entanglement’, a one-act chamber opera by Charlotte Bray about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain, new pieces by Joe Cutler and Thomas Strønen for Trish Clowes’ genre-bending ensemble the Emulsion Sinfonietta, and works by Peter Wiegold, Jonathan Dove and Matthew Martin.

There’s plenty for children to enjoy at this year’s festival, with a strand of events aimed at ages four and up: From illustrator James Mayhew’s live painting of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (with a bit of Indiana Jones, Holst and Grieg thrown in for good measure), to the ingenious slapstick of Classical Mayhem’s DECOMPOSED!, the animated delights of Magic Piano & The Chopin Shorts, and a Family Day in the beautiful setting of Cheltenham’s Imperial Gardens.

Elsewhere, Cheltenham’s Everyman Theatre will host the New English Ballet Theatre’s first performance outside of London with music by Glass, Mussorgsky, Villa-Lobos, Beethoven and Janacek, there is a performance of accordionist Ksenija Sidorova’s contemporary tango project with Rambert dancer/choreographer Kirill Burlov, and non-classical performers include Kathryn Tickell and The Side and Iranian percussionists The Chemirani Brothers.

FULL CONCERT LISTING

Tuesday 30 June

The Opening Night: An American in Paris [FESTIVAL PROMS]

Town Hall 7.30-9.30pm BBC Concert Orchestra, Martin James Bartlett piano, Ben Gernon conductor, Eric Whitacre conductor *

John Adams Short Ride in a Fast Machine 5’

Copland Appalachian Spring 23’

Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue 15’

Britten Four Sea Interludes 15’

Eric Whitacre Water Night 5’ *

Stravinsky Berceuse and Finale from The Firebird 8’

Gershwin An American in Paris 18’

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3

Wednesday 1 July

TALK: Napoleon, Beethoven and Waterloo

Oval Room, Pittville Pump Room 10-10.40am

Arcanto Quartet Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Antje Weithaas violin

Daniel Sepec violin

Tabea Zimmermann viola

Jean-Guihen Queyras cello

Beethoven Quartet No 11 in F minor, Op. 95 ‘Serioso’ 21’

Smetana Quartet No 1 in E minor ‘From My Life’ 27’

Schumann Quartet No 1 in A minor, Op. 41/1 27’

Festival Evensong Dean Close School Chapel 5.30-6.15pm Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum, Simon Bell director, FREE, no ticket required

Edward Gardner, Steven Osborne and the CBSO [FESTIVAL PROMS] Town Hall 7.30-9.45pm City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Steven Osborne piano

Edward Gardner conductor

Haydn Representation of Chaos from The Creation 5’

Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor, K 491 30’

Rachmaninov Symphony No 2 60’

Broadcast live on BBC Radio 3

Thursday 2 July

Marc-André Hamelin Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Marc-André Hamelin piano

Mozart Sonata in D Major, K 576 15’

Debussy Images, Book II 14’

Marc-André Hamelin Pavane Variée (UK premiere) 6’

Marc-André Hamelin Variations on a Theme by Paganini (UK premiere) 10’

Schubert Four Impromptus, D 935 40’

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Solo Cello at Quenington St Swithin’s Church, Quenington 3-4.20pm

Jessie Ann Richardson cello

Bach Suite No 1 in G Major BWV 1007 24’

Ligeti Solo Cello Sonata 8’

John Hawkins Stranger, Lover, Dancer (premiere) 8’

Walton Passacaglia 6’

Bach Suite no.2 in D Minor BWV 1008 23’

LECTURE-RECITAL: Varieties of Viols Pillar Room, Town Hall 5.30-6.30pm

The King’s Singers: 150 Years of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland [FESTIVAL PROMS] Town Hall, 7-9pm, The King’s Singers, Guest reader TBA

THEATRECITAL: Erik Satie - The Velvet Gentleman Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 9.30-10.45pm

Anne Lovett piano

Actor tba

Max Hoehn director

Devised by Meurig Bowen

Friday 3 July

Danish String Quartet and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Mendelssohn Capriccio and Fugue Op. 81 11’

Beethoven Quartet Op. 74 ‘The Harp’ 30’

Nielsen Quartet No 2 in F minor 30’

Selection of Danish folk music arrangements 10’

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Psycho LIVE! [FESTIVAL PROMS] Town Hall 6.30-9.30pm Britten Sinfonia

Thomas Gould violin/director *

Anthony Gabriele conductor

Richard Strauss Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings 25’ *

Hitchcock/Herrmann Psycho 109’

Strauss’s Metamorphosen runs from 6.30pm to 7pm.

The screening of Psycho starts at 7.30pm.

Film screening certificate 15.

Mediterranean Voyage Pittville Pump Room 9-10.15pm

Chemirani Brothers zarb

Sokratis Sinopoulos lyra

Jean-Guihen Queyras cello

Traditional, contemporary and improvised programme inspired by the music of Algeria and the Mediterranean.

Saturday 4 July

Classical Mayhem present: Decomposed! [FAMILY EVENT] Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 11am-12.15pm Ideal for ages 7+

Ingenious, slapstick classical fun, following a sold out run at the 2014 Edinburgh Fringe.

Queyras & Melnikov Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Jean-Guihen Queyras cello

Alexander Melnikov piano

Schumann 5 Stücke im Volkston 18’

Beethoven Cello Sonata No 3 in A major, Op. 69 26’

Webern 3 Kleine Stücke, Op. 11 2’

Rachmaninov Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19 35’

From Java to the Himalaya Town Hall 2-3.15pm

Zubin Kanga, Richard Uttley piano

Joby Burgess percussion

Isabelle Carré, Robert Campion gamelan solo

Cheltenham Community Gamelan Players

Southbank Gamelan Players

Rolf Hind Tiger’s Nest (premiere) 15’

Richard Causton Concerto for Solo Percussion and Gamelan 17’

Plus traditional Gamelan music 30’

Mahler’s 3rd Symphony [FESTIVAL PROMS] Town Hall 7.30-9.15pm

Chetham’s Symphony Orchestra

Sarah Connolly mezzo-soprano

Ladies of Cheltenham Bach Choir

Cheltenham Youth Choir

Stephen Threlfall conductor

Mahler Symphony No 3 99’

Trish Clowes & Luke Styles present: Emulsion Sinfonietta ft. Food Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 9.45-11pm

Iain Ballamy The Man Who Knew Just Enough

Trish Clowes Apple Boy

Joe Cutler new work (premiere)

Calum Gourlay 12 Goats and Tigers

Chris Mayo Birchfield Close

Thomas Strønen new work (premiere)

Luke Styles Chasing the Nose

Sunday 5 July

Magic Piano & The Chopin Shorts [FAMILY EVENT Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ COllege 11am-12noon Dinara Klinton piano Ideal for ages 4+

SUNDAY CHAPEL: MORNING Dean Close School Chapel 11am-1pm

Jason Evans trumpet

Julie Cooper soprano

Matthew Martin organ

Programme to include:

J.S. Bach Aria from Cantata BWV 51

Handel Eternal Source of Light Divine; Let the bright Seraphim

Gowers An Occasional Trumpet Voluntary; Toccata

Matthew Martin Sonatina in memoriam Patrick Gowers (premiere)

Vierne Carillon de Westminster

Anton Heiller Zwei geistliche Gesänge

SUNDAY CHAPEL: AFTERNOON Cheltenham College Chapel 3-5pm

Kokoro

Canticum Chamber Choir

Mark Forkgen conductor

Hywel Davies new work for choir and ensemble (premiere) 35’

Nicholas Morrish Rarity new work for ensemble (premiere) 15’

Poulenc Figure Humaine 19’

Composer Academy Showcase 1 - Genesis Sixteen Cheltenham College Chapel 5.30-6.30pm FREE, ticket required

Genesis Sixteen is a specially selected group of young musicians tipped for careers as professional chamber singers and coached by members of The Sixteen. They present five new works developed at this year’s Composer Academy alongside a commission from the Academy’s director, Peter Wiegold.

New English Ballet Theatre with Gildas Quartet Everyman Theatre 8-10pm

Anne Lovett piano

Andrew Harvey violin

Tangents (Mussorgsky, extracts from Pictures at an Exhibitions) 11’

Toca (Villa Lobos, Etudes) 7’

Orbital Motion (Philip Glass Violin Concerto, abridged) 21’

Mad Women (Greenwood/Richard) 10’

The Kreutzer Sonata (Beethoven Kreutzer Sonata, Janáček String Quartet No 1) 40’

Monday 6 July

Mahan Esfahani Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Mahan Esfahani harpsichord

Couperin Pièces en G 17'

W.F. Bach Sonata in E flat 13'

D. Scarlatti 5 sonatas 20'

Martinů Deux pieces pour clavecin 6'

Maconchy Notebook for Harpsichord 9'

J.S. Bach Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903 13'

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

LECTURE-RECITAL: The 20th Century Harpsichord Revival Pittville Pump Room 2-3.20pm

Christopher D. Lewis/Laurie Stras harpsichord

Kate Hawnt reader

Composer Academy Showcase 2 – Emulsion Quartet Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 6-7pm FREE, ticket required

Seven new works, developed at the Composer Academy during the first week of the Festival, will be presented by a quartet of players drawn from Trish Clowes’ genre-defying Emulsion Sinfonietta.

Meet the Composers – Charlotte Bray & Thomas Hyde Circle Bar, Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 7.15-7.45pm FREE, ticket required

Composers Charlotte Bray and Thomas Hyde give a brief introduction to tonight’s operas along with other members of the production.

Chamber Opera Double Bill: ‘Entanglement’ and ‘That Man Stephen Ward’ Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham Ladies’ College 8-10pm

George Vass conductor

Richard Williams director

Nova Music Opera

featuring singers Kirsty Hopkins, Howard Cook, Greg Tassell, Howard Quilla Croft, Damian Thantry

ENTANGLEMENT (premiere) 45’

Charlotte Bray composer

Amy Rosenthal librettist

THAT MAN STEPHEN WARD 50’

Thomas Hyde composer

David Norris librettist

Tuesday 7 July

Brahms Clarinet Quintet Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

New Zealand String Quartet

Julian Bliss clarinet

John Psathas Manos, Unbridled 6’

Haydn String Quartet No 42 in C, Op. 54/2 20’

Jack Body Three Transcriptions 11’

Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115 34’

Gabriela Montero Pittville Pump Room 6-7.50pm

Gabriela Montero piano

Schubert Four Impromptus, D 899 32’

Schumann Fantasie in C, Op. 17 30’

Improvisations based on themes from the audience 30’

ERIC WHITACRE SINGERS with special guest Laura Mvula Gloucester Cathedral 8.30-10.30pm

Eric Whitacre conductor

Programme includes:

Eric Whitacre Sleep; Lux aurumque; Sainte-Chapelle; Nox Aurumque

Duruflé Ubi caritas et amor

Dufay Ave maris stella

Peter Gabriel Blood of Eden (arr. Whitacre)

Laura Mvula: Father, Father; She; Sing to the moon

Wednesday 8 July

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists - SCHUBERT & DVOŘÁK Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Armida Quartet

Lise Berthaud viola

Schubert String Quartet in G major, D 887 40’

Florentine Mulsant Vocalise for solo viola 7’

Dvořák String Quintet No 3 in E flat, Op. 97 32’

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

April in Paris: Dinner with Claire Martin & her Trio Cheltenham Ladies’ College Princess Hall, Doors 6.30pm, Bar open from 7pm, Dinner served at 7.30pm, Performance 9-10.15pm

PRE CONCERT TALK: MICHAEL SYMMONS ROBERTS Tewkesbury Abbey Parish Hall, 5.30-6.15pm, FREE, ticket required

'Wildness & Wonder, Dazzlement & Darkness' – award-winning poet Michael Symmons Roberts explores the idea of mystery in God and the arts, considering these themes in poetry and literature and reflecting on his own journey in response to the Messiaen 2015 project with Cordelia Williams.

Vingt Regards Tewkesbury Abbey 6.30-7.30pm

Cordelia Williams piano

Michael Symmons Roberts speaker

Messiaen Selection from Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus

Silent Cinema and Medieval Music: Voices Appeared Tewkesbury Abbey 8.30-10.15pm

The Orlando Consort:

Matthew Venner countertenor

Mark Dobell tenor

Angus Smith tenor

Donald Greig baritone

Robert MacDonald bass

La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc (1928) 96’

Thursday 9 July

BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists: SCHUMANN, FAURÉ & DOVE Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Armida Quartet

Kitty Whately mezzo-soprano

Pavel Kolesnikov piano

Simon Lepper piano

Jonathan Dove songs (premiere) 10’

Fauré La bonne chanson 22’

Schumann Lied ohne Ende; Arabeske 10’

Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat, Op. 44 28’

Recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3

Gloucestershire Young Musicians Pittville Pump Room 6-7.45pm

Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra

Rebecca McNaught cello

Glyn Oxley conductor

Frank Sinatra’s Close to You Cheltenham Ladies’ College Princess Hall 7.30-9.30pm

Matthew Ford singer

Tippett Quartet

James Pearson piano

Calum Gourlay bass

Matt Skelton drums

Hugh Webb harp

Callum Au trombone

Howard McGill woodwinds

Close to You reinvented and other Sinatra classics

FROM DONNE TO THE END OF TIME Pittville Pump Room 9.30-10.45pm

Benjamin Baker violin

Julian Bliss clarinet

Bartholomew LaFollette cello

Richard Uttley piano

James Gilchrist tenor

Anna Tilbrook piano

Britten The Holy Sonnets of John Donne 25’

Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time 48’

Friday 10 July

Boris Giltburg and Friends Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

Boris Giltburg piano

IPO Richter Quartet

Ravel Piano Trio in A minor 27’

Debussy String Quartet in G minor 25’

Franck Piano Quintet in F minor 39’

Festival Lunch with special guest Edward Gardner Ellenborough Park, 1-3.15pm, Guests will be seated at 1.30pm

Afternoon Piano Trio Tithe Barn, Syde Manor 4-5.15pm

Trio Aquilon

Timothy Salter Trefoil 10’

Haydn Piano Trio No 39 in G Major “Gypsy Rondo”, Hob. XV/25 15’

Shostakovich Piano Trio No 2 in E minor 24’

Kathryn Tickell & The Side Pittville Pump Room 7-9pm

TANGO STORIES Cheltenham Ladies’ College Princess Hall 9.30-10.45pm

Ksenija Sidorova accordion

Alexander Sitkovetsky violin

Aizhana Nurkenova piano

Dejotāji Ieva Rācene, Evelīna Godunova, Kirill Burlov dancers

Tango repertoire includes:

Gade Jalousie 4’

Gardel Por una Cabeza 4’

Arturs Maskats Midnight in Riga 8’

Mariano Mores Cafetin de Buenos Aires 3’

Piazzolla Tanti Anni Prima; Soledad; Revirado; Angel Suite; Yo soy Maria; Romance del Diablo; Escualo 40’

Saturday 11 July

James Mayhew Paints Mussorgsky’s Pictures [FAMILY EVENT] Town Hall 11am-12.15pm

Flowers Brass Band

James Mayhew narrator and illustrator

Ideal for ages 5+

John Williams Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 5’

Holst ‘Mars’ from The Planets 5’

Mussorgsky/Goodall Pictures at an Exhibition 30’

Grieg In the Hall of the Mountain King 4’

Family Day Garden Bar, Imperial Gardens 12 noon-6pm FREE, no ticket required

Nine Daies Wonder: Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments Pittville Pump Room 11am-1pm

TALK: IS SINGING GOOD FOR YOU? Drawing Room, Town Hall 2-3.30pm

Richard Morrison of The Times chairs the session, which features Eric Whitacre alongside Aaron Williamon and Daisy Fancourt from the Royal College of Music’s Centre for Performance.

Maestro’s Music School [FAMILY EVENT] Pillar Room, Town Hall 2-3pm

Nicholas Baragwanath maestro

Ideal for ages 7+

TALK: Craft Secrets of the 18th-century Musician Pillar Room, Town Hall 3.30-5pm

GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL CHOIR Gloucester Cathedral 3-4.15pm

Jonathan Hope organ

Adrian Partington conductor

Britten Festival Te Deum 5’

Howells Magnificat and Nunc dimittis : Collegium Regale 9’

Britten Rejoice in the Lamb 16’

Howells Paean 7’

Jackson - Impromptu, Op. 5 5’

Tippett Spirituals from A Child of Our Time 13’

Finzi Lo, the full, final sacrifice 14’

AN ALL-MENDELSSOHN FINALE Town Hall 6-8pm

Academy of Ancient Music

Alina Ibragimova violin

Edward Gardner conductor

Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture 10’

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto 26’

Mendelssohn Symphony No 3 ‘Scottish’ 40’

Fitkin Band plus special guest singers Cheltenham Ladies’ College Princess Hall 8.30-10pm

Fitkin Band

Works by Graham Fitkin, including a substantial new work, ‘Disco’ (premiere)