As our festival enters its twenty-seventh year, we want to thank you, our loyal, cherished audience, and the many wonderful artists who will give us musical experiences which, particularly this year, demonstrate how music can be a succour and a refuge at difficult times. Delighting in artistic beauty and a constant search for new musical discoveries provide a sanctuary which gives strength and calm.    

This year we are celebrating the quintet ensemble in many of its myriad forms, whether strings, or combinations of strings or wind ensembles with piano. Through some of the great works in this genre, by composers including Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Franck and Shostakovich, we will explore the rich and varied sonorities of various combinations of five instruments. In addition, almost every concert will feature lieder, and we will be celebrating two centenaries: the birth of Ravel 150 years ago, and 100 years since the birth of Johann Strauss II. 

With a roster of outstanding instrumentalists and singers, we welcome both familiar friends and new faces. 

Looking forward to a beautiful, exhilarating and fulfilling time together.