We welcome you back to our Festival to celebrate the power of music to soothe and uplift. This year’s event promises an exhilarating line-up of seven concerts, featuring a diverse range of well-known and challenging compositions.
Our theme for this year’s Festival is migrant composers. Throughout history, musicians and composers have travelled and migrated, crossing borders and cultures with their universal language of music. Whether driven by political turmoil, economic opportunities, the pursuit of self-fulfillment or simple wanderlust, these artists left their native lands and to a greater or lesser extent blended their creative idioms with their adopted cultures, often resulting in powerful new expressions.
The displacement of composers in the twentieth century, driven by forces such as antisemitism and political persecution, played a defining role in shaping musical history. In this Festival, we honour Mahler, Bartók, Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Rachmaninov, Korngold and his fellow composers who thrived in Hollywood, all of whom found refuge in the United States and contributed significantly to the emerging school of American music.
Financial incentives also drove some composers, including Bloch, Bartók and Dvořák, to seek stability in new locations. Before their tragic deaths, Schulhoff, Ullmann and Krása all moved to neighbouring countries to further their development. Yet further back in time, composers such as Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and the two Schumanns made significant moves to the musical centres of 19th-century Europe.
Join us in September to revel in the extraordinary works of these composers and many more. Cherished musicians and fresh talents will come together to present a diverse and inspiring programme, ensuring an unforgettable experience.