Chipping Campden is rightly described as 'The Jewel of the Cotswolds'. St. James' church is the most glorious building in this 'Jewel' and the setting for our seventh annual Music Festival.

It gives me enormous pleasure to present the programme for 2015, our 14th annual festival.

 

As always, the line up is a mix of old friends alongside artists new to Chipping Campden. Making their festival debuts here are one of the UK’s finest and best loved singers, soprano Carolyn Sampson and pianist Joseph Middleton. They will present a beautiful programme of songs entitled ‘Fleurs’. The great Canadian pianist Marc Andre Hamelin also appears here for the first time in a concert with the Takacs quartet. The master class morning last year was so popular that we have decided to repeat the idea, this time with a vocal class. The tutor for this will be David Pollard, widely acknowledged as one of the finest and most sought after teachers in Europe, and credited as the long-term teacher of many of the UK’s bestknown and most successful singers. Another first is Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud who will be performing Schubert trios with festival regulars, Imogen Cooper & Adrian Brendel, and finally, we are thrilled to welcome the English Concert directed by Harry Bicket. They will be joined by one of the UK’s most exciting young singers, Sophie Bevan.  

 

In addition to the above 2015 sees the return of many old friends of the festival; our president Paul Lewis, Tasmin Little, Martin Roscoe, Stile Antico, Steven Osborne, the Takacs quartet, Richard Goode, Jack Liebeck, and of course the Festival Academy Orchestra now in its eighth year, and such a vital part of the festival. As ever, it will be conducted and led by husband and wife team, Thomas Hull & Ruth Rogers. Given the extraordinary mix of international musicians arriving here next May, I hope you will agree that we are set for another fortnight of truly world-class concerts.

 

Charlie Bennett  

November 2014