Brass band to play Elgar at this year’s festival

PRESS RELEASE

 

Issue Date :  03 May 2023

Ref : EF2308

Brass band to play Elgar at this year’s festival

Worcester Concert Brass will play in Cathedral Square, Worcester on Saturday 3 June

Organisers of one of the county’s most successful festivals have announced an afternoon of outdoor music. 

The Elgar Festival – which runs from Tuesday 30 May until Sunday 4 June this year – will welcome Worcester Concert Brass to Cathedral Square in Worcester on Saturday 3 June at 3.30pm.

The band will play Elgar’s Nimrod and his Pomp and Circumstance March Number 4; the group will also perform Byrd’s The Earl of Salisbury’s Pavan followed by Light as Air, an amalgam of Bach’s Air from a Suite in G and the song it inspired, Whiter Shade of Pale by Procul Harum.

Worcester Concert Brass was formed in March 1982 and is a well established and much loved traditional brass band. The band performs a wide range of music embracing songs from the stage, film and TV music, light classics and traditional brass band music. Under its director, Chris License, the band can be heard at many different events in the area, from festivals and shows to charitable events.

Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director at the Elgar Festival said: “We are so looking forward to welcoming Worcester Concert Brass to this year’s festival.  Cathedral Square will be filled with the joyful sounds of brass as the band present this free programme of music by Elgar, his contemporaries and ours.”

Themed ‘We are the Music Makers’, this year’s festival brings together an array of internationally renowned guest artists, placing the music of Worcester’s most famous son alongside that of his contemporaries and some of today’s leading composers and arrangers.

Chris License, Musical Director of Worcester Concert Brass said: “It’s a real honour for us to be involved in this year’s Elgar Festival.  As a local band we are thrilled to be celebrating the music of the county’s greatest composer.  We look forward to playing pieces to a packed outdoor audience in the heart of the city.”

Launched in 2018, the Elgar Festival was established by decree of Worcester City Council and is traditionally held on the weekend closest to Elgar’s birthday, 2 June 1857.

Since it began – lauded as ‘Critic’s Pick’ in both The Guardian and The Times – the Festival has doubled in size and scale and championed Sir Edward to as wide an audience as possible.

For a full list of events, costs and booking information, please visit www.elgarfestival.org.

 

For media comment please contact:

Kabbie Langford, 07940 371794