Orchestra co-founded by Sir Edward Elgar to return to Worcester

The annual free performance of the orchestra co-founded by Sir Edward Elgar will take centre stage at this year’s Elgar Festival.

Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra – featuring West Midlands born conductor Keith Slade – will perform at All Saints Church in Deansway, Worcester on Saturday 31 May at 1.30pm.

The programme will include music by Elgar, Mozart and Ruth Gipps.  Ruth – who died in 1999 – was an English composer, oboist, pianist, conductor and educator.  She composed music in a wide range of genres, including five symphonies, seven concertos and many chamber and choral works.

Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director of the Elgar Festival said: “This fabulous performance offers families a great chance to experience the thrill of orchestral music up-close in an informal environment and is always one of the most popular festival events.”

Conductor Keith Slade began his musical journey learning the clarinet from the age of ten. After reaching the final of the BBC Young Musician of the Year Woodwind Category, Keith graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music.  In December 2022 Keith was honoured to have been invited to the Princess of Wales’ Christmas carol concert for his ‘Services to Music.’ Keith also sits on the Board of Severn Arts.

The 2025 Elgar Festival event takes place between Saturday 24 May until Sunday 1 June.

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

Themed ‘Celebrate with Elgar’, this year’s Festival will bring together world-class professional musicians and artists alongside local choirs and ensembles placing the music of Worcester’s most famous son alongside that of his contemporaries and some of today’s leading composers and arrangers.

Set in the composer’s hometown and surrounding areas, the festival is an annual celebration of Elgar’s music spanning symphonic and string orchestra concerts.

Highlights this year include Elgar’s Symphony No. 2 and John Ireland’s oratorio ‘These Things Shall Be’ performed by the ESO and joined by the 2025 Festival Chorus on Saturday 31 May in Worcester Cathedral. There are further performances by Chamber Orchestras, recitals by world renowned performers Raphael Wallfisch, David Briggs and April Fredrick, several participatory events including ‘Come and Play Elgar 1’ and a Young Singers Masterclass.

There are several free events, relaxed concerts, an exhibition, choral events, a film screening, Q and As, a guided walk and a new performance partnership with students from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

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. It continues to grow annually through an innovative development programme of appealing and accessible events, working with hundreds of both internationally renowned professional artists and amateur musicians and performers of all ages to ensure Elgar really is for everyone.

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