Brass band to play at this year’s Elgar Festival

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

The Elgar Festival – which will take place from Saturday 24 May until Sunday 1 June this year – will welcome Worcester Concert Brass to Cathedral Square in Worcester on Saturday 24 May from 1.30pm until 3.30pm.

The band will be performing a wide repertoire of music from film and musicals to classical, pop, rock and traditional brass band music and marches.

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 ‘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 by the resident and world renowned English Symphony Orchestra.

Other 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 English String and 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. The ever-popular family concert returns hosted by Classic FM’s Zeb Soanes including the winning pieces of the Festival’s Young Composers’ Competition; the event will also celebrate the work and 70^th birthday of Worcester’s finest living composer Ian Venables. 

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

Since its inauguration in 2018, when it was a Critic’s Pick in both The Guardian and The Times, the festival has doubled in size and scale and 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 further information and to book tickets please visit www.elgarfestival.org