Enjoy a summer’s evening with the English Symphony Orchestra

The world renowned English Symphony Orchestra will serenade concert goers at this year’s Elgar Festival.

Entitled ‘Summer Sunset Soirée: Salons, Serenades and Songs’, the performance will take place on Thursday 29 May at 7.00pm in Worcester’s Guildhall.

Welcoming Rebecca Wood on oboe and Rosie Cow on bassoon, the festival’s Artistic Director, Ken Woods, will be the evening’s conductor.

Ken said : “Join us for an enchanting evening celebrating music for wooing. From the ancient days of the romantic guitarist serenading the object of their affections from below the garden window, music has long been one of our favourite nocturnal pastimes. Join the musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra for an evening of more than just a little night music, with romances and serenades by Elgar, Mozart and Coleridge-Taylor.”

Tickets cost £20 for adults and include a glass of wine on arrival; children under 18 able to attend for free.

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 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.

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.