International soloist and chamber musician to perform in Malvern

A leading advocate of the viola and winner of multiple prizes is the featured soloist at a special concert at this year’s Elgar Festival.

Rosalind Ventris – who is also the Director of Musical Performance and Performance Studies at the University of Oxford – will feature alongside the English String Orchestra on Friday 30 May at 7.00pm at Great Malvern in the town.

Entitled ‘Elgar’s Strings in Malvern’, the programme opens with a set of short pieces which showcase Elgar’s genius for the miniature and continues with works showcasing two of today’s most engaging and exciting composers, Peter Fribbins and Ian Venables.

Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director of the Elgar Festival said: “Perhaps no other orchestra has done so much to champion the incredible tradition of British music for strings as the legendary English String Orchestra, whose recordings carry the music of England from Elgar to today to listeners worldwide. William Walton was perhaps the true heir of Elgar’s legacy, and his Sonata for Strings is one of the highest peaks in the string orchestra literature.”

Tickets cost £20 per person with under 18s free to attend; to find out more or book please visit www.elgarfestival.org/eso-string-orchestra-elgars-strings-in-malvern.

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.