Opportunity for walkers to follow in Elgar’s footsteps

A guided walk and recital to remember Worcestershire’s most famous composer will take place next month.

The Elgar Festival – which takes place from Saturday 23 May until Sunday 31 May this year – is organising the event as part of this year’s festival celebrations.

‘In Elgar’s Footsteps’ will take place on Saturday 23 May; walkers will meet at 9.30am at Gardiner’s Quarry car park, Jubilee Drive in Malvern, with a recital at 11.15am at St Wulstan’s Church in Little Malvern performed by the LANO quartet.

The hour’s walk will be guided by experienced walker Carl Flint; tickets cost £12 each and refreshments will be available.

Kenneth Woods, Artistic Director of the Elgar Festival said: “We first introduced this event last year and such was its success, that it is back again this year for a second time!  The Malvern Hills were an inspiration to the works of Elgar and it will be wonderful to walk in his footsteps.  The recital will feature Elgar’s String Quartet by Shuwei Zuo, an extremely talented musician from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and part of our Young Performer Showcase Programme.”

Those attending will also have the opportunity to explore the Elgar family graves; approximate return time will be 1.00pm.

The music of the festival’s namesake will be the centrepiece of a busy programme of 27 events across 15 different venues with 3 pre-festival events in the preceding fortnight. The full breadth of Elgar’s work will be showcased, including songs, miniatures, chamber music and choral anthems alongside his most beloved orchestral masterpieces.

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.

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