Tickets are being snapped up for the Budleigh Music Festival, which gets under way on Friday and runs to July 17 after a break last year due to government restrictions.
A week-long programme of live classical music will be held in the town, this year accompanied by a sensory art installation.
The organisers say that as well as a star-studded line up of world-class musicians, this year’s festival will see the launch of Colourscape, an immersive experience of colour, light and music, taking the form of a walk-through installation on The Green.
Interlinked chambers of intense colour lit by natural sunlight will bring an immersive sensory experience to all ages. Visitors will enter a new world and wander freely through long views of radiating colours with music and dance happening around them.
Kate Somerby, chair of the festival said: “We are excited to welcome Colourscape to the festival, bringing a unique opportunity for visitors of all ages to escape the everyday and immerse themselves in a treat for the senses. We want the power of the festival to reach as many people as possible. Colourscape helps extend the reach of what we are doing to a wider audience while also providing further colour and inspiration to our long-time festival goers.”
An eclectic series of events is planned, with the Brodsky Quartet bringing their brilliant and innovative style to Friday’s opening evening at St Peter’s Church. Playing alongside celebrated tenor Daniel Norman and critically acclaimed pianist Sholto Kynoch, the quartet will perform Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece On Wenlock Edge against the backdrop of the beautiful rolling Shropshire countryside, with powerful and evocative words by AE Housman exploring themes of love, loss, isolation and ultimately peace.
With these themes resonating today more than ever, director Jeremy Hamway-Bidgood has created a moving film to accompany On Wenlock Edge using shadow puppets and contemporary animation.
One of Britain’s finest pianists specialising in silent film, Neil Brand, brings his inimitable talent and style to Budleigh for the first time with a close look at the iconic comedy duo Laurel & Hardy.
Fully illustrated with stills, clips and Neil’s superlative piano accompaniment, the show culminates in two of their best silent short films, Big Business and Liberty.
Guitarist Craig Ogden, one of Classic FM’s best loved musicians, teams up with the Balkan accordion virtuoso Miloš Milivojević for a unique blend of sound and style on Tuesday, July 13. The programme will include works by Vivaldi, Albéniz, Scarlatti, Boccherini and composers from the tango tradition. Playing the role of the orchestra, Miloš will accompany Craig in various transcriptions of Vivaldi’s gloriously atmospheric Lute Concertos.
For 2021, careful consideration has been given to Covid secure measures and will be in line with the current advice and guidance as is applicable at the time of the festival.
Concerts will be limited in capacity this year, meaning audiences will enjoy the live performances in a more intimate setting than ever before with performances at 5pm and 8pm each day lasting just over an hour, with no interval. Full details of the festival’s Covid policy are available on the website.
For more information visit: www.budleighmusicfestival.co.uk/