The Elgar Festival has announced its 2026 season, running May 23–31 across Worcester, Malvern, and Pershore

Multi-disciplinary artist Nakisha Swatton leads a new collaborative work developed with local amateur and professional musicians, inspired by Elgar’s “Enigma Variations.” The performance brings together the Malvern Taiko drummers, Daniel Neville string ensemble, Black Voices Choir, Academy of Contemporary Music Birmingham, Grosvenor Road Studios, and String Box duo Jill & Martin in a new contemporary multi-instrumental suite.

Performance Date: May 23, 2026

The Jenny Lind Singers, directed by Lynne Lindner, present “Women Composers Past and Present,” a choral program devoted entirely to works by women composers spanning centuries. The program includes works by Imogen Holst, Cecilia McDowall, Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, Winnie Brückner, Amy Bebbington, Elizabeth Poston, Sarah Quartel, Kate Hill, and Liz Dilnot Johnson, alongside an anonymous 15th-century work arranged by Sarah Deere-Jones.

Performance Date: May 24, 2026

Soprano April Fredrick is joined by pianist Eric McElroy, violinist Grace Shepherd, and narrator Joseph Campbell Powell for “This Fragile Beauty,” a recital exploring the World War I experiences of composers Ivor Gurney, George Butterworth, Arthur Bliss, Ralph Vaughan Williams, and John Ireland, woven together with poetry and letters.

Performance Date: May 26, 2026

The acclaimed British vocal ensemble I Fagiolini, directed by Robert Hollingworth, brings their 40th anniversary tour to the festival with a wide-ranging program spanning Renaissance to contemporary repertoire. Works include pieces by Victoria, Senfl, Vecchi, Wilbye, Weelkes, Monteverdi, Elgar, Thea Musgrave, Joanna Marsh, Daniel-Lesur, and Léo Ferré.

Performance Date: May 26, 2026

Classic FM broadcaster Zeb Soanes hosts a family concert featuring ESO Youth Ensembles and musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra. The program includes Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra,” Elgar’s Chanson de Matin, and themes from the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, alongside the premiere of winning entries from the 2026 Young Composers’ Competition. James Topp conducts.

Performance Date: May 27, 2026

The Elgar Chorale, directed by Piers Maxim, presents a program featuring Elgar’s “So Many True Princesses” alongside works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Thea Musgrave.

Performance Date: May 30, 2026

Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir, directed by Stephen Shellard, presents two Festival Evensong services. The first features Festival Responses by David Briggs, Canticles by Paviour in G, and Stainer’s “I Saw the Lord.” The second features Briggs’ Festival Responses, Dyson in D Canticles, and two Elgar works: “Great is the Lord” and “They are at Rest.”

Performance Dates: May 30 & May 31, 2026

The festival’s Gala Concert features the English Symphony Orchestra and Elgar Festival Chorus under Kenneth Woods. Alongside orchestral works, the program includes Elgar’s early choral symphony “The Black Knight” for chorus and orchestra, with Stephen Shellard directing the chorus and violist Rosalind Ventris as soloist.

Performance Date: May 30, 2026