Elgar Festival Worcester (Arts Fund)

The Elgar Festival was inaugurated as the official celebration of the music and life of Edward Elgar in the city of his birth by resolution of Worcester City Council in 2017 and takes place annually over the weekend nearest the composer’s birth.

Immediately gaining ‘Critic’s Pick’ status in The Guardian and The Times, the 2019 festival, expanding to four days with the theme ‘Elgar for Everyone’, set out to engage those of all ages and backgrounds in the music and legacy of Worcester’s greatest son.
 
The success of the ‘Elgar for Everyone’ initiative included a Family Concert which, together with the Gala Concert and other immersive inter-active events; ‘Play Elgar’s Piano’ drew in large numbers of new and diverse audiences.

This was further demonstrated through a programme of engaging educational workshops, talks, poetry readings, a new Elgar Trail, and a Cello Day for families and young players. To generate further interest, rarely seen Elgar manuscripts, letters and artefacts were brought together from international collections as part of a specially procured exhibition in Worcester Guildhall. Half of the Festival’s events were free-of-charge making them accessible and inclusive for all.

“We’ve enjoyed a stunning success at the 2019 Festival in terms of quality of events and numbers – a huge uplift on last year’s audience numbers”, said a festival spokesperson Kenneth Woods.  “I couldn’t be more proud of all those involved who made the festival such a success, particularly with the support of local funders including Worcestershire Community Foundation through their Arts Fund.”