LEWES FESTIVAL OF SONG

Patron: Mark Padmore

Welcome to our song festival, a celebration of art-song which takes place in St. Anne’s Church in Lewes every July.

THIS YEAR THE FESTIVAL RUNS FROM FRIDAY 2ND TO SUNDAY 4TH JULY 2021.

We begin on Friday with a colourful Italian flourish, from 17th century Arie Antiche with lute through to some 20th century giants, via well-loved romantics such as Rossini, Bellini and Tosti.

Saturday and Sunday evenings are devoted to three major European poets.  Alison Rose sings settings of Baudelaire and Verlaine, and Julien Van Mellaerts performs the Heine cycles: Schubert's Schwanengesang and Schumann’s Dichterliebe. These concerts are accompanied by Nancy Cooley.

In the lunchtime recitals, Keval Shah and Bethan Langford take an innovative look at portraits of women, and Lotte Betts-Dean, Rosalind Ventris and Joseph Havlat, with composer and violist Sally Beamish, invite the viola to step up centre stage with the voice.

Well done on putting on yet another truly fantastic festival, beautifully planned and full of very special moments.

-M.P.

Gorgeous programming, as usual - thought-provoking, mind-expanding, lovely! 

-O.G.

The programming & the performances are very special.

-L.Y.

The best ever song festival – so many talents and so much inspiring music on display. It was all world class, but if I had to choose a favourite from the whole thing it would be my personal love of the emotional Finzi settings of Hardy in James Newby’s wonderfully varied and insightful evening – what a talent! Or Alison Rose’s “Illuminations” – another favourite piece but in a spectacular performance with the Corelli – and wasn’t the tenor good!  You should be very proud and pleased to bring all this to Lewes.

-M.B.

What a treat yesterday’s lunchtime concert was.  I can’t thank you enough.  Fabulous repertoire – most of which I didn’t know – beautifully played and sung.  

-A.S.

What a huge success I thought the Festival was. Really interesting programmes and such well-chosen, brilliant young players. It was all delightful and last night’s ‘Illuminations’ was absolutely electrifying.

-J.H.