Ludlow English Song Weekend
Dates & Prices
3-5 April 2020
from £695 per person
No Single Supplement
Deposit £150
Accommodation
The Feathers Hotel
Including bed & breakfast
Group Size
Between 5 and 10 people
What’s included
All festival tickets and festival meals
3-5 April 2020
from £695 per person
No Single Supplement
Deposit £150
Accommodation
The Feathers Hotel
Including bed & breakfast
Group Size
Between 5 and 10 people
What’s included
All festival tickets and festival meals
Additional nights can be booked
Three days full of song, both old and new, in historic Ludlow
Iain Burnside’s festival celebrates the best of English song and poetry with songs, choral pieces, chamber music, talks, discussion and film - a truly special event.
We stay at the newly refurbished Feathers Hotel close to the centre of the town.
5.30 pm WELCOME RECEPTION
Ludlow Assembly Rooms Studio
7.00 pm TOBY SPENCE IN RECITAL
St Laurence’s Church
Toby Spence, Michael Trainor and Iain Burnside
Tippett’s Boyhood’s End, Britten’s Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and the premiere of Fallen, by Philip Lancaster.
10.00 pm LATE NIGHT FILM: Poets in a Barren Age
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
SATURDAY 4th APRIL
10.00 am LOOKING AHEAD
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Katy Hamilton returns to chair the first of our discussion panels. Oliver Soden, Ceri Owen, Stephen Banfield and James Murphy select their pick of the Weekend ahead, while Rhian Samuel, John Greening, Martin Bussey and Philip Lancaster introduce their works.
11.30 am THE MOON AND I
St Laurence’s Church
Nardus Williams, Claire Barnett-Jones, Tetsuumi Nagata and Gamal Khamis
Two outstanding ENO Harewood Artists are joined by Testuumi Nagata from the Piatti Quartet in works by Howells, Bridge, Lehmann and Hoiby together with another premiere: Rhian Samuel’s The Moon And I. Pianist Gamal Khamis is the first holder of a newly created Finzi Bursary.
1.00 am LUNCH in Oscars
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
2.30 pm PIATTI QUARTET
St Laurence’s Church
The Piatti Quartet’s striking programme includes Mark-Anthony Turnage’s 4th Quartet, which they premiered in 2019.
5.00 pm WHEN FINZI MEETS HARDY
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Katy Hamilton previews tonight’s recital with Stephen Banfield, Ceri Owen and Hardy scholar Tim Armstrong.
6.00 pm SUPPER in Oscars
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
7.00 pm YOUNG COMPOSERS SHOWCASE
St Laurence’s Church
New songs from this year’s young composers, performed by the masterclass students and introduced by Rhian Samuel.
8.00 pm THE PHANTOM
St Laurence’s Church
Matthew Durkan, Božidar Smiljanic, Iain Burnside – with Richard Goulding
SUNDAY 5th APRIL
10.00 am ANN MURRAY MASTERCLASS
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
12.00 pm THE RPS CONVERSATION: STORYTELLING
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
1.00 pm LUNCH in Oscars
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
2.30 pm RODERICK WILLIAMS IN RECITAL
St Laurence’s Church
Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside
Our final concert spotlights Ludlow’s favourite baritone.
Butterworth – Bredon Hill and other songs
Rhian Samuel – Spring Diary
John Ireland – Sea Fever, Santa Chiara, Great Things
Roderick Williams – 3 Housman Parodies
Folksong arrangements by Butterworth and Britten.
5.00 pm FESTIVAL EVENSONG
St Laurence’s Church
The Choir of St Laurence, Ludlow and Michael Oakley, Director of Music
The Weekend closes where it started: in magnificent St Laurence’s Church.
Iain Burnside’s festival celebrates the best of English song and poetry with songs, choral pieces, chamber music, talks, discussion and film - a truly special event.
We stay at the newly refurbished Feathers Hotel close to the centre of the town.
Concert Programme for the Weekend
(Details from Ludlow Song)
FRIDAY 3rd APRIL
5.30 pm WELCOME RECEPTION
Ludlow Assembly Rooms Studio
St Laurence’s Church
Toby Spence, Michael Trainor and Iain Burnside
Tippett’s Boyhood’s End, Britten’s Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and the premiere of Fallen, by Philip Lancaster.
10.00 pm LATE NIGHT FILM: Poets in a Barren Age
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Director Mischa Scorer introduces his seminal 1974 documentary on the life of Michael Tippett. Film running time approx. 50mins.
10.00 am LOOKING AHEAD
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Katy Hamilton returns to chair the first of our discussion panels. Oliver Soden, Ceri Owen, Stephen Banfield and James Murphy select their pick of the Weekend ahead, while Rhian Samuel, John Greening, Martin Bussey and Philip Lancaster introduce their works.
11.30 am THE MOON AND I
St Laurence’s Church
Nardus Williams, Claire Barnett-Jones, Tetsuumi Nagata and Gamal Khamis
Two outstanding ENO Harewood Artists are joined by Testuumi Nagata from the Piatti Quartet in works by Howells, Bridge, Lehmann and Hoiby together with another premiere: Rhian Samuel’s The Moon And I. Pianist Gamal Khamis is the first holder of a newly created Finzi Bursary.
1.00 am LUNCH in Oscars
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
2.30 pm PIATTI QUARTET
St Laurence’s Church
The Piatti Quartet’s striking programme includes Mark-Anthony Turnage’s 4th Quartet, which they premiered in 2019.
5.00 pm WHEN FINZI MEETS HARDY
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Katy Hamilton previews tonight’s recital with Stephen Banfield, Ceri Owen and Hardy scholar Tim Armstrong.
6.00 pm SUPPER in Oscars
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
7.00 pm YOUNG COMPOSERS SHOWCASE
St Laurence’s Church
New songs from this year’s young composers, performed by the masterclass students and introduced by Rhian Samuel.
8.00 pm THE PHANTOM
St Laurence’s Church
Matthew Durkan, Božidar Smiljanic, Iain Burnside – with Richard Goulding
The sudden death of his first wife inspired Thomas Hardy to write a group of poems unique in English literature. This specially devised programme interweaves settings by Finzi, Ireland and Bussey with the poems themselves, read by acclaimed actor Richard Goulding. Two brilliant young baritones explore this dark repertoire, in the splendour of St Laurence’s Church.
10.00 am ANN MURRAY MASTERCLASS
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
We are delighted to welcome back acclaimed mezzo Ann Murray to work with students from the Royal College of Music.
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
In a new collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Society, author Oliver Soden discusses his acclaimed biography of Michael Tippett with Katy Hamilton. A book signing is hosted by Castle Bookshop.
Ludlow Assembly Rooms
Saver Ticket A holders only.
2.30 pm RODERICK WILLIAMS IN RECITAL
St Laurence’s Church
Roderick Williams and Iain Burnside
Our final concert spotlights Ludlow’s favourite baritone.
Butterworth – Bredon Hill and other songs
Rhian Samuel – Spring Diary
John Ireland – Sea Fever, Santa Chiara, Great Things
Roderick Williams – 3 Housman Parodies
Folksong arrangements by Butterworth and Britten.
5.00 pm FESTIVAL EVENSONG
St Laurence’s Church
The Choir of St Laurence, Ludlow and Michael Oakley, Director of Music
The Weekend closes where it started: in magnificent St Laurence’s Church.