Hexham Abbey Festival will return from September 23 to 27 with a five-day programme combining classical music, folk traditions, storytelling and film. The 74th festival will explore journeys across continents, eras and cultures, with events taking place at Hexham Abbey and Forum Cinema.
This year’s theme centres on both musical and physical journeys. The programme moves from Bach and Beethoven to South American guitar, Northern protest songs, Middle Eastern musical influences and a silent film about Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition.
Opening concerts and musical journeys
The festival opens on Wednesday, September 23, with a traditional Choral Evensong at Hexham Abbey at 6.30pm. The performance will be given by the combined choirs of Hexham Abbey.
On Thursday, Ian Watt will perform a guitar recital in the Abbey’s North Transept at 1pm. That evening, at 7.30pm, pianist Danny Driver will perform Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Friday’s lunchtime event, Singing Truth to Power, will examine the history of protest songs in the North East and beyond. Hexham-based Oskar Cox-Jensen and Vic Gammon will appear with folk musician Nancy Kerr.
Friday evening will bring the return of vocal group Apollo5. Its candlelit concert, Crossings, will follow the pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome through music.
Festival centrepiece and weekend programme
The main performance takes place on Saturday at 7.30pm, when the Hexham Abbey Festival Chorus and Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mass in C. David Murray will direct the performance.
Saturday also includes a performance by pianist Martin Roscoe of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No.23.
Sunday begins with a Festival Choral Eucharist at 10am. At 2pm, Forum Cinema will screen South: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Glorious Epic of the Antarctic. Silent-film pianist Jonny Best will provide a live musical score.
The closing performance starts at 7.30pm, with The Ayoub Sisters Quartet blending Arab and Scottish folk melodies.
Tickets and booking information
Tickets for concerts at Hexham Abbey are available through Queen’s Hall’s website or by telephone on 01434 652477. Tickets for the screening of South can be booked through Forum Cinema or by calling 01434 601144.
Tickets cost £5 for people aged 21 and under. Full programme information is available from the Hexham Abbey Festival website.
Guest programmer Svend-Einar McEwan-Brown said the festival had given him memorable musical experiences as a schoolboy and described the new programme as an eclectic mix in a special place.