About

Established over 40 years ago in the former county town of Radnorshire, the Presteigne Festival has become a focal-point for those seeking musical innovation and artistic discovery amidst the beauty of the Welsh Marches.

Internationally renowned for its commissioning of new work, support of living composers and with a long tradition for the encouragement of talented young artists, the organisation works closely with composers and performers to create and curate inspiring events for an ever-widening Festival audience and brings experience-broadening opportunities to its host community.

The 2025 Presteigne Festival will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Dmitri Shostakovich (1906–1975), one of the most significant Russian voices of the 20th century, with a special focus on his music.

Demonstrating its continuing commitment to contemporary music, the Festival will welcome Jamaican-born British composer Eleanor Alberga as composer-in-residence and has also  commissioned a collection of works from an extremely broad and diverse composer base –  Eleanor Alberga, Kerensa Briggs, James Frances Brown, Martin Butler, Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, Edward Gregson, Helen Grime, Gavin Higgins, Dani Howard, Tayla-Leigh Payne, Huw Watkins, James B Wilson and Derri Joseph Lewis, a member of the 2025 Royal Philharmonic Society composer cohort. 

Music from other living composers – Thomas Adès, John Casken, Jonathan Dove, Mared Emlyn, Helen Grime, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Thomas Hyde, Cecilia McDowall, Roxanna Panufnik, Robert Peate, Steve Reich, Mark Simpson and Judith Weir – is included alongside works by Bach, Beethoven, Britten, Chopin, Copland, Mahler, Mozart, Piazzolla, Schubert, Stravinsky, Takemitsu and Grace Williams. 

In addition to 14 concert and opera performances, the Festival will offer a diverse mix of arts events – exhibitions, film screenings, poetry, talks from Stephen Johnson, Gavin Plumley, Peter Wakelin and, in partnership with local artists and makers, the ever-popular Presteigne ‘Open Studios’ weekend.

The 2025 Festival boasts a stellar line-up of artists, including: the Castalian Quartet, Nova Music Opera, Leonore Trio, Erda Ensemble, Robert Plane (clarinet), Marta Fontanals-Simmons (mezzo-soprano), Benjamin Nabarro (violin), Tim Horton (piano), Gemma Rosefield (cello), Chloë Vincent (flute), Olivia Jageurs (harp), Emma Roijackers and Laura Rickard (violin), Timothy End (piano), the Bath Camerata and the Presteigne Festival Orchestra under George Vass (conductor).