Buxton International Festival Brochure 6-23 July 2023.

Events Diary

Events Diary

The Festival Experience

Buxton is a beautiful town, home to breath-taking architecture on every corner. There are plenty of green spaces to enjoy, an abundance of lovely cafes and restaurants, and our venues are all within a few minutes walking distance of each other, on fl at terrain. Admire views of the Peak District countryside from the town centre and get involved in the buzz of Festival life.

Live performance and music abound during the Festival. You can delve into one event, or make a day, a weekend, or a week of it, or join us for the entirety! Here’s what a typical day might look like:

10am Start your day with an opinion-forming book talk

11.15am Relax at a concert in the glory of St John’s Church

12.30pm Join the big conversations of the day at a pre-lunch book event

3pm Indulge in more world-class music at St John’s 4pm Hear from leading academics, writers and speakers at an afternoon book talk

6pm Get insights into the operas or musical from BIF’s creative teams at an opera talk

7.15pm Spectacular opera, featuring world-renowned singers, at Buxton Opera House (and enjoy a glass of champagne in the Pavilion Gardens conservatory)

10.30pm Late night jazz at the Palace Hotel, or on selected nights, jazz and a post-opera supper at the jazz café at Pavilion Gardens

OUR HISTORY

Buxton International Festival has been thrilling audiences since 1979. We have a reputation for offering often once-in-a-life-time opportunities to hear sublime but rarely-performed operas. Initially founded to help restore Buxton Opera House, the Festival has been running every year, bar 2020 when our Digital Series was launched. Internationally-acclaimed singers, musicians and speakers are all attracted to the spa town, and our Young Artists Programme continues to introduce audiences to the rising stars of the future.

WELCOME CEO’s

The Festival was recently praised as an ‘opera festival in full technicolour, unapologetically ambitious and fizzing with energy’. This year is no exception, with an excellent opera and musical offering, a quill of authors and a range of acclaimed jazz artists.

Welcome to Buxton International Festival for a season of inspiring performances and opinion-forming book talks in beautiful and historic venues across the town of Buxton. For two weeks in July you can witness mesmerising live performances from some of our country’s most exciting talent, hear from inspirational and engaging speakers and explore all that Buxton has to offer.

When I arrived in Buxton in 2018, Baroness Shirley Williams, a long-standing supporter of the Festival, took me under her wing. She invited me for a tour of the Houses of Parliament and over a plate of fish and chips with mushy peas suggested that I do ‘something musical’ on the life of her mother, Vera Brittain. I had no idea who Vera Brittain was and did not think any more about it. A year later Shirley hosted a coffee morning in Buxton and once again asked me if I had looked up her mother. To my shame, I dodged the question, but Shirley persisted and assured me I wouldn’t be sorry. It was only during the interminable lockdown in 2020 that all the pieces came together: Ivor Novello and Vera Brittain were both born in 1893, Vera was a resident of Buxton and the author of the powerful war memoir Testament of Youth and Novello’s music fell into the public domain in 2022. I spent the next year researching the lives of Vera and Edward Brittain and when the musical was finished and the idea had been approved by the board, I phoned Shirley to tell her the news. I left numerous messages but got no reply. That evening I learned that Baroness Shirley Williams had passed away in the early hours of 11 April 2021. It seemed fi tting to dedicate The Land of Might-Have-Been to Shirley for all her support of the Festival over the last twenty years.

The Festival was recently praised by The Guardian as an ‘opera festival in full technicolour, unapologetically ambitious and fizzing with energy’. This year is no exception. Adrian Kelly has once again curated an excellent opera and

musical offering, and with the composers Bellini, Handel, Mozart and Novello you are in very safe hands. Victoria Dawson has wooed a quill of authors and speakers to Buxton for another round of opinion-forming talks. While Neil, no longer the new kid on the block, is determined to make Jazz a regular feature with a range of international and national artists.

We are thrilled the Arts Council England once again awarded the Festival a grant for the next three years. This confidence in our vision is shared by numerous Trusts and Foundations, corporate supporters, High Peak Borough Council, patrons, Friends of BIF, syndicate members and individual donors. We thank you all for your generosity.

If you want to support our ambition and keep us fizzing, please consider donating so we can plan 2024 with confidence. Every penny will be spent carefully to ensure that the tradition of live performances continues to thrive in beautiful Buxton.

See you on the forecourt,

Michael Williams Chief Executive Officer

AT A GLANCE: OPERA

FRIDAY 7 JULY

LAND OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN

SATURDAY 8 JULY

p18

SUNDAY 9 JULY

MONDAY 10 JULY

TUESDAY 11 JULY

p20

THURSDAY 13 JULY

p22

FRIDAY 14 JULY

SATURDAY 15 JULY

LAND OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN

& 7.15pm p20

SUNDAY 17 JULY

p22

TUESDAY 18 JULY

LAND OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN

WEDNESDAY 19 JULY

THURSDAY 20 JULY SCENES FROM A MUSICAL: THE LAND OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN

FRIDAY 21 JULY

WELCOME Artistic Director’s

I would like to embolden you to visit on the opening weekend. There is such a special atmosphere, and this year we have a spectacular opening Monday, with concerts featuring Nicola Benedetti and the American jazz trumpeter, Wynton Marsalis.

Welcome to Buxton International Festival 2023! Once again, it has been my responsibility to put together a programme of operas and classical concerts which can both attract new audiences and meet the expectations of those who know the Festival well. I feel privileged to work alongside Victoria Dawson and Neil Hughes, whose flair for curating the book and jazz elements of the Festival never fails to amaze me.

Vincenzo Bellini was admired by romantic composers as varied as Chopin and Wagner for his extraordinary gift for melody. La sonnambula epitomises the bel canto tradition and I am excited to bring it to life in Buxton along with a dazzling young cast.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s operas are a regular feature of most summer festivals, but Il re pastore remains something of a rarity, even though it contains some of Mozart’s most exquisite music. The production will be directed by Jack Furness, one of the UK’s most exciting young stage directors.

Our third production in the Buxton Opera House is a new work which combines the music of one of the 20th century’s most gifted melodists, Ivor Novello, with the story of one of Buxton’s most celebrated figures, Vera Brittain. Directed by Kimberley Sykes, The Land of Might-HaveBeen is a new musical, which promises to be entertaining and poignant in equal measure.

Following the recent success of productions of works by Viardot, Dove and Hasse in the Pavilion Arts Centre, we will also present George Frideric Händel’s masterful Orlando in a production by the Liberata Collective, which puts authentic baroque music-making alongside authentic Baroque Gesture.

As usual, the classical music programme celebrates some of the UK’s most acclaimed musicians. Paul Lewis presents the first two parts of a four-part Schubert programme (to be completed in 2024). Joanna McGregor returns with a programme that showcases her inimitable flair. Another of the country’s leading pianists, Peter Donohoe, appears alongside the exuberant clarinettist, Sacha Rattle.

The song recitals this year have been curated by Joseph Middleton, whose ‘Seasons’ series, brings together four of the country’s finest singers: soprano Lucy Crowe, mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, tenor Nicky Spence and baritone Ashley Riches.

Other chamber music highlights include Festival favourites the Sacconi Quartet, the awardwinning Sitkovetsky Trio and also the outstanding Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective. If you haven’t attended a concert in the spectacular Assembly Rooms at the Crescent, I recommend that you give it a try, and if you haven’t heard The King’s Singers live (and even if you have), you really should not miss their concert in the Octagon.

Not to be missed!

Adrian Kelly Artistic Director

AT A GLANCE: MUSIC

SUNDAY 9 JULY

FESTIVAL MASS

11am p17

VICTORIA STRING QUARTET

3.30pm p32

MONDAY 10 JULY

JACK HANCHER

11.15am p34

NICOLA BENEDETTI AND THE ENGLISH CONCERT

5pm p36

TUESDAY 11 JULY

FOUR SEASONS: NICKY SPENCE AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

11.15am p37

SITKOVETSKY TRIO

3pm p39

WEDNESDAY 12 JULY

FOUR SEASONS: LUCY CROWE AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

11.15am p40

SACCONI QUARTET

3pm p42

THURSDAY 13 JULY

PADDINGTON TRIO

11.15am p43

THE KING’S SINGERS

3pm p45

Reserve your souvenir programme now and save!

£12 if reserved before 1 June at Buxton Opera House (£15 regular price)

FRIDAY 14 JULY

FOUR SEASONS: DAME SARAH

CONNOLLY AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

11.15am p47

JOANNA MACGREGOR

3pm p48

SATURDAY 15 JULY

FOUR SEASONS: ASHLEY RICHES AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

11.15am p50

ENDYMION 3pm p51

SUNDAY 16 JULY

FESTIVAL MASS

11am p17

SOLIS TRIO

12.30pm p53

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA Film with live organ accompaniment by Zorada Temmingh

8.30pm p54

MONDAY 17 JULY

LOUISE THOMSON

11.15am p55

ENSEMBLE MOLIÈRE

3pm p57

TUESDAY 18 JULY

MIKELEIZ-ZUCCHI DUO

11.15am p58

SACHA RATTLE AND PETER DONOHOE

3pm p60

AT A GLANCE: MUSIC

WEDNESDAY 19 JULY

KALEIDOSCOPE CHAMBER COLLECTIVE

11.15am p61

PAUL LEWIS (PART 1)

3pm p62

THURSDAY 20 JULY

KALEIDOSCOPE CHAMBER COLLECTIVE

11.15am p64

PAUL LEWIS (PART 2)

3pm p66

FRIDAY 21 JULY

MERAKI DUO

11.15am p67

DAME SHIRLEY J THOMPSON

2pm p69

THE WILLIAMS-HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE RECITAL

4pm p70

SATURDAY 22 JULY

LEO POPPLEWELL AND ANTONINA SUHANOVA

11.15am p71

GWILYM SIMCOCK AND ROB BUCKLAND SEXTET

3pm p72

SUNDAY 23 JULY

FESTIVAL MASS

11am p17

THE FOUR SEASONS CONCERTS

ASHLEY RICHIES

LUCY CROWE

Buxton International Festival presents a series of four vocal recitals celebrating the enormous and varied repertoire of art song. Curated by one of the UK’s leading collaborative pianists, Joseph Middleton, these concerts have at their heart the theme of the seasons of the year.

Four outstanding singers will perform programmes which lead us through the ever-changing landscapes of the year, and the emotional highs and lows which accompany them. These concerts offer a wonderful opportunity for newcomers to the world of song to familiarise themselves with this extraordinarily rich repertoire.

NICKY SPENCE

SARAH CONNELLY

WELCOME Jazz Director’s

2023 is going to be spectacular! Expect big bands, late-night concerts, a dance evening and some gospel; and we are adding even more into the mix.

Iam delighted to welcome you to the 2023 Jazz line up for Buxton International Festival.

Last year was our first distinct jazz programme in the long history of the Festival and we had amazing audience feedback. We are going to repeat all the successes, the big bands, the late-night concerts, the dance evening and some gospel; and then we are going to add even more into the mix with a brand-new late-night jazz café vibe in the heart of the Pavilion Gardens. Following an opera, musical, or a jazz gig in the Arts Centre, you can nowextend your stay (on selected nights) until midnight with great music, food and wine.

We open the Festival with a jazz weekend beginning on Thursday 6 July with a New Orleans boogie-woogie treat from Dale Storr up at The Palace Hotel, where we will have our purposebuilt venue, with stage and grand piano. We then have another 13 events for you all the way to Monday night when Wynton Marsalis will entertain us at the Opera House.

There are so many great musicians visiting Buxton this year. That first weekend sees the music of Supertramp in big band format, we have Trish Clowes on sax with Hammond organ from Ross Stanley, and we have Tom Seals, the man who has arrived as a genuine superstar. Also, look out for Tommy Smith OBE, who has recorded with Chick Corea and Randy Brecker. Take advantage of a package of discounted ‘Jazz Weekender’ tickets. These also include a trip to the iconic Opera House for the world premiere of The Land of Might-Have-Been, a musical with songs from Ivor Novello. This year’s Weekender tickets will also treat you to a very special book event on Saturday at midday, when the mighty Sir David Hare will entertain us. With two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globe Award nominations, three Tony Award nominations and a BAFTA Award to his name, he is one not to miss!

In the following two weeks, we spread the jazz across many gigs, with gospel, dancing, folk and a true superstar, Madeline Bell who brings her show, Bacharach, Dusty and Me to Buxton with Ian Shaw on piano. The voice of Blue Mink (‘Melting Pot’, ‘Good Morning Freedom’) and one of the world’s most-heard session singers (Joe Cocker, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Donna Summer) Madeline has now established a dazzling solo career.

Jazz Café at the Pavilion Gardens

Brand new for ’23, on three nights, come and spend a little time with us after the main shows finish and we will entertain you from 10pm until midnight. You can pre-order a platter, sit back and relax and take in a couple of sets of beautiful music. Take a look at the programme, we have three lovely bands booked, including the return of Buxton jazz legend Graham Clark.

It is going to be a fine festival, with a wideranging programme to keep you entertained –please come along and say hello.

Neil Hughes Jazz Director

BIF 2023 6 – 23 July

AT A GLANCE: JAZZ

THURSDAY 6 JULY

DALE STORR 8pm p26

FRIDAY 7 JULY

CHARLOTTE GLASSON BAND 1pm p27

JAMIE SAFIR 10.30pm p28

SATURDAY 8 JULY

THE SUPER BIG TRAMP BAND 3pm p30

SHEZ RAJA 7.30pm p31

TRISH CLOWES AND ROSS STANLEY 10.30pm p31

SUNDAY 9 JULY

NORTHERN JAZZ ORCHESTRA 1pm p32

TOM SEALS 5pm p33

GAZ HUGHES TRIO 9.30pm p33

MONDAY 10 JULY

NI MAXINE 12.30pm p35

TOMMY SMITH AND PETER JOHNSTONE 3pm p34

WYNTON MARSALIS 9pm p35

THURSDAY 13 JULY

ZOE KYOTI 7.30pm p46

JULIE EDWARDS AND KEVIN DEARDEN QUINTET 10pm p46

FRIDAY 14 JULY

GENO WASHINGTON AND THE RAM JAM BAND / SAD CAFÉ 7.15pm p49

SATURDAY 15 JULY

MADELINE BELL WITH IAN SHAW 7.30pm p52

STEVIE WILLIAMS & THE MOST WANTED BAND 10pm p52

SUNDAY 16 JULY

AMC GOSPEL CHOIR 4pm p53

BUXTON FESTIVAL DANCE BAND Music to Dance to 8pm p54

FRIDAY 21 JULY

GRAHAM CLARK QUARTET 10pm p70

SATURDAY 22 JULY

THE GWILYM SIMCOCK QUINTET 8pm p73

JAZZ WEEKENDER PLUS TICKETS

Enjoy a weekend of big band, boogie-woogie, New Orleans, folk, jazz and Wynton Marsalis gigs from Thursday 6 – Monday 10 July at a discounted price, PLUS entry to Sir David Hare’s book event, AND the world premiere of a new musical The Land of Might-Have-Been

Tickets cost £209, a saving of £100. Visit buxtonfestival.co.uk for the details or scan the QR code

WELCOME Book Festival Director’s

Our guest authors are often surprised by the beauty of our town, the calibre of their fellow speakers and the world-class quality of our music and operas. Perhaps it’s time to share our more than four-decade long secret, stand on the twin domes of our Matcham Opera House and shout ‘you’ll find the finest cultural offerings here this July!’

Ihave always wanted to welcome a significant State-of-the Nation playwright to the BIF stage and when I found myself reading Sir David Hare’s wonderful collection of essays, I dared to dream. Equally, I have always wanted to programme a game-changing contemporary artist. And when I stood on the Peterloo Memorial in Manchester relatively recently, I dared to dream that we might, just might, host its designer, Turner Prize-winning artist, Jeremy Deller.

Catherine Ashton, former diplomat and the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, and Lord Finkelstein OBE columnist, political commentator and author of a heartbreaking family memoir of Jewish experience across the 20th Century.

Extraordinary families abound this year. Two welcome returners to the Buxton stage are social commentator Polly Toynbee, with a memoir of her extraordinary family that looks at class and meritocracy. Colin Grant, last with us at the height of the Windrush Scandal, shares the stories of his aspirational Jamaican family in Britain and looks at the legacy of his Uncle Castus’s favourite refrain ‘I’m black so you don’t have to be.’

winning journalism has been fundamental to our knowledge of social issues across the US and UK. Alistair Campbell’s new book

One of the linking themes across the BIF books programme this year is lived experience. Jeremy Bowen has been the BBC’s much admired Middle East correspondent since 2005 (and based in Jerusalem for a decade before that). Edward Stourton enjoys similar longevity with the BBC and his is an equally familiar and respected voice. Gary Younge joined The Guardian in 1993, finally becoming editor-at-large. His awardwinning journalism has been fundamental to our knowledge of social issues across the US and UK. Alistair Campbell’s new book is entitled But What Can I Do? Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It. is a book that personifies the BIF tagline ‘opinion forming’.

Two sitting MPs will be with us to discuss two very different books, Conservative MP Jesse Norman will talk about Winding Stair, his novel of the Elizabethan and Jacobean court. Labour MP Nick Thomas-Symonds will discuss his acclaimed biography of Harold Wilson. The House of Lords is represented by Baroness

the world to become one of the UK’s foremost Wilding: The Return of Nature to a British Farm has become the touchstone for the re-wilding movement and an inspiration

Joining our roll of amazing women is Sara Wheeler, travelling via Antarctica and across the world to become one of the UK’s foremost explorers. Isabella Tree’s seminal book Wilding: The Return of Nature to has become the touchstone for the re-wilding movement and an inspiration to many nature conservation projects small and large. Dame Kate Bingham was Chair of the Government’s Vaccine Taskforce during the COVID pandemic. Her leadership was praised by scientists and the international media for setting up the trials, manufacturing and distribution of vaccines. A debt to which the Arts in the UK, and BIF especially, is very

UK, and BIF especially, is very grateful.

Victoria Dawson Book Festival Director

biography of Harold

AT A GLANCE: BOOKS

FRIDAY 7 JULY

GARY YOUNGE 10am p27

Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter

GAIA VINCE 4pm p28 Nomad Century

SATURDAY 8 JULY

POLLY TOYNBEE 10am p30

An Uneasy Inheritance: Class in Britain, or My Family and Other Radicals

SIR DAVID HARE 12pm , p29

We Travelled: Essays and Poems

TUESDAY 11 JULY

BARONESS CATHERINE ASHTON 10am p37 And Then What?

JEREMY BOWEN 12.30pm p38

The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History

ALICE FARNHAM 4pm p39

In Good Hands: The Making of a Modern Conductor

WEDNESDAY 12 JULY

JAMES STOURTON, 10am , p40

Heritage: A History of How We Conserve Our Past

TOM HOLLAND, 12.30pm p41

Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age

CAROLINE DODDS PENNOCK 4pm p41

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe

THURSDAY 13 JULY

HENRY DIMBLEBY AND JEMIMA

LEWIS 10am p43

Ravenous: Why our appetite is killing us and the planet, and what we can do about it

LAURA FREEMAN 12.30pm p44

Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle’s Yard Artists

TOMIWA OLOWADE 4pm p44

This is Not America: Why We Need a Different Conversation on Race

FRIDAY 14 JULY

COLIN GRANT 10am p47

I’m Black So You Don’t Have to Be: A Memoir in Eight Lives

JEREMY DELLER 12.30pm p48

Art is Magic

LORD FINKELSTEIN 4pm p49

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir

SATURDAY 15 JULY

TRACY BORMAN 10am p50

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I; The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History

CLAIRE HARMAN 4pm p51

All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything

MONDAY 17 JULY

LEAH BROAD 10am p55

Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World

CHRIS MULLIN 12.30pm p56

Didn’t You Use to be Chris Mullin?

Diaries 2010 - 2022

SARAH BAKEWELL 4pm , p57

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope

TUESDAY 18 JULY

PETER MOORE 10am p58

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream 1740-1776

EDWARD STOURTON 12.30pm p59 Confessions

SARA WHEELER 4pm p60

Glowing Still: A Woman’s Life on the Road

WEDNESDAY 19 JULY

JONATHAN KENNEDY 10am p61

Pathogenesis: How Infectious Diseases Shaped Human History

SARAH RAVEN, ADAM NICOLSON, JULIET NICOLSON 12pm p63

A Year Full of Veg: A Harvest for Every Season and How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks

SIMON GARFIELD 4pm p63

All the Knowledge in the World: The Extraordinary History of the Encyclopaedia

THURSDAY 20 JULY

NICK THOMAS-SYMONDS 10am p64

Harold Wilson: The Winner

THE COUNTESS OF CARNARVON

12.30pm p65

The Earl and the Pharoah: From the Real Downton Abbey to Tutankhamun

RUPERT CHRISTIANSEN 4pm p66

Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World

FRIDAY 21 JULY

JESSE NORMAN 10am, p67

The Winding Stair

DAME KATE BINGHAM AND TIM HAMES 12.30pm p68

The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain

IAIN DALE 4pm p70

On This Day in Politics

SATURDAY 22 JULY

ISABELLA TREE 10am p71

The Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding, Big and Small

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, 12.30pm, p?72

In conversation with Iain Dale But What Can I Do? Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It

MARK COCKER 4pm p73

One Midsummer’s Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

AT A GLANCE: WALKS

FRIDAY 7 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 3.30pm p28

SATURDAY 8 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 11.30am p28

MONDAY 10 JULY

SPA AND EMPIRE 3.30pm p34

TUESDAY 11 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 3.30pm p28

THURSDAY 13 JULY

BUXTON – A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS 3.30pm p44

SATURDAY 15 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 11.30am p28

BUXTON – A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS 3.30pm p44

MONDAY 17 JULY

SPA AND EMPIRE 11.30am p34

TUESDAY 18 JULY

BUXTON – A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS 11.30am p44

THURSDAY 20 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 3.30pm p28

FRIDAY 21 JULY

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH 11.30am p28

SPA AND EMPIRE 3.30pm p34

SCENES FROM A MUSICAL

The Land of Might-Have-Been

Thursday 20 July 3pm - 4pm

The Palace Hotel £15

After a hiatus of three years our ‘Scene’s From’ series is back, by popular demand. BIF presents an hourlong re-imagining of The Land of Might-Have-Been

Members of the company covering the principal roles will bring to life scenes from Novello’s The Land of Might-Have-Been, under the direction of Nick Bond, director of the 2021 BIF hit The Enchanted Pig Young people from our Platform 3 initiative will join the understudies to sing the Ivor Novello’s chorus numbers.

( A Little Night Music, 2021) returns to Buxton for The Land of Might-Have-Been

Champagne Bar

Visit Buxton’s newest bar in the botanical conservatory next to Buxton Opera House. The team at Pavilion Gardens are creating a pop-up champagne bar, offering pre-theatre and interval drinks. Pre-order your drinks at pavilion.gardens@parkwood-leisure.co.uk

LATE NIGHT JAZZ CAFÉ AT PAVILION GARDENS

We have a new late night jazz vibe for 2023. Take advantage of live music at our new Jazz Café at the Pavilion Gardens Restaurant, which opens on the following three nights following the operas and the musical:

Thursday 13 July Julie Edwards Quintet

Saturday 15 July Stevie Williams and The Most Wanted

Friday 21 July Graham Clark Quartet

All gigs start at 10pm, as you leave the Opera House or the Pavilion Arts Centre. Sit back with a drink downstairs, or head upstairs and join the late-night supper club, with a choice of platters, served to your tables. Food must be reserved in advance by emailing pavilion.gardens@parkwood-leisure.co.uk. There will be live music until midnight.

Julia Mariko Smith

SONG AT SIX

Fri 7, Sat 8, Tues 11, Wed 12, Sat 15, Tues 18, Fri 21, Sat 22 July

Pavilion Gardens FREE

Don’t miss these free 15-minute concerts, performed by members of the Festival’s Young Artists Programme. Take a breath of fresh air in the beautiful surroundings of Pavilion Gardens, relax, and have your spirits lifted by these talented young singers.

OPERA TALKS

Buxton Opera House £3

Hear from the creative teams behind the BIF Opera and musical and get insights into the history, music and vision behind this year’s productions. Opera Talks will take place before all BIF productions, apart from Orlando, which will take place before the opening performance only.

LA SONNAMBULA

Buxton Opera House

Sat 8 6pm – 6.30pm

Wed 12 6pm – 6.30pm

Sun 16 12.45pm – 1.15pm

Wed 19 6pm – 6.30pm

Sat 22 6pm – 6.30pm

THE LAND OF MIGHTHAVE-BEEN

Buxton Opera House

Fri 7 6pm – 6.30pm

FESTIVAL MASSES

Pavilion Arts Centre FREE

Donations welcome

Buxton Music Society and the Buxton Madrigal Singers present three special services, under the direction of Michael Williams MBE. They all take place in the atmospheric setting of St John’s Church.

Sun 9 July 11am – 12.10pm

Buxton Madrigal Singers

J Haydn Little Organ Mass

Sun 16 July 11am – 12.20pm

(please note the later finishing time)

Buxton Madrigal Singers and Festival Soloists

WA Mozart Coronation Mass K317

Sun 23 July 11am – 12.10pm

Buxton Madrigal Singers

G Palestrina Missa Brevis

Tues 11 6pm – 6.30pm

Sat 15 12.45pm – 1.15pm and 6pm – 6.30pm

Tues 18 6pm – 6.30pm

Fri 21 6pm – 6.30pm

IL RE PASTORE

Buxton Opera House

Sun 9 6pm – 6.30pm

Thurs 13 6pm – 6.30pm

Mon 17 6pm – 6.30pm

Thurs 20 6pm – 6.30pm

ORLANDO

Pavilion Arts Centre

Mon 10 12.45pm – 1.15pm

BIF 2023 6 – 23 July

LA SONNAMBULA

Vincenzo Salvatore

Carmelo Francesco Bellini (1801–1835)

A Buxton International Festival Production, with the Northern Chamber Orchestra

This opera of jilted love, jealousy and innocence rewarded was Bellini’s first great masterpiece and remains his most important work, alongside Norma. It premiered in Milan in 1831 and became renowned for its exhilarating melodies and dazzling vocal pyrotechnics.

The theme of sleepwalking fascinated the public of the day, and Bellini explores all the musical possibilities of this mysterious phenomenon and the complex moods of his heroine. Amina, a Swiss village girl is engaged to Elvino and everyone, bar one, is looking forward to their wedding. When a mysterious stranger, Count Rodolfo, arrives his admiration for Amina provokes jealousy and misunderstanding. The situation is exacerbated when Amina is discovered in Rodolfo’s room at the local inn late at night. All is happily resolved when it becomes clear that Amina is an innocent sleepwalker, a somnambulist. In the hands of another composer the subject material might seem simple, but the story is the perfect complement to the inspired purity of Bellini’s melodic style.

La sonnambula will be conducted by Adrian Kelly and directed by Harry Fehr. Many will remember Harry Fehr’s acclaimed production of another Bellini opera at BIF, I Capuleti e Montecchi (2016) which was, coincidentally, the last Bellini opera performed at BIF. He has established an international reputation for thought-provoking productions explored through clear storytelling.

‘Bellini is the master of bel canto. While the story is very gentle and sweet-natured, the music is sublime, and showcases the art of operatic singing at its finest’. Adrian Kelly

DATES & TIMES

10% OFF WHEN YOU BOOK ALL 3 BIF PRODUCTIONS La sonnambula, The Land of MightHave-Been, Il re pastore

Sat 8 July 7.15pm

Wed 12 July 7.15pm

Sun 16 July 2pm

Wed 19 July 7.15pm

Sat 22 July 7.15pm

VENUE

Buxton Opera House

TICKETS

£25 - £85 Early Bird tickets available until Tues 18 April.

Concessions: £10 tickets for under 35s, who are part of the Friends of BIF Next Gen scheme. Join for free at buxtonfestival.co.uk

CREATIVE TEAM

Adrian Kelly Conductor

Harry Fehr Director

Nick Bond Assistant Director

Nicky Shaw Set Designer

Zahra Mansouri Costume Designer

Jake Wiltshire Lighting Designer

CAST

Ziyi Dai Amina

Ellie Neate Lisa

Ann Taylor Teresa

Nico Darmanin Elvino

Simon Shibambu Count Rodolfo

Jacob Bettinelli Alessio

Duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

THE LAND OF MIGHT-HAVE-BEEN

Ivor Novello (1893–1951). Book & Lyrics by Michael Williams

Arrangement and additional composition by Iain Farrington

A Buxton International Festival and Norwich Theatre production, with the Northern Chamber Orchestra

Brought together in a summer of love, torn apart by war, only one would survive to tell their story.

The world premiere of a new musical by Michael Williams, co-creator of the UK Theatre Awardwinning opera Georgiana. Return to the halcyon days of that long-ago perfect summer where ragtime was sweeping through every ballroom; where debutante balls were the Tinder of today and chaperones were the curse of every young woman in love; where the call of King and Country stirred the imagination of young men everywhere and the power of love kept hope alive in the darkest of times.

The Land of Might-Have-Been is built around the songs of Ivor Novello and tells a story loosely based on the lives of Vera and Edward Brittain before and during the First World War. The story follows Vera and Roland, and Edward and Bobbie who unexpectedly fall in love over a long, hot summer in Buxton in 1914. The war in Europe shatters all their hopes and dreams but compels Vera into a life-long campaign for peace and equality.

Iain Farrington’s new orchestral arrangement of songs like My Dearest Dear, Waltz of My Heart, My Life Belongs To You and Why Is There Ever Goodbye captures Ivor Novello’s extraordinary gift of melody and harmony.

Kimberley Sykes, Royal Shakespeare Company director, brings her classic theatre experience to the rehearsal room to deliver an elegant, sharply focused production.

The Land of Might-Have-Been acknowledges that Vera Brittain’s works are under the copyright of Mark Bostridge and T J Brittain-Catlin, Literary Executors for Estate of Vera Brittain 1970.

DATES & TIMES

Fri 7 July 7.15pm

Tues 11 July 7.15pm

Sat 15 July 2pm and 7.15pm

Tues 18 July 7.15pm

Fri 21 July 7.15pm

VENUE

Buxton Opera House

TICKETS

£25 - £71

Concessions: £10 tickets for under 35s, who are part of the Friends of BIF Next Gen scheme. Join for free at buxtonfestival.co.uk

CREATIVE TEAM

Iwan Davies Conductor

Kimberley Sykes Director

Nathan M Wright Choreographer

Nicky Shaw Set and Costume Designer

Jake Wiltshire Lighting Designer

Declan Matwij Sound Designer

Andrew Lynford Casting Director

Duration: 2 hours and 10 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

10% OFF WHEN YOU BOOK ALL 3 BIF PRODUCTIONS

La sonnambula, The Land of MightHave-Been, Il re pastore

BIF 2023 6 – 23 July

IL RE PASTORE

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

A Buxton International Festival production, with the Northern Chamber Orchestra

Mozart was just 19 years old when he wrote Il re pastore in 1775 at the command of the Prince of Salzburg, for the royal visit of Archduke Maximillian Francis of Austria. This youthful work shines with the richness of its orchestration, its inexhaustible melodic inspiration, and its dazzlingly ingenious score; it wonderfully foreshadows the composer’s future works. The plot is based on hypothetical moments from the life of Alexander the Great and was deemed suitable entertainment for a royal visit. Alessandro has recently conquered Sidon and is looking for the rightful heir to the throne. He believes it is the shepherd Aminta, who is in love with the noble Elisa. Aminta must decide if royal duty is greater than love.

Vocally, Mozart demands both lightness and agility of his singers, and every one of the arias is an expression of joy and contentment but created with enormous variety. The opera is a reflection upon the intertwining nature of love, duty and power. At once lively and full of feeling, Mozart’s music and the unusually colourful orchestration of the arias turn this serenata into a feast for the senses. Composed in six weeks with a libretto by Metastasio, this exquisite bucolic tale brims with energy, spirit, and enthusiasm.

Jack Furness is one of the most exciting young opera directors in Britain. Last summer he garnered a string of five-star reviews. This is his Buxton debut.

Libretto by Metastasio based on the play ‘Aminta’ by Torquato Tasso. Sung in Italian with English side-titles.

DATES & TIMES

10% OFF WHEN YOU BOOK ALL 3 BIF PRODUCTIONS La sonnambula, The Land of MightHave-Been, Il re pastore

Sun 9 July 7.15pm

Thurs 13 July 7.15pm

Mon 17 July 7.15pm

Thurs 20 July 7.15pm

VENUE

Buxton Opera House

TICKETS

£25 - £85 Early Bird tickets available until Tues 18 April.

Concessions: £10 tickets for under 35s, who are part of the Friends of BIF Next Gen scheme. Join for free at buxtonfestival.co.uk

CREATIVE TEAM

Adrian Kelly Conductor

Jack Furness Director

Hannah Wolfe Set and Costume Designer

Jake Wiltshire Lighting Designer

CAST

Katie Coventry Aminta

Ellie Neate Elisa

Olivia Carrell Tamiri

Joseph Doody Alessandro

George Curnow Agenore

Duration: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.

George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)

A Liberata Collective production, with the Ensemble Hesperi

Have you ever wondered how Handel’s own audiences would have experienced his operas? Liberata Collective endeavours to recreate this experience for modern audiences: using period instruments, providing printed libretti, and most crucially, performing in the art of Baroque Gesture (rarely seen on stages since that period). The complex plot of Orlando, one of Handel’s most vibrant and experimental works, is interpreted through a series of expressive movements, in the style that Handel’s own singers would have performed.

One of the three Handel operas based on Ludovico Ariosto’s epic poem Orlando Furioso, Orlando premiered at the King’s Theatre in London on 27 January 1722 and ran for only 10 performances. Now considered a masterpiece, it fell into obscurity until its revival in 1922, and since the 1960s has been more regularly performed. The plot centres on the obsessive and intense relationships between the knight Orlando, the princess Angelica, the prince Medoro and the shepherdess Dorinda, watched over by the magician Zoroastro. Orlando’s refusal to accept Angelica’s choice of lover leads him to madness and violence.

For this production, the exciting young singers of Liberata Collective – who between them have performed as soloists with Royal Opera House, Welsh National Opera, Longborough Festival Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opera Holland Park and Opéra de Lyon – join forces with the dynamic and innovative musicians of Ensemble Hesperi, playing on period instruments. Musical Director and highly-respected historical performance expert Adrian Butterfield directs the opera from the violin.

DATES & TIMES

Mon 10 July 2pm

Fri 14 July 7.15pm

Fri 21 July 7.15pm

VENUE

Pavilion Arts Centre

TICKETS

£40

Concessions: £10 tickets for under 35s, who are part of the Friends of BIF Next Gen scheme. Join for free at buxtonfestival.co.uk

CREATIVE TEAM

Adrian Butterfield Music Director

Ensemble Hesperi

CAST

Christian Joel Orlando

Joanna Harries Medoro

Olivia Doutney Angelica

Susana MacRae Dorinda

Jolyon Loy Zoroastro

Duration: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.

DALE STORR

THE SOUNDS OF NEW ORLEANS

Thursday 6 July 8pm – 10.30pm

Jazz at The Palace £15

Thursday 6 July

‘A very, very fine piano player indeed’ Paul Jones, BBC Radio 2

‘Authentic barrelhouse pianism and singing ... should be on the play list of all broad-minded jazz lovers’ Jazz Journal magazine

Described by Jazz Journal magazine as ‘a national treasure’, Dale Storr’s musical journey has brought him recognition as one of the UK’s leading exponents of New Orleans piano. His music is steeped in the styles of Dr John, Professor Longhair, Fats Domino and others. Get ready for an emotional rollercoaster ride of the music and the stories of his much-loved piano heroes from the ‘Crescent City’.

GARY YOUNGE

Friday 7 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Dispatches from the Diaspora: From Nelson Mandela to Black Lives Matter

Fri 7 July 6pm

See p.17

For the last three decades Gary Younge has had a ringside seat during the biggest events and with the most significant personalities to impact the black diaspora: accompanying Nelson Mandela on his first election campaign, joining revellers on the southside of Chicago during Obama’s victory, entering New Orleans days after hurricane Katrina or interviewing Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Maya Angelou and Stormzy. Gary has witnessed how much change is possible, the power of systems to thwart those aspirations, and compels you to ‘imagine a world in which you might thrive, for which there is no evidence. And then fight for it.’

CHARLOTTE GLASSON BAND

Friday 7 July 1pm – 3pm Jazz at The Palace £20

‘If you’ve ever wondered what smiles sound like, this is it’ Jackie Hayden, Hot Press

Charlotte Glasson is a multiinstrumentalist, composer and band leader, playing mainly original music and drawing on influences from across the globe. Since winning the ‘Best Newcomer Award’ at Marlborough Jazz Festival, she has been wowing audiences at festivals from London to Swanage to Southport. Expect to hear influences from Latin rhythms, New Orleans Mardi Gras, swing, Arabic, to spaghetti westerns and Gypsy jazz.

Charlotte Glasson Saxophone, flute, violin and more

Mark Bassey Trombone

Chris Spedding Guitar and vocals, Lloyd Coote Sousaphone and bass guitar

Sam Glasson Drums/percussion.

Friday 7 July

GAIA VINCE

Friday 7 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Nomad Century

With every degree of temperature rise, a billion people will be displaced from the zone in which humans have lived for thousands of years. While we must do everything we can to mitigate the impact of climate change, the brutal truth is that huge swathes of the world are becoming uninhabitable. In a rousing call to arms, Royal Society Science Book Prize winner Gaia Vince, discusses how we can plan for this unavoidable climate migration while we restore the planet to a fully habitable state. Her vital message is that migration is not the problem – it is the solution.

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Friday 7 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

JAMIE SAFIR

Friday 7 July 10.30pm – Late

Jazz at The Palace £15

‘Safir plays with wonderful judgment, delicacy and alertness’ London Jazz News

Jamie Safir is a critically-acclaimed, much-loved young jazz virtuoso who has collaborated with pop-music royalty and is a witty raconteur. His sparkling new one man show ‘Piano Talk’ presents the glamorous (and not so glamorous!) view from the piano. It features a wonderfully diverse selection of his exciting arrangements, interwoven with often hilarious tales of performing at iconic West End venues. His performance credits include Will Young, Kylie Minogue and Tony Christie.

Join actor Sarah Gordon and Discover Buxton Tours to hear Vera Brittain’s story told in the Devonshire Dome, Buxton where she worked in the summer of 1915 as a VAD nurse. It was here, far removed from the real atrocity of the Great War, that she began to comprehend its devastating effects as she nursed and listened to returning soldiers.

THE LAND OF MIGHT HAVE BEEN

Fri 7 July 7.15pm See p.20

SIR DAVID HARE

Saturday 8 July 12pm – 1pm

Buxton Opera House £15

We Travelled: Essays and Poems

‘I can’t remember if I had any plans for the twenty-first century. I was already 52 when it arrived. But events raced off in such unexpected directions that any possible ideas must have gone out the window. Many of us shared the sensation that history was speeding up.’

David Hare is an award-winning playwright, screenwriter, film and television director. His great quality has always been his refusal to accept the division between fact and imagination. His creative invention is fired by public realities and in turn he makes those realities feel deeply personal. Recording dizzying changes in culture and politics, the elegant essays that make up We Travelled range in subject from the photographer Lee Miller to the Archbishop of Canterbury, from a celebration of Mad Men to a diagnosis of the incoherence of Conservatism in the new century.

POLLY TOYNBEE

Saturday 8 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

An Uneasy Inheritance: Class in Britain, or My Family and Other Radicals

Prominent social commentator Polly Toynbee uses the prism of her own remarkable family to examine the stubborn lack of class mobility in Britain. While for generations her ancestors have been committed left-wing rabble rousers, railing against injustice, they could never claim to be working class; settling instead for the prosperous life of academia or journalism. By examining her own family tree – which in addition to her writer father, Philip, and her historian grandfather, Arnold, contains everyone from the Glenconners to Jessica Mitford to Bertrand Russell – Polly shows us how entrenched class privilege remains in Britain.

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Saturday 8 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

THE SUPER BIG TRAMP BAND

Saturday 8 July 3pm – 5.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £25

Sat 8 July 7.15pm

Join the great Supertramp saxophonist John Helliwell and his big band as they play the music of this legendary supergroup as you’ve never heard it before. Classic tracks are arranged to jazz big band format – with trumpets, trombones, saxophones and a rhythm section. There are no vocals, but you’ll know all the tunes – including Dreamer, Breakfast in America, Crime of the Century, It’s Raining Again. ‘An astonishing debut of this great new band and concept. Let it flourish with abandon’ - Frank Griffith, London Jazz News, on the first performance, Manchester Jazz Festival 2019.

See p.28 for information about this event.

SONG AT SIX

Sat 8 July 6pm See p.17

SHEZ RAJA

Saturday 8 July 7.30pm – 10pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £20

‘Vivid and highly engaging’ BBC Music Magazine

Following spectacular performances at leading UK venues – including Ronnie Scott’s and the Jazz Café – as well as major international festivals, Shez and his band have forged a reputation as one of the most entertaining live acts on the scene today. He merges his rich musical heritage with a hugely diverse playing experience to create dynamic and passionate music that blends East with West.

TRISH CLOWES AND ROSS STANLEY

Saturday 8 July 10.30pm – Late Jazz at The Palace £15

Trish Clowes and Ross Stanley have been carefully crafting their unique sound-world for several years, drawing on their own material, arrangements of music from jazz, folk and church organ traditions, and free improvisations. The duo’s performances include Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Galway and Cheltenham Jazz Festivals, and touring internationally with Clowes’s band My Iris.

NORTHERN JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Sunday 9 July 1pm – 3.30pm

Jazz at The Palace £20

FESTIVAL MASS

Sun 9 July 11am

See p.17

Back on the circuit and sounding as tight as ever, the NJO has thirty years’ experience of performing up and down the country, recently appearing on BBC Two’s ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing.’ The NJO is ready to perform exciting new material showing the modern sounds of today’s big bands. Come along and listen to the roar of the brass and sax section, complemented by the rhythm section, and led by veteran big band drummer and educator Paul J Rigby.

VICTORIA STRING QUARTET

Sunday 9 July 3.30pm – 4.30pm

St John’s Church £30, Balcony £25

G Verdi String Quartet in E minor

A Borodin String Quartet No. 2 in D major

The Victoria Quartet began life in 2017 in a swimming pool, with a gala concert for the historic Victoria Baths in Manchester’s Hathersage Road, and moved on from pools to perform at venues as far afield as The Lake District, London, north Norfolk, north and west Wales as well as two previous Buxton Festivals. In demand since its formation, the ensemble is gathering many return invitations and creating an ongoing programme of curated projects: last summer recording clarinet quintets by Weber, Brahms and Arnold Cooke at the Nimbus Studios and this year a CD of string chamber music by Richard Pantcheff (Prima Facie). They also had an autumn residency at Marchmont House in the Scottish Borders to perform and record a collection of string chamber works by Scottish composer Helen Leach.

Sun 9 July 7.15pm See p.22

TOM SEALS

Sunday 9 July 5pm – 7.30pm

Jazz at The Palace £25

‘A master of the piano and vocals to pierce your soul. A boogie-woogie genius and quite charming with it all’ Close-up Culture

‘He sounds like Little Richard!’ Sir Tom Jones

Fresh from his sell-out ‘Let The Good Times Roll’ tour, Tom Seals has the world at his fingertips. His virtuoso soloing, excellent improvisation skills and distinctive voice have left top industry officials hailing him the UK’s finest boogiewoogie and blues pianist/vocalist. Still only in his twenties, Tom Seals’ star is destined to soar stratospherically in 2023 with his own TV show and festival appearances worldwide.

GAZ HUGHES TRIO

Sunday 9 July 9.30pm – 11pm

Jazz at The Palace £15

‘Thoroughly entertained by top class musical talent’ Pershore Jazz

Gaz Hughes fi rst came to wider public attention as the original drummer in the Matthew Halsall Band and featured heavily on the early recordings of the Gondwana label. A career highlight was recording the album ‘On the Go’, which won The Best Jazz Album of the Year at the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards in 2012. He has performed with many UK and international jazz artists including: Scott Hamilton, Alan Barnes, Tony Kofi, Guy Barker, Digby Fairweather and Tina May.

The Trio’s latest album ‘Beboptical Illusion’, featuring mostly original composition, has just been released.

IL RE PASTORE

JACK HANCHER

Monday 10 July 11.15pm – 12.15pm

St John’s Church

£20, Balcony £18

J Dowland Praeludium; Fantasia in G Major

B Britten Nocturnal after John Dowland

J Bach Sarabande and Bourrée, from Partita for solo violin No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002

A José Allegro moderato and Pavana Triste, from Sonata for Guitar

Among Jack’s numerous awards, last year he became only the third guitarist to win the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal OverSeas League Competition. He has given masterclasses at conservatoires around Europe, including at the Royal College of Music, London, and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

TOMMY SMITH AND PETER JOHNSTONE

Monday 10 July 3pm – 4.30pm

Jazz at The Palace £20

Saxophonist Tommy Smith has toured the world with Gary Burton’s Whiz Kids, and worked with jazz greats including Chick Corea, Dame Cleo Laine and Jack DeJohnette.

Pianist Peter Johnstone was Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year winner in 2012, and the fi rst student on the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s jazz course to return as a teacher. Together, they draw on a wide range of music, from genre-defi ning jazz to folk music from the Scottish, Gaelic and Middle Eastern traditions.

Monday 10 July

SPA AND EMPIRE FESTIVAL WALK

Monday 10 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet outside Buxton Opera House £15

Take a stroll with creative historian

Gertie Whitfield and Discover Buxton Tours through the vastness of the British Empire, recorded on the headstones of those who came to seek health in a small provincial spa town high in the Derbyshire Hills. This walk will take you back to the 19th century when visitors flocked to take the waters. You will hear some of their family stories and the intimate lives of the citizens of Buxton, often at a vulnerable time in their lives.

NI MAXINE

Monday 10 July 12.30pm – 2pm

Jazz at The Palace £15

Neo-Jazz singer-songwriter Ni Maxine presents the story of a black woman navigating the modern world, exploring themes of home, identity, self-esteem and belonging. Her childhood was steeped in the deep cultural reference points of black history – through her father’s love of jazz, her mother’s love of funk and rare groove, and learning to sing in a gospel church – ‘I want to inspire young people who are having (or had) a similar experience to what I had, growing up, and cultivate community.’

WYNTON MARSALIS

Monday 10 July 9pm – 11.15pm

Buxton Opera House £20 – £55

Jazz royalty comes to Buxton. Wynton Marsalis is a worldrenowned trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and a leading advocate of American culture. Marsalis will be playing specially selected works in, what for him is, an intimate concert at Buxton Opera House. Marsalis performs and composes across the entire spectrum of jazz and has written jazzinfl uenced chamber music and symphonic works for revered classical ensembles across the US and abroad. He is inspired to experiment in an ever-widening palette of forms and concepts that constitute some of the most advanced thinking in modern jazz and in American music on the broad scale. His body of original work includes (but is not limited to) 600 songs and movements, 11 dance scores, 13 suites, four symphonies, two chamber pieces, two string quartets, a jazz oratorio, a fanfare, and concertos for violin and tuba.

Image: Rob Waymen

ORLANDO

Mon 10 July 2pm See p.24

Monday 10 July

NICOLA BENEDETTI AND THE ENGLISH CONCERT

Monday 10 July 5pm – 6.10pm

Buxton Opera House £20 – £55

F Geminiani Concerto Grosso in D minor, ‘La Follia’, H 143

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in E flat major RV 257

A Corelli Concerto Grosso in B flat major, Op. 6 No. 5

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in B minor RV 386

A Vivaldi Violin Concerto in D major, ‘Grosso Mogul’, RV 208.

Since winning the BBC’s Young Musician title in 2004, Nicola Benedetti has forged a dazzling international career, not only as a concert soloist and chamber musician, but also for music education projects run through her Benedetti Foundation. In 2022 she became the fi rst Scot and the fi rst woman to be appointed Director of the Edinburgh International Festival.

The English Concert was founded in 1972 by harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock and is recognised as one of the world’s leading period-instrument orchestras.

BARONESS CATHERINE ASHTON

Tuesday 11 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

And Then What?

So much of modern-day democracy still takes place behind closed doors. From 2009 to 2014, Lady Ashton was the EU’s first High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security. Arriving in Brussels with no significant experience of international diplomacy, she faced the challenge of representing twenty-eight nations during one of the most turbulent times in living memory, including Russia’s invasion of Crimea to the Iran nuclear deal. Catherine takes us behind the scenes to show us what worked and what did not, and how it felt to play a part in tackling the major international crises of our times.

NICKY SPENCE AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

TENOR AND PIANO

The Four Seasons – Spring

Tuesday 11 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

G Fauré L’hiver a cessé, Op. 61, No. 9; Mai, Op. 1 No. 2; Tristesse, Op. 6 No. 2.

W Mozart Das Veilchen, K476

L van Beethoven Adeleide, Op. 46

F Schubert Frühlingsglaube, D686; Ganymed, D544

H Wolf Ganymed; Er ist’s

E Grieg Gruss; Zur Rosenzeit; Ein Traum

A Bax Youth

P Warlock Pretty ring time

J Ireland The heart’s desire

F Bridge Love went a-riding

Joseph Middleton – described as ‘one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder’ by BBC Music Magazine – has devised a sequence of song recitals exploring responses to the four seasons, with four singers taking a season each and their last song or encore leading us into the next season.

For ‘Spring’, he is joined by Nicky Spence, one of today’s most exciting tenors and winner of BBC Music Magazine’s Personality of the Year Award, 2022.

The recital begins with a song about Winter ending, creating a neat cyclical feel to the sequence.

JEREMY BOWEN

Tuesday 11 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History

Jeremy Bowen is the much loved and respected International Editor of the BBC and has been covering the Middle East since 1989. He has a deep understanding of the political, cultural and religious differences between countries as diverse as Erdogan’s Turkey, Assad’s Syria and Netanyahu’s Israel. Jeremy looks at how the modern Middle East came to be and what its future might hold. He meets ordinary men and women on the front line, their leaders, whether brutal or benign, and he explores the power games that have so often wreaked devastation on civilian populations.

Tuesday 11 July

This event is sponsored by No 6 The Square Tearooms

THE LAND OF MIGHTHAVE-BEEN

Tues 11 July 7.15pm See p.20

SITKOVETSKY TRIO

Tuesday 11 July 3pm – 5pm

(including interval) St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

S Perkin Freak show

D Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67

L van Beethoven Allegretto in B flat, WoO 39

F Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66

The Sitkovetsky Trio – Alexander Sitkovetsky, violin, Isang Enders, cello, and Wu Qian, piano – has established itself as one of today’s exceptional piano trios, with sensational performances in the world’s foremost concert halls, including Lincoln Center, New York; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; and Alte Oper, Frankfurt. UK appearances have included Wigmore Hall, Manchester Chamber Society and Bath Mozartfest. The Trio’s recent CD of music by Ravel and Saint-Saëns won the Chamber Music category in the 2022 BBC Music Magazine Awards.

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Tuesday 11 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

See p.28 for information about this event.

SONG AT SIX

Tues 11 July 6pm See p.17

ALICE FARNHAM

Tuesday 11 July 4pm – 5pm Pavilion Arts Centre £12

In Good Hands: The Making of a Modern Conductor Alice Farnham is listed in Classic FM Today’s Ten Best Women Conductors. Recent engagements include concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia.

Who dreams of becoming a conductor? What does it take to get there and stay in the game? In Good Hands is not a guide on how to conduct - it is a frank, fascinating portrait of what conducting really entails today. It is a book about leadership, full of timely sentiment on who gets to lead, and what it takes to unite and inspire people.

Wednesday 12 July

JAMES STOURTON

In conversation with Julian Glover

Wednesday 12 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Heritage: A History of How We Conserve Our Past

What is heritage? When was it invented? What is its place in the world today? What is its place tomorrow?

Heritage is all around us: millions belong to its organisations, tens of thousands volunteer for it, and politicians pay lip service to it. The former Chair of Sotheby’s, James Stourton, focuses on the elements of our cultural and natural environment that have been deliberately preserved and on two heroic periods of conservation – the 1880s and the 1960s. He considers whether threats of wealth, rampant development and complacency are similar in the present day.

LUCY CROWE AND JOSEPH

MIDDLETON

SOPRANO AND PIANO The Four Seasons – Summer

Wednesday 12 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

G Gershwin Summertime

A Copland Nature, the gentlest mother (from 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson)

S Barber Sure on this shining night, Op. 13/3

W Walton Through gilded trellises

J Ireland The trellis

I Gurney The fields are full

B Britten Seascape (from On This Island )

G Fauré Nell, Op. 18/1; La fée aux chansons, Op. 27/2

H Berlioz Villanelle (from Nuits d’Éte)

H Duparc Chanson triste

C Debussy La romance d’Ariel

J Brahms Sommerabend; Mondenschein, Op. 85/2; Feldeinsamkeit, Op. 86/2

R Strauss Die Drossel; September (from Four Last Songs)

Staffordshire-born soprano Lucy Crowe has built an international opera, concert and recital career, with a repertoire ranging from Purcell to the title role in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, and the recent recording of James MacMillan’s Christmas Oratorio. She joins Joseph Middleton for the second recital in his Four Seasons series (see Tuesday 11 July, page 37).

TOM HOLLAND

Wednesday 12 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age

In a trilogy that began with Rubicon and Dynasty, award-winning historian and broadcaster Tom Holland now arrives at the period which marks the apogée of the pax Romana. It provides a portrait of the ancient world’s ultimate superpower at war and at peace; from the gilded capital to the barbarous realms beyond the frontier; from emperors to slaves. Featuring many of the most celebrated episodes in Roman history: the destruction of Jerusalem and Pompeii; the building of the Colosseum and Hadrian’s Wall; the conquests of Trajan and the spread of Christianity. Pax gives a portrait of Rome at the very pinnacle of her greatness.

CAROLINE DODDS PENNOCK

Wednesday 12 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

SONG AT SIX

Wed 12 July 6pm See p.17

On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe

We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the ‘Old World’ encountered the ‘New’, when Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America in 1492. Caroline Dodds

Pennock, the UK’s only Aztec Historian argues that for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others – enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders – the reverse was true: they discovered Europe. For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. Their story is one of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation and, as they saw it, of apocalypse.

SACCONI STRING QUARTET

Wednesday 12 July 3pm – 5pm (including interval)

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

L van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F, Op. 135

B Britten String Quartet No. 3, Op. 94

F Schubert String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, D810, ‘Death and the Maiden’

For twenty years, the Sacconi Quartet have been captivating audiences with their unanimous and compelling ensemble, consistently communicating with a fresh

and imaginative approach. Performing with style and commitment, the Quartet is known throughout the world for creativity and integrity of interpretation. The four founder members continue to demonstrate a shared passion for string quartet repertoire, infectiously reaching out to audiences with their energy and enthusiasm. The Sacconi enjoy a busy international career, performing regularly across the world.

HENRY DIMBLEBY AND JEMIMA LEWIS

Thursday 13 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Ravenous: Why our appetite is killing us and the planet, and what we can do about it

Few people know the workings of the food system better than Henry Dimbleby, founder of the Leon restaurant chain, government adviser and author of the radical National Food Strategy. The food system is no longer simply a means of sustenance, it is one of the most successful, most innovative and most destructive industries on earth. Diet-related disease is now the biggest cause of preventable illness and death in the developed world – far worse than smoking. The environmental damage done by the food system is also changing climate patterns and degrading the earth, risking our food security. What can be done?

PADDINGTON TRIO

Thursday 13 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £20, Balcony £18

D Shostakovich Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67

F Schubert Piano Trio No. 2 in E flat major, D929

Having started their fi rst adventure together at Paddington Station during the pandemic in 2020, the Paddington Trio has quickly emerged as a unique and versatile ensemble. The trio recently won fi rst prize in the 70th Royal Over-Seas League Competition for Strings & Piano Ensemble, and became 2022 City Music Foundation Artists. Committed to thoughtfullycurated programming, and passionate advocates of new classical music, the Paddington Trio won fi rst prize at the NEW FORMATS Project Prize 2022 in Graz, Austria.

LAURA FREEMAN

Thursday 13 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle’s Yard Artists

Laura is chief Art Critic of The Times. Jim Ede was a friend to artists such as Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Henry Moore, Christopher Wood, Barbara Hepworth, David Jones, Alfred Wallis and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. He was a man of extraordinary energies: a collector, dealer, fi xer, critic. For Ede, art lived and a life without art, beauty, friendship and creativity was a life not worth living. Art was not for galleries alone and it certainly was not only for the rich. At Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, this extraordinary man opened his home and his collection to all comers.

Thursday 13 July

BUXTON –A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS FESTIVAL WALK

Thursday 13 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet at the Town Hall, Market Place £15

Many people consider Buxton an insular place, cut off and removed from the action of the world stage. Indeed, a place referred to by some historians as a ‘sleepy hollow’, it has long been isolated by its geographic position. This is perhaps why, for many during the Second World War, Buxton became a place of safety for many Jewish refugees and evacuees. Retrace their footsteps on a walk with Netta Christie and Discover Buxton Tours as she uncovers a hidden history.

TOMIWA OLOWADE

Thursday 13 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Cetnre £12

This is Not America: Why We Need a Different Conversation on Race

IL RE PASTORE

Thurs 13 July 7.15am See p.22

Across the West, racial injustice has become a matter of urgency. In his new book New Statesman contributing writer Tomiwa Olowade argues that, in the rush to get it right, we have been looking in the wrong place. Too much of the debate around racism in Britain is viewed through the prism of American ideas that do not refl ect the history, challenges and achievements of black communities at home. Humane, empirical and passionate, his book promises to start a new conversation around race, and vitally shed light on black British life today.

THE KING’S SINGERS

Thursday 13 July 3pm – 4.50pm

The Octagon £20 – £30

‘Songbirds’

Fleetwood Mac Songbird, arr. Nicholas Ashby

The Beatles Blackbird, arr. Daryl Runswick

Traditional She’s like the swallow, arr. Bob

Chilcott

G Ligeti The cuckoo and the pear tree

H Watkins The Phoenix and the Turtle

F Schubert Flucht

M Ravel Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis

F Poulenc Pilons l’orge

C Janequin Le chant des oiseaux

E Johnson Come, blessed bird

J Arcadelt Il bianco e dolce cigno

P Passereau Il est bel et bon

M Williamson The Musicians of Bremen

B Orton Call me the breeze, arr. Christopher

Bruerton

L Mvula Father Father, arr. Eric Whitacre

Queen Good old-fashioned lover boy, arr.

Nicholas Ashby

The King’s Singers have represented the gold standard in a cappella singing on the world’s greatest stages for over fi fty years. They are renowned for their connection and engagement with their audiences, their unrivalled technique, and their consummate musicianship. The natural beauty of birds and birdsong has long provided an inspiration for composers and artists of all kinds. ‘Songbirds’ combines some of this music with songs by modern-day ‘songbirds’ – singers and songwriters with distinct voices and musical ideas.

This event has been made possible with the generous support of the Patricia Austin legacy.

Thursday 13 July

ZOE KYOTI

Thursday 13 July 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £20

‘Everything Kyoti touches is beautiful, with a singing style as intimate as speech’ City Life Online

Zoe Kyoti began her musical journey on the Manchester jazz scene and has since performed at various festivals, including Southport Jazz Festival and Manchester Jazz Festival, and key northern venues including Band on the Wall, Manchester, and The Sage, Gateshead. Merging blues and folk traditions with exotic world music infl uences, her heartfelt songs explore tales of lost love, rebirth, rebellion and adventure. She performs at the Festival with her 8 piece band.

JULIE EDWARDS AND KEVIN DEARDEN QUINTET

Thursday 13 July 10pm - Late

Jazz Café in The Pavilion Gardens £15

They had considered themselves all but retired from performing, but, following the pandemic, it seems that Julie and Kevin have happily returned to the jazz scene. It was the turn of the century when they originally teamed up to form their synergistic partnership, several years into their professional careers, following their studies at Leeds College of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music, respectively.

‘Fast becoming one of the top attractions on the jazz circuit’ Jazz UK

Julie Edwards Vocals

Kevin Dearden Saxophones

Andrzej Baranek Keys

Paul Baxter Double Bass

Tim Franks on Drums

COLIN GRANT

Friday 14 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

I’m Black So You Don’t Have to Be: A Memoir in Eight Lives

‘I’m black, so you don’t have to be,’ Colin Grant’s Uncle Castus used to tell him. For Colin, born in Britain to Jamaican parents, things were supposed to be different. If he worked hard and became a doctor, he was told, his race would become invisible. The reality turned out to be very different. This is a memoir told through a series of intimate intergenerational portraits: Ethlyn, disappointed by working-class life in Luton; Bageye, a small-time criminal with a violent temper; Selma, who refashions herself as an African princess; and Percy, estranged from his family through his own pride.

DAME SARAH CONNOLLY AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

Friday 14 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

F Schubert Herbst, D945; An den

Mond in einer Herbstnacht, D614

R Schumann Im Herbste

J Brahms Herbstgefühl, Op. 48/7

F Mendelssohn Herbstlied, Op. 84/2; Im Herbst Op. 9 No. 5

G Fauré Automne, Op. 18/3; Chant d’automne, Op. 5 No. 2

C Debussy De Rêve (from Proses Lyriques); Beau Soir

R Quilter Autumn Evening (from Four Songs, Op. 14)

P Warlock Autumn Twilight

A Copland The Chariot (from 12 Poems of Emily Dickinson)

Dame Sarah Connolly is recognised as one of the finest singers of her generation, with an opera and concert repertoire ranging from Purcell and Handel to Poulenc and Britten. Following her sell-out Buxton appearance with Joseph Middleton two years ago, she returns for the Autumn segment of his Four Seasons recital series (see Tuesday 11 July, page 37).

MEZZO-SOPRANO AND PIANO The Four Seasons – Autumn

JEREMY DELLER

Friday 14 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

Art is Magic

Art Is Magic is Turner Prizewinning artist Jeremy Deller’s attempt to connect the key works of his career with the art, pop music, film, politics and history that have inspired them. These include his inflatable Stonehenge, his miners’ strike film The Battle of Orgreave, bats, and hen harriers pecking out the eyes of a Tory MP (featured in his mural against grouse shooting created for the Venice Biennale). His projects, such as We’re Here Because We’re Here (2016) and the documentary Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984–1992 (2019), have influenced the conventional map of contemporary art.

Friday 14 July

This event is sponsored by

DANIEL FINKELSTEIN

Friday 14 July 4pm – 5pm Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad: A Family Memoir

Lord Finkelstein’s maternal grandfather is now widely acknowledged to have been the first person to recognise the existential danger Hitler posed to the Jews. After moving his family to Amsterdam, Germany invaded Holland. Before long, the family was rounded up and sent to Bergen-Belsen. In 1939, after Hitler and Stalin carved up Poland, the family of Daniel’s father, Ludwik, was rounded up by the communists and sent to do hard labour in a Siberian gulag. Political commentator Daniel Finkelstein has written a powerful memoir exploring his parents’ devastating experiences of persecution, resistance and survival during the Second World War.

GENO WASHINGTON AND THE RAM JAM BAND / SAD CAFÉ

Friday 14 July 7.15pm – 9.45pm (including 30 mins interval) Buxton Opera House £20 - £33

Catch two giants from the 60s and 70s perform in a not-to-be-missed double header.

Geno Washington’s status as the undisputed ‘King of Soul’ was cemented forever by Kevin Rowland and Dexy’s Midnight Runners in the 1980s, with the World-wide No. 1 smash hit single ‘Geno’. It paid homage to the great man himself and is still played regularly today on national radio and at Geno’s live gigs both before and after shows.

The second set sees Sad Café perform their catalogue of great songs including Every Day Hurts and My Oh My, both from their Top Ten album Facades .

TRACY BORMAN

Saturday 15 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I; The Mother and Daughter Who Changed History

Anne Boleyn is a subject of enduring fascination. For the most part, she is considered in the context of her relationship with Tudor England’s muchmarried monarch. Tracy Borman argues that of even greater significance is the relationship between Anne and her daughter, the future

Elizabeth I. Elizabeth was less than three years old when her mother was executed. Although she could have held precious few memories of Anne, there is in fact compelling evidence that her mother exerted a profound influence on her character, beliefs and reign.

ASHLEY RICHES AND JOSEPH MIDDLETON

BASS-BARITONE AND PIANO

The Four Seasons – Winter

Saturday 15 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

A Shakespearean Winter:

R Quilter Blow, blow thou winter wind; Come away death

J Ireland When daffodils begin to peer

D Argento Winter

G Finzi Come away, death

Bridge Blow, blow thou winter wind

In the bleak mid-winter:

R Strauss Weihnachtsgefühl; Mein Herz ist stumm, mein Herz ist kalt, Op. 19/6; Winternacht, Op. 15/2

To the North:

M Mussorsky Trepak

G Nystroem Själ och landskap - Vitt land, Onskan, Bara hos den Winterreise:

F Schubert Die Götter Griechenlands, D677; Gefrorne Tränen, Die Nebensonne, Der Leiermann

Bass-baritone Ashley Riches read English at the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of King’s College Choir under Stephen Cleobury. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. An accomplished recitalist, and former BBC New Generation Artist, 20162018, he has collaborated with pianists including Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Julius Drake, Anna Tilbrook, James Baillieu, Simon Lepper, Gary Matthewman, Sholto Kynoch, and Joseph Middleton, with whom he wraps up this seasonal recital sequence (see Tuesday 11 July, page 27).

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Saturday 15 July 11.30am – 1pm Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

See p.28 for information about this event.

BUXTON –A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS FESTIVAL WALK

Saturday 15 July 3.30pm – 5pm Meet at the Town Hall, Market Place £15

See p.44 for information about this event.

ENDYMION

Saturday 15 July 3pm – 5pm (including interval) St John’s Church £30, Balcony £25

F Schubert Quartettsatz in C minor, D703

W Mozart Clarinet Quintet in A major, K581

J Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

THE LAND OF MIGHTHAVE-BEEN

Sat 15 July 2pm and 7.15pm See p.20

Described as one of the few chamber groups as much at home with Mozart as with Birtwistle, Endymion was formed in 1979 from a group of outstanding National Youth Orchestra students. It has built a secure reputation across a broad and often adventurous repertoire and won a strong following among audiences throughout the UK and abroad. It has appeared at most of the major British festivals, giving its 10th Proms performance in 2014.

CLAIRE HARMAN

Saturday 15 July 4pm – 5pm Pavilion Arts Centre £12

All Sorts of Lives: Katherine Mansfield and the Art of Risking Everything

Restless outsider, masher-up of form and convention, Katherine Mansfield’s short but dazzling career was characterised by struggle, insecurity and sacrifice – alongside a glorious, relentless creative drive and openness. She was the only writer Virginia Woolf admitted being jealous of, yet by the 1950s was so undervalued that Elizabeth Bowen was moved to ask, ‘where is she – our missing contemporary?’ Awardwinning writer and critic Claire Harman suggests Mansfield was vital to the Modernist movement and is strikingly relevant today, helping us to see differently, to savour and to notice things.

MADELINE BELL –BACHARACH,

AND ME

DUSTY

MADELINE BELL WITH IAN SHAW

Saturday 15 July 7.30pm – 9.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £20

‘She’s one of the greats’ Elton John

The powerhouse legendary New Jersey-born singer, Madeline Bell, comes to the festival, alongside one of her long-time collaborators, the BBC and Parliamentary award-winning singer, pianist and broadcaster, Ian Shaw.

This show debuts as an exclusive for Buxton. Expect searing ballads, swinging songs from the American classic canon, the odd surprise and, of course, the unmistakable voice of an era –Madeline Bell.

STEVIE WILLIAMS AND THE MOST WANTED BAND

Saturday 15 July

SONG AT SIX

Sat 15 July 6pm

See p.17

Saturday 15 July 10pm – Late

Pavilion Gardens Restaurant £15

Hidden in plain sight, these guys are one of the most accomplished collectives of musicians you are likely to see. All from the North West, each individual carries their own huge reputation for being at the top of their trade. When put together, the sum of the parts is far greater than the whole.

They have the magic that comes of being impressed by each other’s consummate skills whilst being totally respectful of each other’s place at the party.

Steve Williams Bass

Markie Cresswell Guitar

Billy Buckley Guitar

Clive Mellor Harmonica

Dave Hassell Percussion

SOLIS TRIO

Sunday 16 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £25, Balcony £20

AMC GOSPEL CHOIR

Sunday 16 July 4pm – 6pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £20

Making a return to Buxton International Festival, AMC Gospel Choir delighted us in 2022 and will bring another, full-on, soulful performance with live band in 2023. AMC have toured with Hacienda Classical, featured on Songs of Praise, and sing regularly with Manchester Camerata Orchestra. They have residencies around the country.

Their speciality is performing energetic, stylish, foot stomping, inspirational music with a tight band and mesmerising singers in delightful harmonies.

G Pergolesi (attrib.) ‘Sonata No 4’

O Bohme Prelude and Fugue

F Poulenc Sonata for horn, trumpet and trombone

A Plog Trio for Brass

Solis Trio is a London-based, all female brass ensemble, which formed seven years ago at Wells Cathedral School. Eliza Talman, Meggie Murphy, and Hannah Williams are now studying in the Royal Academy of Music. They won the Musicians Brass Company Prize in July 2021, and became young artists to the scheme. They have performed at the Lord Mayor’s Big Curry Lunch, The London Marathon and the Frome Festival. They are due to perform as part of the Ferrandou Musique scheme in August 2023.

Sun 16 July 11am

See p.17

HORN, TRUMPET AND TROMBONE

Sunday 16 July

BUXTON FESTIVAL DANCE BAND PRESENTS

‘MUSIC TO DANCE TO’

Sunday 16 July 8pm

The Octagon £20

ZORADA TEMMINGH

Phantom of the Opera (1925): Film with live organ accompaniment

Sunday 16 July 8.30pm – 10.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

After the success of her musical improvisation on the film

Sun 16 July 2pm See p.18

Once again, join us for a night in the beautiful surroundings of The Octagon as we step back in time. Our very own ten-piece big band with singers will play music that makes you want to dance. During the first set, as you sit back and enjoy a drink our professional ballroom dancers show you the moves. After the interval, the floor is open for us all to have a go at everything from the tango to the foxtrot, and from the jive to the rumba.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) Zorada Temmingh returns to the Festival with Phantom of the Opera. The 1925 American silent horror film is an adaptation of Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, directed by Rupert Julian and starring Lon Chaney in the title role of the deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House. Temmingh’s organ accompaniment of the film is based on music from the 19th century opera and ballet repertoire and uses well-known operatic motifs to depict themes and characters in the film. One of South Africa’s foremost organists, Temmingh pulls out all the stops to portray the emotional intensity of this black and white classic.

LEAH BROAD

Monday 17 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World

Ethel Smyth was famed for her operas, a trailblazing queer Victorian composer, a largerthan-life socialite, traveller and suffragette. Rebecca Clarke was a talented violist and one of the first women hired by a professional orchestra; celebrated for her modernist experimentation. Dorothy Howell had a reputation as the ‘English Strauss’ who shot to fame at the 1919 Proms. Doreen Carwithen was one of Britain’s first female film composers, her success hiding a twenty-year affair with her married composition tutor. In their time, these women were celebrities, composing some of the century’s most popular music; today, they are ghostly presences, footnotes to male contemporaries. Until now.

LOUISE THOMSON

Monday 17 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

Assembly Rooms £25

M Grandjany Rhapsodie

P Houdy Sonata for Harp

E Walter-Kühne Fantasy on a theme from Eugene Onegin

B Smetana Vltava, arr. Hans Trnecek

E Swift Time Spinner

H Renié Légende, after Les Elfes by Leconte de Lisle

Louise’s playing has taken her to prestigious concert venues around the UK and she has performed with many of the country’s most respected ensembles. She has played live on Radio 3, and on BBC Television with soprano Katherine Jenkins. She was a finalist in the London International Harp Competition in 2005. She is the harp tutor at Huddersfield University, a visiting tutor at RNCM and JRNCM, and teaches at Chetham’s School of Music.

SPA AND EMPIRE FESTIVAL WALK

Monday 17 July 11.30am – 1pm

Meet outside Buxton Opera House £15

See page p.34 for information about this event.

HARP

CHRIS MULLIN

Monday 17 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

Used to Be Chris Mullin? Diaries 20102022

from Parliament in

be of sufficient interest have

“When I retired from Parliament in April 2010, I ceased keeping a diary, on the assumption that life would no longer be of sufficient interest to justify doing so. It soon became apparent that I was wrong...I am under no illusion, however. Despite the occasional moment in the sunshine, I have never been much more than a fleabite on the body politic. On a visit to Parliament a couple of years after retiring, I came across a former colleague. He peered at me over the top of his glasses and said, ‘Didn’t you Use to be Chris Mullin?”

Picking up where he left off in 2010’s Decline and Fall, Chris returns to BIF with his trademark irreverence and keen eye for the absurd, to chronicle the turbulent last decade.

IL RE PASTORE

Mon 17 July

7.15pm

See p.22

ENSEMBLE MOLIÈRE

Monday 17 July 3pm – 5pm

(including interval) St John’s Church £30, Balcony £25

Réunion des goûts

J-B Lully Ouverture from Psyché

F Couperin Sonade from ‘L’Impériale’, from Les Nations

G Telemann Quatuor No. 6 in E minor, from Nouveaux quatuors en six suites

F Couperin Treizième concert from Les Goûtréünis

F Couperin La Paix du Parnasse (Sonade en Trio) from L’Apothéose de Lully

G Telemann Sonata in G minor TWV43:g1 from Quadri

F Couperin Chaconne ou Passacaille, from ‘La Françoise’, from Les Nations

Ensemble Molière was selected as the first-ever Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble for two years, from October 2021. The group has performed throughout the UK and Europe. In 2017 the ensemble made its debut at the London Festival of Baroque Music, and was a finalist in the International Young Artists Competition at the York Early Music Festival.

‘Réunion des goûts’ celebrates and explores the coming together of French and Italian musical styles, in music by Lully, Couperin and Telemann.

SARAH BAKEWELL

Monday 17 July 4pm – 5pm Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry and Hope

You may have some affinity with humanism, even if you don’t think of yourself in those terms. You may be drawn to literature and the humanities. You may prefer to base your moral choices on fellowfeeling and responsibility to others rather than on religious commandments. Or you may simply believe that individual lives are more important than grand political visions or dogmas. If any of these apply, you are part of a long tradition of humanist thought. Award-winning biographer Sarah Bakewell asks what humanism is and why it has flourished for so long, despite opposition from fanatics, mystics and tyrants.

PETER MOORE

Tuesday 18 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream 1740-1776

‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’, the best-known phrase from the Declaration of Independence is frequently evoked today as a shorthand for that idea we call the ‘American Dream’. However rather than being uniquely American, the vision it encapsulates owes a great deal to British thinkers. Centred on the life of Benjamin Franklin, featuring figures like the cultural giant Samuel Johnson, the ground-breaking historian Catharine Macaulay, the firebrand politician John Wilkes and revolutionary activist Thomas Paine, Peter Moore looks at the generation that preceded the Declaration in 1776 and takes us back to a vital moment in the foundation of the West.

MIKELEIZZUCCHI DUO

SAXOPHONE AND ACCORDION

Tuesday 18 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £20, Balcony £18

J Bach (attrib) Flute Sonata in E flat, BWV 1031

C Corea Selections from Children’s Songs

R Haigh HELL HOT

A Piazzolla Escualo

R Albayati Nafas

P Glass Façades, from Glassworks

G Gershwin Three Preludes

R Galliano Taraf

This multi-award-winning duo is made up of Canadian saxophonist David Zucchi and Spanish accordionist Iñigo Mikeleiz-Berrades. Their repertoire spans everything from reimagined traditional works to modern repertoire and improvisation.

They’re the winners of the Royal Over-Seas League Annual Music Competition’s Mixed Ensemble Prize in 2021 and City Music Foundation Artists since 2022. Their programme ranges from J S Bach to Gershwin, Chick Corea and Philip Glass.

BUXTON –A SAFE HAVEN IN THE HILLS FESTIVAL WALK

Tuesday 18 July 11.30am – 1pm

Meet at the Town Hall, Market Place £15

See page p.44 for information about this event.

EDWARD STOURTON

Tuesday 18 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

Confessions

Edward Stourton regularly presents BBC Radio Four programmes such as The World at One, The World This Weekend, Sunday and Analysis. He has been a foreign correspondent for Channel Four, ITN and the BBC, and for ten years he was one of the main presenters of the Today programme. During his forty-year career the world has changed, and so has he. Brought face to face with the author of his obituary and his own inevitable mortality, Stourton is prompted to reflect on the life he has led and the events, from the end of Empire to #metoo, that have shaped him.

SACHA RATTLE AND PETER DONOHOE

CLARINET AND PIANO

Tuesday 18 July 3pm – 5pm (including interval) St John’s Church £30, Balcony £25

‘The lyrical romanticism of Brahms and Berg’

R Schumann Fantasiestücke, Op. 73

A Berg Piano Sonata, Op. 1

J Brahms Clarinet Sonata in F minor, Op. 120 No. 1

W Lutosławski Dance Preludes

A Berg 4 Pieces for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 5

J Brahms Clarinet Sonata in E flat, Op. 120 No. 2

The idea for this programme came out of the wonderful juxtaposition of late Brahms and early Berg. One forgets how close they were in time, Brahms’s Op. 120 Sonatas written only 16 years before Berg’s Op. 1. Both composers seem to find the essence of romanticism even in such different styles, composing so that no note is superfluous, and each with a quintessential meaning. Schumann’s song-like Fantasy Pieces and Lutosławski’s folk-inspired Dance Preludes round out the programme.

Tuesday 18 July

SARA WHEELER

Tuesday 18 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Glowing Still: A Woman’s Life on the Road

Sara Wheeler is one of Britain’s foremost travel writers. Glowing Still is the story of her travelling life in a notoriously testosteroneladen field. Recalling happy days on India’s Puri Express; an Antarctic lavatory through which a seal popped up; and the louche life of a Parisian shopgirl. When corralling reindeer with the Sami in Arctic Sweden and towing her baby on a sledge, a helpful herdsman advised her to put foil down her bra to facilitate nursing. But advancing years usher in unheralded freedoms, and journey’s end finds Wheeler at peace among Zanzibar dhows, contemplating our connection with other lives and the irreplaceable value that travel brings.

THE

JONATHAN KENNEDY

Wednesday 19 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Pathogenesis: How Infectious Diseases Shaped Human History

Dr Jonathan Kennedy argues that germs have done more to shape humanity at every stage, from the first success of Homo Sapiens over the equally intelligent Neanderthals to the fall of Rome and the rise of Islam. The latest science reveals that infectious diseases are not just something that happens to us, but a fundamental part of who we are. We have been thinking about the survival of the fi ttest all wrong: evolution is not simply about human strength and intelligence, but about how we live and thrive in a world dominated by microbes.

KALEIDOSCOPE CHAMBER COLLECTIVE

Wednesday 19 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

M Bonis Soir et Matin for piano trio

L Boulanger, C Debussy, M Ravel and C Saint-Saëns A selection of salon pieces

R Hahn Piano Quintet in F sharp minor

Founded in 2017 and directed by husband and wife Tom Poster, piano, and Elena Urioste, violin, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was appointed associate ensemble at Wigmore Hall, London, in 2020. The group’s flexible membership enables it to perform a wide-ranging repertoire. Its three recordings, to date, are devoted to, respectively, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and American music, with works by Amy Beach, Florence Price and Samuel Barber.

This all-French programme transports us to the elegant salons of Paris.

SARAH RAVEN AND ADAM NICOLSON

Wednesday 19 July 12pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

A Year Full of Veg: A Harvest for Every Season and How to Be: Life Lessons from the Early Greeks

Sarah Raven is an author, TV presenter and gardening expert, and is also the force behind a popular online plant nursery. A Year Full of Veg is a practical book about edible beauty, detailing Sarah’s gardening philosophy and with advice on how to get the most beauty and produce out of every square metre. Sarah is married to award-winning author Adam Nicolson, whose new book How to Be: Lessons From the Early Greeks is a reintroduction to our earliest thinkers and a glorious exploration of our connections with the past. Sarah and Adam will be in conversation with social historian (and Adam’s sister) Juliet Nicolson who is currently working on a book on the evolving nature of secrecy in the last 100 years. Very much a family affair, who knows where this exploration of personal philosophies may wander.

SIMON GARFIELD

Wednesday 19 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

All the Knowledge in the World: The

Extraordinary History of the Encyclopaedia

The encyclopaedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Created by thousands of scholars and the most obsessive of editors, adults cleared their shelves in the belief that wisdom was now effortlessly accessible in their living rooms. But now these huge books gather dust and sell for almost nothing on eBay, and we derive our information from the internet, apparently for free. What have we lost in this transition? And how did we tell the progress of our lives in the past? Simon wonders whether the promise of complete knowledge – that most human of ambitions – will forever be beyond our grasp.

In conversation with Juliet Nicolson

This event is sponsored by No 6 The Square Tearooms

Thursday 20 July

NICK THOMAS-SYMONDS MP

Thursday 20 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Harold Wilson: The Winner Harold Wilson won four General Elections, spending nearly eight years in Downing Street. Critics then and now have painted him as an opportunistic political calculator, and even as a Soviet secret agent. Wilson was a new kind of politician but, in his own way, this mediasavvy harbinger of modernity was also a deeply traditional man. His actions often suggest he was on nothing less than a spiritual mission. In an intriguing paradox, Wilson, influenced by the distinctively democratic faith of his Yorkshire boyhood, united a fractured Labour Party. The Rt Hon Nick Thomas-Symonds is an acclaimed biographer, the Labour MP for Torfaen and the Shadow Secretary of State for International Trade.

KALEIDOSCOPE CHAMBER COLLECTIVE

Thursday 20 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

S Coleridge-Taylor Piano Trio in E minor

R Clarke Lullaby and Grotesque for viola and cello

E Elgar Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84

For their second recital at this year’s Festival, Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective (see 19 July) performs a selection of romantic English works. Samuel ColeridgeTaylor’s chamber music has been attracting long-overdue attention in recent years. Rebecca Clarke was a viola-player as well as a composer, and wrote several pieces for the instrument. Elgar’s Piano Quintet is the last of the three major chamber works he composed immediately before his Cello Concerto, whose haunted atmosphere they share.

IL RE PASTORE

Thurs 20 July 7.15pm, See p.22

Scenes From a Musical: THE LAND OF MIGHTHAVE-BEEN

Thurs 20 July 3pm See p.20

COUNTESS OF CARNARVON

Thursday 20 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

The Earl and the Pharoah: From the Real Downton Abbey to Tutankhamun

The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun was the most astonishing archaeological find of the twentieth century. It was Lord Carnarvon who held the concession to excavate, and whose passion and ability to finance the project allowed Howard Carter’s eventual discovery to take place. Carnarvon’s life, money and sudden death became frontpage news throughout the world, fuelling rumours that persist today of ‘the curse of the pharaohs’. His beloved home, Highclere Castle, is today best-known as the set of Downton Abbey. Drawing on Highclere Castle’s never-before-plumbed archives, Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon, charts the twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Carnarvon’s restless and enquiring mind.

This event is sponsored by No 6 The Square Tearooms

Thursday 20 July

PAUL LEWIS: PART 2

PIANO

Thursday 20 July 3pm – 5pm (including interval) St John’s Church £30, Balcony £25

F Schubert

Piano Sonata No. 15 in C major, D840

Piano Sonata No. 13 in A major, D664

Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D845

Paul Lewis continues his exploration of Schubert’s piano sonatas (see 19 July), a unique and heart-rending journey from the lyricism of the early sonatas to the transcendence of the late masterpieces, via harrowing moments of despair as his health started to decline. They express with directness and sincerity some of the most fundamental elements of human experience –longing, consolation, despair, joy, loss, nostalgia, and hope. In our time, his music is as essential and poignant as ever.

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Saturday 15 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

See p.28 for information about this event.

RUPERT CHRISTIANSEN

Thursday 20 July 4pm – 5pm Pavilion Arts Centre £12

Diaghilev’s Empire: How the Ballets Russes Enthralled the World Serge Diaghilev was the Russian impresario who is often said to have invented the modern art form of ballet. Commissioning such legendary names as Nijinsky, Fokine, Stravinsky and Picasso, this intriguingly complex genius produced a series of radically original art works that had a revolutionary impact throughout the western world. The Ballets Russes not only left a matchless artistic legacy, but they also changed style and glamour, they changed taste, and they changed social behaviour. Rupert Christiansen has been a regular at Buxton International Festival during his tenure as The Daily Telegraph’s opera critic; he now visits as a self-labelled ‘incurable balletomane.’

This event is sponsored by No 6 The Square Tearooms

JESSE NORMAN MP

Friday 21 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

The Winding Stair

The Winding Stair is a tale of ambition and revenge set in the courts of Elizabethan and Jacobean England. It tells the story of a bitter struggle for influence and power between two of the most brilliant men of the age: the scholar Francis Bacon, whose genius is the envy of the court, and his hated rival Edward Coke, the greatest lawyer of his generation. Jesse Norman, a former Paymaster General, brings the palaces, parlours, parliaments and royal courts of Elizabethan and Jacobean England vividly to life, giving a peerless view into the lives, thoughts and deeds of their protagonists.

MERAKI DUO

FLUTE AND GUITAR

Friday 21 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St Jonh’s Church £25, Balcony £20

A Dvořák ’Sonatina in G, Op. 100 (arr. D. Massey)

T Takemitsu Toward The Sea

W Grant Still ‘If You Should Go’ and ‘Bayou Home’ (arr. J Girling)

A Piazzolla Nightclub 1960, from Histoire du Tango

E Gismonti Água e Vinho (arr. P Richter)

H Pascoal Bebê (arr. J Girling)

2023 marks 10 years of fl ute-guitar Meraki Duo. At the Royal Northern College of Music, Meera Maharaj and James Girling discovered their shared passion for chamber music, jazz, folk and contemporary works. As Royal Over-Seas League Competition fi nalists, Meraki recently performed at Wigmore Hall and Kings Place.

The Duo celebrates its anniversary with Brazilian folk-jazz, American songs, evocative sea music by Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu, a tango by Piazzolla, and Dvořák’s Sonatina, from the time of his ‘New World’ Symphony.

VERA BRITTAIN’S TESTAMENT OF A LOST YOUTH

Friday 21 July 11.30am – 1pm

Meet at the Devonshire Dome £15

See page p.28 for information about this event.

SPA AND EMPIRE FESTIVAL WALK

Friday 21 July 3.30pm – 5pm

Meet outside Buxton Opera House £15

See page p.34 for information about this event.

DAME KATE BINGHAM AND TIM HAMES

Friday 21 July 12.30pm – 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

The Long Shot: The Inside Story of the Race to Vaccinate Britain

On 3 April 2020, Kate Bingham was told that the likelihood of any Covid-19 vaccine working was 15% at best. Then on 8 December 2020, the first NHS patient received a vaccine. Now nearly every adult in Britain has had a jab, lockdowns have ended, and we can finally live

with Covid. From a cottage miles away from Westminster, Kate (now Dame Bingham) juggled vaccine suppliers, Whitehall, the media circus –and her daughter’s exams. Political manoeuvring, miscommunications and administrative meddling nearly jeopardised the project. This is an unmissable insider view into how the Vaccine Taskforce beat the odds and delivered the scientific miracle we all waited for. Tim Hames has been a columnist for The Times and The Tablet.

DAME SHIRLEY J THOMPSON: WOMEN OF THE WINDRUSH

AN OPERA FOR SOPRANO, PIANO AND FILM

Friday 21 July 2pm – 3pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £25

Through mesmerising instrumental music and song, multi-award-winning composer Shirley J Thompson’s opera, Women of the Windrush, portrays inspirational narratives from the lives of a variety of women who travelled to the UK from the West Indies (1940s – 1960s). Archive film and video projection interweave compelling stories from a cricketer’s wife, a student nurse, a concert pianist and a new bride, who all relate their experiences of arriving and settling in England. Charismatic and versatile lyric soprano, Nadine Benjamin, embodies the essence of the settlers’ experiences in this operatic reimagining of Shirley J Thompson’s original film, Memories in Mind (1992).

‘A gripping work ...celebrating human community and resilience.’ Opera Magazine

‘Excellently performed, mind-stretching (music) …there are fascinating sounds aplenty’ BBC Music Magazine

‘A pioneering, powerful and wonderfully dramatic compose’

BBC Radio 3

IAIN DALE

In conversation with Baroness Nicky Morgan

Friday 21 July 4pm – 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

On This Day in Politics

Friday 21 July

THE LAND OF MIGHTHAVE-BEEN

Fri 21 July 7.15pm See p.20

ORLANDO

Fri 21 July 7.15pm See p.24

On This Day in Politics looks at the key moments in British political history that have occurred every day from 1 January through to 31 December; from the first meeting of an elected English parliament on 20 January 1265 to Britain voting to leave the EU on 23 June 2016. There is a growing thirst for knowledge about the history of our constitutional settlement, our party system and how our parliamentary democracy has developed.

COLOUR MY SONG

THE WILLIAMS-HOWARD MEMORIAL PRIZE RECITAL

Friday 21 July 4pm – 5pm

St John’s Church £20, Balcony £18

The Williams-Howard Prize is an annual singing and piano competition at the Royal Northern College of Music for 3rd and 4th year undergraduates, graduates and postgraduates. It was established in 2022 by Michael Harper, Vocal Tutor at RNCM, to promote the study and performance of art songs by composers of African heritage. This concert will showcase the winners of the 2023 competition and gives the audiences of the Buxton International Festival a rare chance to experience this glorious music.

GRAHAM CLARK QUARTET

Friday 21 July 10pm – Late Jazz Café in The Pavilion Gardens £15

Local hero and ace violinist Graham Clark brings his acclaimed quartet to the festival. With a strongly personal approach to playing violin, he has played in many jazz, rock and experimental contexts, including a long partnership with Daevid Allen of ‘Gong’, several improvising groups, and numerous recordings.

Since 2005, Graham has been putting on a weekly jazz duo gig in Buxton. By playing with the cream of the North West’s pianists, he has built a loyal and enthusiastic audience.

Graham Clark Violin

Richard Wetherall Piano

Paul Baxter Bass

Johnny Hunter Drums

SONG AT SIX

Fri 21 July 6pm See p.17

ISABELLA TREE

Saturday 22 July 10am – 11am

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

The Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding, Big and Small

The enormity of climate change and biodiversity loss can leave us feeling overwhelmed. How can an individual ever make a difference? Isabella Tree knows first-hand how spectacularly nature can bounce back if you give it the chance. What comes is not just wildlife in super-abundance, but solutions to the other environmental crises we face. The Book of Wilding is a handbook for how we can all help restore nature. It is ambitious, visionary and pragmatic. The book has grown out of Isabella’s mission to help rewild Britain by sharing knowledge from the pioneering project at Knepp Estate in Sussex.

LEO POPPLEWELL AND ANTONINA SUHANOVA

CELLO AND PIANO

Saturday 22 July 11.15am – 12.15pm

St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

L van Beethoven Variations in F major on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Op. 66

B Britten Cello Sonata, Op. 65

J Brahms Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99

Leo Popplewell studied at Clare College, Cambridge, and later at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall and Wigmore Hall. Antonina Suhanova graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2018, and has since appeared at leading venues including Steinway Hall, New York, Wiener Saal, Salzburg, and Wigmore Hall, London.

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL

SONG AT SIX

Sat 22 July 6pm See p.17

Saturday 22 July 12.30pm - 1.30pm

Buxton Opera House £15

But What Can I Do? Why Politics Has Gone So Wrong, and How You Can Help Fix It

In recent years the world of politics has taken a series of disastrous wrong turns. We have witnessed leaders who can’t – or shouldn’t be allowed to – lead, policies that are either self-serving or don’t work, and world views that are corrosive or short term. Alastair Campbell’s aim in But What Can I Do? is twofold: to explain why things have gone so wrong, and to show what we can do to help put them right. A mix of polemic, analysis and practical advice, this is a political masterclass from an eminent political commentator and strategist. Iain Dale is a broadcaster and former parliamentary candidate.

Saturday 22 July

THE GWILYM SIMCOCK AND ROB BUCKLAND SEXTET

Impressionisation: The French 20th Century

Saturday 22 July 3pm – 5pm (including interval) St John’s Church £25, Balcony £20

G Simcock

Just Because

Claude Debussy Children’s Corner, arr. Gwilym Simcock

G Simcock Solo

G Simcock Echoes Suite

M Ravel Pavane pour un infante défunte, arr. Rob Buckland

World-leading pianist and composer Gwilym Simcock, and internationally renowned saxophonist Rob Buckland lead a stellar sextet re-imagining 20th Century French Impressionist masterpieces by Debussy and Ravel. They sympathetically weave lyrical improvisation into the textures and colours of this extraordinary, timeless music. With compositions and arrangements by Gwilym and Rob framing these masterpieces, this concert will resonate with classical and jazz audiences alike, introducing fresh and vibrant colours into these familiar musical landscapes, bringing this evocative music to life in new and unexpected ways.

In conversation with Iain Dale

MARK COCKER

Saturday 22 July 4pm - 5pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £12

One Midsummer’s Day: Swifts and the Story of Life on Earth

Swift migrations span continents and their twelveweek stopover, when they pause to breed in European rooftops, is the very defi nition of summer. They may nest in our homes but much about their lives passes over our heads. No birds are more wreathed in mystery. Compelled by swifts throughout his fi fty years as a naturalist, Mark sets out to capture their essence. These birds without borders are a perfect metaphor to express the unity of the living planet. But they also illuminate how no creature, least of all ourselves, can truly be said to be alive in isolation.

THE GWILYM SIMCOCK QUINTET

Saturday 22 July 8pm – 10.30pm

Pavilion Arts Centre £20

This evening’s jazz quintet is a very special line-up, built up of many long-standing and significant musical and personal friendships. Between them, this group have spent hundreds of hours on stage together, and that synergy and connection makes for a captivating musical experience for listeners to enjoy. Much of this evening’s music has been written by Gwilym for these musicians, and their aim is to take you with them on a joyful musical journey!

Gwilym Simcock Piano

Rob Buckland Saxophones

Joe Auckland Trumpet

Laurence Cottle Bass

Martin France Drums

22 July

This event is sponsored by

Outreach and Community Projects

Buxton International Festival does not fi nish with its closing performance. Throughout the year we engage with people of all ages, across the High Peak, to provide opportunities to get involved in music and the arts. Much of this work is delivered through Platform 3, a learning and engagement initiative that is run in partnership with Buxton Opera House.

Make new friends, discover new art forms and become part of the Platform 3 family!

After School Singing Clubs

Platform 3 runs free afterschool singing clubs for children aged 8 to 14. Sessions are run by a professional conductor and musical director. They’re light-hearted and fun and are designed to give young people skills and confidence. Children involved have had the opportunity to perform and make new friends.

Kaleidescope Community Choir

If you love to sing then come and join our friendly Kaleidoscope Choir. From choral classics and favourite hymns to pop and folk, you don’t have to audition to be part of the choir. Just come along and join in.

School arts award

Arts awards sessions take place in schools. They support young people who want to get more involved with the arts and build creative skills. Each child who takes part achieves a national qualification.

Frozen

A fabulous fortnight for children aged 9 to 16 to rehearse and perform Disney’s Frozen JR on stage at Buxton Opera House.

Adult Readers Club

A light hearted and refreshing opportunity to explore new novels and plays or revisit your favourite ones. ‘Book Club’ runs every Tuesday during term time.

Follow @Platform3Buxton on Facebook for more information.

Norwich Theatre and Valid Productions presents

Acosta Danza Up Close

A breathtaking evening of dance that features a series of solos and duets specially curated by Carlos himself.

To mark Acosta Danza’s ongoing relationship with Norwich Theatre, the opening night of this programme will be hosted and introduced by Carlos Acosta. 18

Join the Friends of Buxton International Festival today!

Building on the success of last year’s Festival we are excited to share this rich and varied programme with you. Put the kettle on, flick through the pages and plan your cultural journey this July.

We took great joy in meeting and welcoming many of the new audience members who came to Buxton for the fi rst time in 2022 – a large number for the reintroduced Jazz events. We hope those who tasted the delights of the Festival will come back and, if not already, consider becoming a Festival Friend. You’ll be the fi rst to hear Festival news, receive invites to events throughout the year and have the pick of the seats with priority booking. The Friends can also be proud of the essential role they play in putting on the Festival each year.

The benefi ts for our under 35 ‘Next Generation’ Friends get better and better, with booking for these tickets

now opening on Tuesday 4 April 2023, plus all book events now ticketed at just £5 (all other events remain at £10).

The tradition of the Friends Days on each Wednesday continues with opportunities to hear yet more live music, share your Festival experience and join an informal catch up in the glory of the Crescent’s Assembly Rooms.

Finally, a request. In our efforts to spread the word and grow our audiences further we would kindly ask for you to think of those in your networks who you could introduce to the Buxton International Festival – we’re waiting to welcome Friends old and new to a very special fortnight of performance.

Thanks, as ever, for your support.

Pete Spriggs Chair, Friends of Buxton International Festival

Joining our community unlocks a whole host of benefi ts:

• Priority booking for all Festival events

• Six tiers of membership starting from just £33

• Regular newsletters during the year - via email and post

• Be the first to hear exclusive Festival news & announcements

• Invites to special events throughout the year, including meals, dinners, recitals and more

• Under 35s can get tickets from £5 with our Next Generation membership –which is free to join

To join, search ‘Friends’ on buxtonfestival.co.uk

The Opera Dinner

Pete Spriggs with conductor Iwan Davies and members of the English Touring Opera at a recital in Buxton

Jazz at the Rookery

GRENDON BED AND BREAKFAST BIGGIN HALL

Grendon Bed & Breakfast is an award-winning luxury B&B. Located on a quiet lane approximately 15 minutes’ walk from the town centre, we offer high class accommodation with a homely, personal touch. Andie and Neil pride themselves on providing warm hospitality and service to ensure the perfect stay in Buxton.

01298 436259

Bishops Lane

Buxton SK17 6UN

stay@grendonbnb.co.uk grendonbnb.co.uk

Biggin Hall has 21 en-suite bedrooms. Situated in the Peak District National Park just a 15-minute drive from the heart of the festival. Thirteen dog-friendly rooms in converted outbuildings and eight rooms in the main hall. Biggin Hall also features an award-winning restaurant. Book directly for our best available rate.

01298 84451

Biggin-by-Hartington

Buxton SK17 ODH

enquiries@bigginhall.co.uk bigginhall.co.uk

A 16th Century Grade II listed Farmhouse full of character. Being one of the oldest buildings in Buxton, originally owned by the Duke of Devonshire, it now has its fifth owners. We have 6 rooms available, two of which are in the main house (not dog friendly) and four in the barn conversion across the drive (dog friendly). Located within easy walking distance of Buxton town centre. With on-site parking.

01298 23230

Fairfield Road

Buxton SK17 7ED

hawthornfarmbuxton.co.uk

Set in its own mature grounds, this elegant Georgian hotel is situated only a few moments’ walk from the centre of the spa town and its famous opera house.

Family owned for 56 years, our 4-star hotel offers high quality accommodation and award-winning dining.

01298 23002

The Park

Buxton SK17 6TQ

leewoodhotel.co.uk

Only a 5-minute scenic walk from the Buxton Opera House, located on Broadwalk this Victorian 13-bedroom, family run guest-house built in 1871 overlooks the Pavilion Gardens and ornamental lake of which the superb landscaping was developed between 1861 and the early 1870s. Free residents’ parking for up to 9 cars. Please visit our website for comprehensive virtual room tours. Bed & Breakfast from £60 per person based on two people sharing en suite double/twin rooms.

01298 24904

19 Broad Walk

Buxton SK17 6JR

enquiries@roseleighhotel.co.uk roseleighhotel.co.uk

Set in five acres of landscaped gardens , Centrally located, Just a 5 minute walk from the Opera House, offering 186 en-suite bedrooms, Bars, Lounge, Beauty Salon & Leisure Facilities including a 14-metre indoor pool.

Pre-theatre dinners are available in our Dovedale Restaurant from 6.00pm.

01298 22001

Palace Road

Buxton SK17 6AG

britanniahotels.com/hotels/ palace-hotel-buxton

HAWTHORN FARM B&B & LAVENDER COTTAGE (SELF CATERING)

LEE WOOD HOTEL

ROSELEIGH GUEST HOUSE

THE PALACE HOTEL BUXTON & SPA

WHERE TO STAY

HEAD HOTEL & PUBLIC HOUSE

The Queen’s Head Hotel offers bed and breakfast in our newly built accommodation rooms and also in a converted stable block, both situated at the rear of our premises. All 13 of our rooms have central heating, en-suite bathrooms, tea/ coffee making facilities and Sky’s ‘in-room’ television service. Larger groups requiring accommodation are welcome but it’s best to call with your requirements.

01298 23841

High Street

Buxton SK17 6EU queensbuxton.co.uk

A beautiful 18th Century cottage overlooking National Trust’s Lyme Park Cage and convenient for the Peak District National Park and Buxton (a 20 minute drive away).

Luxury 4 star, 3 bedroom accommodation with stunning views and a location perfect for lovers of the great outdoors, with ample walks and cycle trails literally on the doorstep.

07817 742556

Buxton Old Road

Disley SK12 2AY laneendscottage@gmail.com

facebook.com/LaneEndsCottage

New for 2023, this luxury Shepherds Hut is situated in the heart of the Peak District, just a 10 minute drive from Buxton. The Honey Pot is fully equipped with everything you could need including a king size bed, kitchen, bathroom, TV and Wi-fi. With off road parking, an optional Hot Tub and also pet friendly.

07737 314873

Crossings Road

Chapel-en-le-Frith SK23 9RY jillclongden@gmail.com

Instagram: @the__honeypot_

THE CASEY HOLIDAY COTTAGE Fenny Bentley

A beautiful 2 bedroom cottage, sleeping up to 3 guests with a private driveway, garage and large garden

Award winning style & luxury in the heart of Buxton

Three award winning, luxury, self catering holiday apartments within The Quadrant, a beautiful Grade 2 listed building. Conveniently located in the heart of Buxton, the area is very cosmopolitan with an interesting mix of high-quality businesses including independent branded shops, restaurants and bars.

Cowdale Hall Farm Holiday Cottages & Caravan Site

into couple’s retreat or parties of up to 12.

Situated just 2.5 miles out of Buxton in the quiet hamlet of Cowdale. Give us a call to discuss your needs and kick back and relax after a busy day exploring.

Cowdale Hall Farm offers self catering holiday accommodation for all party sizes. Our old barns have been converted

Cowdale Hall Farm Buxton, Derbyshire

• Local artisan made foods including handmade pies, scotch eggs and more.

• A range of speciality sausages made on the premises, with weekly specials.

• Fine foods from across the world including exotic meats, rubs, sauces and snacks.

• Home & Giftware by local artists, designers and makers for that unique piece of art or one-off upcycled gift.

• Carefully curated vintage pieces.

Spread across two floors, it’s not just a shop, it’s a shopping experience!

Follow us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088110589490

and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebuxtontradingpost/?hl=en

The Buxton Trading Post, 52 Spring Gardens

Jantar jewellery, located within the Cavendish Arcade, specialising in sterling silver, Baltic Amber, local Derbyshire Blue John and unique gemstones for over 20 years. With timeless classics and incredible statement pieces, it’s a treasure trove not to be missed.

01298 73116

Unit 3, Cavendish Arcade

Buxton SK17 6BQ

Jantar.co.uk

CROMFORD MILLS

Immerse yourself in history and unlock the stories of Cromford Mills. Meet Sir Richard Arkwright in his first successful water-powered cotton spinning mill, built in 1771. Enjoy a guided tour or audio tour set in the picturesque setting of the Derwent Valley. A great place to take a walk, enjoy some shopping, or have one of the best scones in Derbyshire! Free entry and dog friendly.

01629 823256

Mill Lane, Cromford DE4 3RQ info@arkwrightsociety.org.uk cromfordmills.org.uk

DISCOVER BUXTON GUIDED TOURS

Award winning tour business offering guided tours of the ancient spa town of Buxton. Either on foot or aboard our environmentally friendly “tram” our local knowledgeable guides bring the history and heritage of the town alive.

01298 79648 / 07530 457755

Find our office in the Pavilion Gardens discoverbuxton.co.uk

For centuries curious visitors have explored and marvelled at the natural subterranean world that is Poole’s Cavern. Explore Poole’s Cavern today with our expert guides and journey though the beautifully illuminated chambers to discover for yourself the magnificent underground scenery of the Peak District

01298 26978

Green Lane

Buxton SK17 9DH info@poolescavern.co.uk poolescavern.co.uk

WHERE TO VISIT

BUXTON CRESCENT EXPERIENCE

In a town whose history is shaped by water, The Buxton Crescent Experience is a boutique attraction that reveals the story of a special spa town, the renowned water and recent restoration of the Crescent building. The Buxton Crescent Experience is the perfect choice for families, the interactive elements will keep children amused and educated while history buffs can dig deeper into the story of the town.

01298 214577

The Crescent

Buxton SK17 6BH

Buxtoncrescentexperience. com

Aimed at the discerning customer, Isla Fine Art Cards & Gifts stocks a carefully curated range of beautiful and stylish gifts and cards alongside a selection of art by local artists and artisans.

If you are looking for something a bit different in Buxton then this is the shop for you.

01298 938492

4b & 5 The Colonnade Buxton SK17 6AL isla@isladirect.co.uk isladirect.co.uk

Modern design in the Peak District National Park. Visit the famous David Mellor Cutlery Factory, Design Museum, Café and Shop for the best in modern tableware and kitchenware.

The free museum shows Mellor’s historic designs, from teaspoons to traffic lights.

01433 650220

The Round Building

Hathersage S32 1BA

davidmellordesign.co.uk

A vibrant independent gallery and arts centre, managed by artists and situated behind Buxton Museum. Extensive exhibitions of contemporary art and craft from the region including paintings, prints, mixed media, photography, textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery and cards at affordable prices. Visit the artists at work in open studios.

Open every day in July. Please visit our website for opening times during

01298 937375

Hardwick Square South Buxton SK17 6PY

hello@thegreenmangallery. com

thegreenmangallery.com

Since 1999 John Whibley and the “Holidays with Music” team have taken thousands of music and opera lovers on hundreds of Musical Holidays across Europe, America and the UK. Our 2023 season offers a wide range of opera, orchestral, chamber music and festival holidays to choose from. Please contact us for a free brochure.

01663 746 578

Longlands Road

New Mills SK22 3BY whibley.co.uk

THE GREEN MAN GALLERY

JOHN WHIBLEY ‘HOLIDAYS WITH MUSIC’

ISLA FINE ART CARDS & GIFTS DAVID MELLOR

POOLE’S CAVERN & BUXTON COUNTRY PARK

ART AT THE CRESCENT

6th - 8th JULY

The Assembly Rooms

Crescent Hotel, Buxton

10 am - 5 pm • Free entry

Showcasing an exciting exhibition of contemporary artwork from some of the best professional artists and makers in the Peak District. An opportunity to meet the artists and purchase something totally unique, this diverse exhibition features paintings, prints, ceramics, jewellery, photography and textiles.

GREAT DOME ART & DESIGN FAIR

21st - 23rd JULY

Devonshire Dome, Buxton

Friday, 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Saturday/Sunday, 10 am - 4:30 pm

£3 entry single / £5 couples

Includes free show guide & artist demos

Find more info at peakdistrictartisans.co.uk/events

Visit the biggest annual event by the regions premier group of creatives. This highly regarded, long established and much anticipated art fair is held in one of the most beautiful domed buildings in Europe. All original work is for sale and it is your opportunity to meet the person who made it.

No need to book in advance – we look forward to welcoming you.

Discover the Wonders of the Peak

Exhibitions | Family Friendly | Shop | Events

Tues – Sat: 10am – 5pm Sundays & Bank Holidays (Easter – Sep): 12 – 4pm derbyshire.gov.uk/buxtonmuseum

Terrace Road, Buxton SK17 6DA

01629 533540

WHERE TO EAT

EVERYTHING’S ROSY

LUBENS

Make

your

home cosy with Everything’s Rosy…

A range of gorgeous gifts, fashion & home accessories available from our Interiors shop, with ranges such as Powder accessories & Voyage home décor.

From our Vintage Tearooms, a variety of sandwiches, paninis, Derbyshire oatcakes & locally baked sweet treats including warmed scones served with clotted cream and jam.

01298 78778

4-8 Hardwick Street Buxton SK17 6DH everythingsrosyinteriors.com

A small independent bar & kitchen located a few minutes walk from Buxton Opera House.

Open daily from 11.30am until late, serving local cask ales, a full range of wines & spirits alongside a varied & seasonal food menu. Relaxing, friendly atmosphere. Reservations welcomed.

01298 384394

8a Hall Bank

Buxton SK17 6EW facebook.com/lubensbuxton

Our aim is to serve you the best possible Thai cuisine from the freshest possible Thai herbs and spices imported direct from Thailand, and also locally sourced ingredients, such as meat, vegetables, fish etc. Each dish is individually created to most suit the individual who ordered it. We are open Tuesday to Sunday for lunch, food served 12 – 2pm, and evening food is served 5pm – 9.30pm or 10pm

01298 299688

9 Market Street

Buxton SK17 6JY khomkhai.com

PUDDING EMPORIUM

Buxton Pudding Emporium

Home of the Original Buxton Pudding and a huge selection of Fine Foods, Gifts and Homeware.

Our Tasting Rooms are open every day for the very finest hand made food. Situated just opposite the Opera House and open from 10am – 5.30pm.

01298 384394

4 The Square Buxton SK17 6AZ

thebuxtonpudding emporium.co.uk

BEAR & BEAN LE GABY

Beer & Bean is an independent European influenced café & bar, specialising in barista style coffee & quality world beers. Our extensive drinks menu includes tea, smoothies, cocktails, wines & spirits.

We offer a midweek lunch menu, sharing boards & Belgian waffles with indulgent toppings.

Expect a warm welcome & a relaxed social atmosphere. Live music every Sunday from 2pm.

01298 72559

8 Cavendish Circus Buxton SK17 6AT beerandbean.co.uk

We nurture our dough for over 48H to create an airy, light, easy digestible crust. The result is a traditional Neapolitan style pizza prepared in front of you and fired in an authentic Italian brick oven. We are proud to propose a real pizza restaurant, with a real atmosphere. Authentic pizza, made by hand and with heart, La Gaby Pizzeria passion and time.

01298 72577

3 Spring Gardens Buxton SK17 6BJ

lagabypizza.com

KHOMKHAI

ACCOMMODATION PACKAGES

We have partnered with the Buxton Crescent Spa Hotel to bring you a fabulous Accommodation Package, including everything you need for a truly memorable break.

Built by the 5th Duke of Devonshire in 1789, the Crescent is one of the most architecturally significant buildings in England. Enjoy the calm and tranquillity of this luxury spa hotel, right in the heart of Buxton.

Package rates start from £1029.00 based on double occupancy in an Attic Room on the attached dates. Contact the Crescent Spa Hotel direct to book and for upgrades and single occupancy. https://www.ensanahotels.com/

Tuesday 11 July and Wednesday 12 July 2023

Two nights including dinner, bed and breakfast (in an Attic Room), plus two dress circle seats at The Land of MightHave-Been and La sonnambula, plus entry to two BIF music events and two BIF book events of your choice, from £1,029.

Monday 17 July and Tuesday 18 July 2023

Two nights including dinner, bed and breakfast, plus two dress circle seats at Il re pastore and The Land of Might-HaveBeen, plus entry to two BIF music events and two BIF book events of your choice, from £1,029.

Friday 21 July and Saturday 22 July 2023

Two nights including dinner, bed and breakfast, two dress circle seats at The The Land of Might-Have-Been and La sonnambula, plus entry to two BIF music events and two BIF book events of your choice, from £1,109.

BIF 2023 6 – 23 July

BUXTON OPERA HOUSE

Events from 12pm – late

See website for opera end times.

Access Information

The Opera House is an Edwardian building and only partially accessible to wheelchair users, and unfortunately cannot be accessed by motorised mobility scooters. There are 3 wheelchair spaces available in the stalls, and there is an accessible toilet at ground floor level. A passive infra-red (PIR) system is available with a £10 cash deposit. 01298 72190

Water Street, Buxton SK17 6XN customerservice@boh.org.uk

Refreshments

Refreshments are available at the bars within the Opera House and on the forecourt outside. A new champagne bar is also open for pre-opera and interval drinks in the botanical conservatory next to Buxton Opera House.

The Land of Might-Have-Been Orlando

Benedetti Wynton Marsalis

Please book wheelchair spaces and PIR systems in advance with the Box Office.

VENUE INFORMATION i

Events from 10am – 5pm

Access Information

2 wheelchair spaces available in the bleachers. Passive infrared (PIR) system available for performances with £10 cash deposit.

22 St John’s Road

Buxton SK17 6XN

Events from 11am – 10pm

Access Information

Fully accessible by wheelchair, apart from the Balcony.

6 St John’s Road

Buxton SK17 6XN

Events from 7.30pm – 10pm

Access Information

Fully accessible to all. St John’s Road

Buxton SK17 6BE

Events from 10am – 5.30pm

Access Information

Accessible entrance through main doors of Buxton Crescent Hotel. Lift available to upper floors.

01298 808999

Buxton Crescent Hotel

Buxton SK17 6BQ

Events from 12.30pm – late

Access Information

Fully accessible via rear entrance. 01298 22001

Palace Road

Buxton SK16 6AG

OCTAGON AT PAVILION GARDENS

ST JOHN’S CHURCH

THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS THE PALACE HOTEL

BOOKING INFORMATION

PUBLIC BOOKING OPENS ON TUESDAY 4 APRIL AT 10AM.

Priority booking for the Friends of Buxton International Festival opens on a staggered basis from 10am on Tuesday 7 March 2023.

Early Bird tickets are available until Tuesday 18 April 2023.

HOW TO BOOK

You can book online, by telephone, or in person at our Box Office.

Online: buxtonfestival.co.uk

By telephone: 01298 72190

In Person: at the Box Office at Buxton Opera House, Water Street, Buxton, SK17 6XN

Usual Box Office opening times

Mon - Sat: 10am – 6pm, or 8pm if there is a performance at the Opera House

Sun: Closed

Festival Box Office opening times (from 6 – 23 July 2023)

Mon – Sat: 10am – 6pm, or 8pm if there is a performance at the Opera House Sun: 12pm – 8pm, or 10pm if there is a performance at the Opera House

Ticket types

Adult Full price

Under 35s £5 tickets for book events and £10 tickets to all other events are available to Next Generation Friends. Join for free at buxtonfestival.co.uk/friends-of-BIF. Proof of age required.

Carer tickets Free tickets are available for registered carers reserved alongside a full price ticket. Please reserve with the Box Office by email or phone.

Early Bird Book tickets to La sonnambula, Il re pastore and The Land Of Might-Have-Been before 18 April to get an Early Bird discount.*

Book 2 operas and a musical for 10% Off*

La sonnambula p?, The Land of Might-Have-Been p? Il re pastore p?

Jazz Weekend Plus Tickets – save £100

This includes entry to all jazz gigs from Thursday 6 to Monday 10 July, plus a seat in the stalls for the

Ticket availability at venues

Tickets for venues other than the Opera House can be purchased on the door half an hour before each event, unless sold out.

Changes to Programme

We publish any cancellations, or changes to the music programme or to the cast of the operas or musical, on buxtonfestival.co.uk and on social media. Refunds will not be given if there is a change to either the musical works performed or if a cast member is replaced. Please check before travelling. All information in this brochure is correct at the time of going to press.

Refunds

Tickets cannot be refunded or exchanged, unless an event is cancelled. We strongly advise you take out insurance when you purchase tickets to any of our events. Postage charges are non-refundable.

Hearing Loops

An induction loop system is available at the counter of both Box Offices in Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre. There are a limited number of passive infra-red (PIR) systems in both Buxton Opera House and Pavilion Arts Centre. These work through a special headset, rather than your hearing aid, which is available from the Box Office at Buxton Opera House. Please reserve one when booking your ticket over the phone – a £10 cash deposit is required on collection.

Gift Vouchers

BIF Gift Vouchers make the perfect gift for a Festivallover. Order them now from our website or by phoning 01298 70395.

premiere of the musical The Land of Might-HaveBeen, and a ticket to Sir David Hare’s book event. Tickets cost £209, a saving of £100.

Jazz Weekend Tickets – save £55

This includes entry to all jazz gigs from Saturday 8 July to Monday 10 July, plus a ticket to Sir David Hare’s book event. Tickets cost £160, a saving of £55. Visit buxtonfestival.co.uk for more information.

Book all 4 Seasons concerts and get 10% off* (p10).

*Only one offer applies. Does not include Under 35s’ tickets

SUPPORTERS

Buxton International Festival and artists are grateful for the support of the following

FUNDERS

CORPORATE PARTNERS AND SUPPORTERS

TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

Stonehouse Educational Foundation, Nugee Foundation , Marchus Trust, The Gibbs Trust

SPECIAL THANKS TO

3. St John’s Church

4. The Octagon at Pavilion Gardens

5. Assembly Room at Buxton Crescent Hotel

6. The Palace Hotel

7. Devonshire Dome

GETTING HERE

BY CAR

Buxton is one hour’s drive from the M1, M6, Manchester, Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby. If you are using Sat Nav, please use the postcode SK17 6XN for Buxton Opera House and SK17 6BE for the Pavilion Arts Centre.

There is Pay and Display parking outside Buxton Opera House, with two disabled parking spaces on The Square (Water Street) and it is possible to offload adjacent to the forecourt.

Pay and Display parking is also available at Pavilion Gardens car park, off Burlington Road, with 8 disabled car parking bays. The car park is approximately 320 metres from the Opera House.

There is an electric car charging point at Morrisons, Bakewell Road, SK17 9TB.

Please allow extra time for travel on Carnival Day, Saturday 8 July 2023.

BY RAIL

Direct trains from Euston to Macclesfield in less than 2 hours, plus a 20 minute taxi ride, or change at Stockport for trains to Buxton.

Direct services from Manchester, Preston, Blackpool and Hazel Grove by Northern Rail.

BY BUS

Direct services from Chesterfield, Derby, Glossop, Huddersfield, Macclesfield, Sheffield, Stockport and Stoke. derbysbus.info traveline.info

BY AIR

Regular national and international flights to Manchester and Nottingham East Midlands airports.

Manchester Airport is approximately 40 minutes away by Taxi/Car.

Please check gov.uk for travel advice.

Brochure designed by: Adam Wilsher (Arena One)

Illustrations by: Patrick Boyer

Image credits: The Ivor Novello Appreciation Bureau collection, The Vera Brittain Literary Estate.

Waterstones

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