One of the UK’s top orchestras, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, bring an all-American feast as part of the Festival’s America250 series. The sumptuous Violin Concerto by Samuel Barber (with award- winning soloist Maria Ioudenitch) is the centrepiece, with Copland’s much-loved Appalachian Spring ballet for orchestra and Ives’s Three Places in New England.
Folk enthusiasts can look forward to catching Canadian duo Rachel Davis & Darren McMullen, Jim Moray and Kate Rusby. For world music fans, Sonic Threads teams classical Indian vocalist Supriya Nagarajan with harpist Lucy Nolan, and popular band Kasai Masai return with music from their Congolese heritage.
Among literary events, former BBC correspondent Nick Higham tells the forgotten stories of British ‘mavericks’ tasked with daring missions at the end of World War I, and the miraculous and extraordinary world of the Guinness World Records is revealed by its entertaining editor-in-chief Craig Glenday who knows a thing or two about the tallest, shortest, strongest, longest record-breakers.
Wallace & Gromit with KNDS Fairey Band
Cabaret is always a popular choice and, this year, vocalist Jessica Walker shines a spotlight on the celebrated French chanteuse known simply as ‘Barbara’. And there’s an affectionate tribute in songs and monologues to national treasure Victoria Wood from singer and actor Amy J Payne and, yes, Barry’s baggy Y-Fronts feature!
There’s plenty of jazz of course, with exhilarating swing from award-winning jazz vocalist and broadcaster Clare Teal and her band, and Hooray to Hollywood with singing star Liza Pulman (one third of Fascinating Aida) & pianist/raconteur Joe Stilgoe. Cellist and artist-in-residence Gabriella Swallow’s two appearances include a celebration of the visionary jazz pianist/composer Don Shirley, with Mercury award-nominee Joe Webb (piano), while the Will Barnes Quartet blend contemporary sounds with a flavour of Wales, its landscapes and folklore.
Rachel Davis & Darren McMullen Nick Higham
A host of classical concerts include recorder quartet Palisander’s Cries of London programme, Rachmaninov’s Vespers from stellar choir Ex Cathedra, and Liberata Collective’s Antonia: Behind the Myth of Marie Antoniette. Nine Young Artists recitals introduce tomorrow’s stars today and, to prove the point, former Young Artist Junyan Chen returns to give the Festival’s closing Cathedral concert having taken the piano world by storm, winning second prize in the hugely prestigious 2024 Leeds International Piano Competition.
Lichfield Festival takes place from 7-19 July at venues across the city. Tickets and details from
www.lichfieldfestival.org or 01543 306271
Jessica Walker 107
Gabriella Swallow
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
ENTERTAINMENT LICHFIELD FESTIVAL 2026
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