We’re disappointed that we’re not going to be able to present this year’s Festival programme. With that in mind we’ve put together a selection of videos and links to Spotify from this year’s fantastic artists that you can watch and listen to in the comfort of your own home over the coming days.
It may not be the live programme as planned, but we hope it’ll give you a flavour of some of the spectacular work being produced by Newbury Spring Festival’s most recent selection of artists and performers. Clicking on the artists’ name will take you to their own website too.
In some cases we have the artists performing different repertoire, in some we have the repertoire, but performed by other artists. Hopefully you’ll find things in the mix that you can enjoy despite the “lockdown” we’re all experiencing.
Newbury Spring Festival 2020 – Online
Clicking on the artist name in each case will open their own website.
Mark Eynon welcomes you all to this year’s Festival – online, with specially recorded messages from Sakari Oramo and Paul Lewis.
A recording of Paul Lewis’ BBC Proms performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiří Bělohlávek:
Listen to the BBC Sounds recording of
Beethoven Symphony No. 7 with Sakari Oramo, Conductor here.
Many of you were looking forward to The Sons Of Pitches making their Festival debut. They have plenty of recordings available online to enjoy instead.
Sound Beginnings
We’re not able to share the Sound Beginnings performance as this was to be a new commission, however, we don’t want to miss out our younger audience so why not download some colouring sheets (click on the image), and perhaps listen to Peter and the Wolf presented here by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
John Lill
“I am so sorry not to be able to play for you at your admirable Festival because of this coronavirus crisis.
Throughout my many concerts I’ve given you over the decades, I’ve always been so immensely impressed by the enthusiasm and dynamism of the organisers and audiences alike.
It has remained a superbly arranged and attended series of events and I’m very proud to have been so linked to such an admirable enterprise.
I’ve no doubt the Newbury Spring Festival will be one of the first to attune to normality, once this virus scare has passed.
I send much affection and gratitude to all connected with and who attend this seamlessly organised series of concerts and I shall so miss giving you a Beethoven recital on May 10th, especially as it’s the 250th anniversary of this supreme genius!
John Lill”
While it may not be the programme we were looking forward to in Kintbury – enjoy the Kinsky Trio playing some Martinu here.
Ben Goldscheider
Ben made a “Culture in Quarantine” recording for BBC Radio 3’s In Tune – listen here [skip to 41 minutes to hear Ben].
Andrew Roberts on ‘Churchill: Walking with Destiny’
Members of the Solid Steel Ambassadors were also due to come and hold workshops in three local schools. We’ll reschedule those just as soon as we’re able.
We’re particularly sad not to be able to welcome BBC Cardiff Singer of the World to the Festival, but you can listen to his award winning performance here.
This promised to be a toe-tapping evening out, but RANT’s performance is equally enthralling from the comfort of our own homes. They’ve recorded a special message to the audience:
It’s a pity to miss out on 4 Girls 4 Harps in their anniversary year, but we fondly remember their last appearance at the Festival with this video.
You’ll have to imagine the rural beauty of the Lambourn Valley as you listen to Mikhail Kazakevich.
Solomon’s Knot gave one of the most talked about performances in the Festival’s history when they last appeared. They’ve sent a very personal message to us all:
From their respective homes, Solomon’s Knot have been working on something; the setting of Luther’s chorale ‘Mitten wir im Leben sind’ appears like an oasis in the middle of Telemann’s rarely-performed late masterpiece, the cantata Dich rühmen die Welten for St Michael and All Angels 1762.
Donate to the Festival
The financial implications of having to cancel the 2020 Festival in order to safeguard the health of our audiences, artists and staff due to the coronavirus pandemic, are huge. We can’t wait to get back to what we do best, bringing the best world-class music to Newbury as soon as we are able. But to do this we need your support.
So, we are asking you, and everyone we know, to make a donation to help us survive this extraordinary situation so that we can return next year with two weeks of world-class music.
If you are able, we would be delighted if you might make a one-off donation to support the future of the Newbury Spring Festival.
Audience Feedback Survey
Although this is a challenging time for us all, it is also an opportunity for us to take some time to plan for when we can reopen our doors and welcome you back, be that in the Autumn this year, or Spring 2021.
We have no past experience to draw upon for a situation like this – so we really need to hear your thoughts on the current situation and how you feel about attending events again at some point.
We have worked with our partners, Indigo to develop a short online survey, which is available here . We would be grateful if you would spare us a few minutes to complete it. Your responses are completely anonymous, and will be used to inform our own planning, as well as being added to responses from all over the UK to help produce a national picture.
Indigo will only have access to your responses for analysis purposes, and will not be able to see any of your personal information.
Many thanks for your support in the past, and we look forward to welcoming you back before too long.