Lichfield Festival Summer 2023 Line-Up Announced
Headline artists include Kate Rusby, Nitin Sawhney CBE, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Melissa Errico, Rachel Podger, Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, Brodsky Quartet, Lizzie Ball & James Pearson, Danny Driver, Jessica Walker, Tracy Borman, Bobby Seagull, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Tibetan Monks of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery…with opening Cathedral Concert to be given by the London Community Gospel Choir.
Lichfield Festival is thrilled to announce its full summer programme, with a host of fabulous artists and exciting events taking place in the city between 6-16 July. A melting pot of world-class entertainment and creativity, this summer’s Festival mixes music of all kinds, from folk to classical, jazz to gospel, with theatre, literary, community and family events.
Providing a rousing and energetic Opening Concert in Lichfield Cathedral on Thursday 6 July are ITV’s 2022 Britain’s Got Talent stars, the London Community Gospel Choir who have played Glastonbury, recorded with Madonna and sung at the FA Cup Final at Wembley.
The Cathedral also forms a stunning backdrop for a star-studded line-up including multi-award-winning performing artist, composer and producer Nitin Sawhney CBE, and the ‘first lady of folk’, singer-songwriter Kate Rusby, who has recently celebrated 30 years as a touring musician. Broadway superstar Melissa Errico sings showstoppers from musical theatre giants, with an exceptional quartet led by jazz pianist and MD, James Pearson. Pearson, who is Artistic Director of London’s famous Ronnie Scott’s, is one of three new Associate Artists announced for 2023-2025 alongside violinist and vocalist Lizzie Ball and musical explorers the Brodsky Quartet who have just marked their 50th anniversary. Together, James and Lizzie celebrate iconic songwriters including Carole King, Joni Mitchell and the late, great, Burt Bacharach in the Cathedral.
There are Cathedral concerts too from returning Associate Artists, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, renowned Baroque violinist Rachel Podger, and a summer extravaganza from the Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Tommy Smith OBE returns for a late evening saxophone concert, and Festival Patron Julian Lloyd Webber hosts and curates an atmospheric ‘Bach by Candlelight’ concert, performed by his internationally acclaimed cellist wife Jiaxin Lloyd Webber, to close this year’s Festival.
Among other classical highlights, returning Associate Artist pianist Danny Driver performs both solo and with violinist Jack Liebeck; Liberata Collective & Ensemble Hesperi perform Handel’s opera Orlando with period instruments; and Charles Court Opera returns with Gilbert & Sullivan’s comic masterpiece The Mikado. Another exciting staging sees the return of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men who present Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet on the Cathedral Lawn in the way Shakespeare would have first seen it – with an all-male cast, in the open air, and with Elizabethan costume, music and dance.
Culture from the furthest reaches of the globe includes the mesmerising chant, music and dance of the Tibetan Monks of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, master musicians N’famady Kouyaté and Gasper Nali who fuse African, jazz, pop and indie elements, and Kabantu who play and improvise folk music from around the globe.
A mini-season ‘It’s a Drag’ looks at gender and cross-dressing in theatre, opera and the arts. Author Janet Tennant and guests investigate this long tradition, mezzo soprano Polly Leech sings operatic ‘trouser roles’, and vocalist and Associate Artist Jessica Walker takes a cross-dressing musical tour through the decades.
Jessica Walker also performs The 1960s in Song, while Jeremy Sassoon’s MOJO (Musicians of Jewish Origin) celebrates songwriters from George Gershwin to Amy Winehouse, and Richard Shelton pays homage to Ol’ Blue Eyes in his award-winning show, Sinatra: RAW.
Talks and literary events include mathematician and University Challenge star Bobby Seagull and historian Tracy Borman. Also, documentary film-maker Alex Bescoby reflects on recreating his 9,000km journey across the world from Singapore to London.
Comedy takes a look at the life of an orchestral triangle player; there’s a one-woman show from Lichfield-born actress and writer Katie Arnstein; and music, high heels and fairy lights feature in Jenni Winter’s Mother’s Ruin.
For younger audiences, Waterperry Opera’s music and theatre version of Roald Dahl’s Little Red Riding Hood & The Three Little Pigs is a must. As part of the Aspire! Learning & Participation programme, local school pupils will play alongside the world famous Grimethorpe Colliery Band, thanks to a partnership between Lichfield Festival, ‘ptrumpet’ makers Warwick Music Group and the county’s music service, Entrust.
Providing an explosive finale to this year’s events, the free Festival Fireworks take place on Saturday 15 July in Beacon Park.
Lichfield Festival has long been one of the most eclectic multi-arts festivals in the UK and a beacon in the Midlands cultural calendar. The Festival is delighted to be continuing its partnership with designer outlet McArthurGlen West Midlands following a highly successful relationship in 2022. David Jackson, Centre Manager, McArthurGlen said, ”We are proud to continue to support Lichfield Festival and those involved with its important work. The Festival is widely known and loved across the region as somewhere people can come together and celebrate the thriving arts and culture in the local area and beyond. McArthurGlen West Midlands are delighted to play a part in enabling this, and will support growth and development of the Festival in future.”
The Festival is extremely grateful for the generous support it receives from its corporate and individual sponsors, Lichfield District Council and other local and national grant-awarding bodies, all of which enables the Festival to bring stellar artists and events to the city year on year.
Lichfield Festival runs from 6-16 July 2023. Tickets and details from www.lichfieldfestival.org. Festival Box Office 01543 306271 (call-back service) or email boxoffice@lichfieldfestival.org.