The Presteigne Festival takes place in the picturesque surroundings of the Welsh Marches just about on the Welsh side of the Powys/Herefordshire border.
This year the theme is Baltic music, celebrating the independence centenary of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Composers from that region represented at the festival include: Arvo Pärt, Pēteris Vasks, Vytautas Miškinis, Vytautas Barkauskas, Vladas Jakubėnas, Raminta Šerkšnytė, Ester Mäg, Pēteris Plakidi and Tõnu Kõrvits.
As always, there will also be plenty of British contemporary music on offer. The festival opens with with Joseph Phibbs’ new chamber opera Juliana, based on Strindberg’s unsettling drama Miss Julie; there will be new commissions from Cydonie Banting, David Bednall, Gareth Moorcraft, Huw Watkins, Manos Charalabopoulos and composer-in-residence Martin Butler; and also birthday celebrations for Michael Berkeley and David Matthews.
Artists at the festival include the Navarra Quartet, Huw Watkins and the Choir of Royal Holloway, and Latvian violinist Kristīne Balanas, soprano Ruby Hughes and pianist Joseph Tong.
Apart from music there is also a supporting programme of art, poetry, talks, exhibitions and film.