Fri 23 May 2025 ➡ Mon 26 May 2025 7:30pm

English Music Festival - showcasing the innovation, beauty and rich musical heritage of Britain

Add to your event list

Discover your top matches amongst the lineup via our Lineup finder

Please note: Info provided by the Event Organiser

A Bank Holiday weekend of musical discoveries in Dorchester Abbey.

The English Music Festival celebrates the brilliance, innovation, beauty and rich musical heritage of Britain with a strong focus on unearthing overlooked or forgotten masterpieces of the late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century.

Join us in Dorchester-on-Thames for audience favourites and some new discoveries and World Premiere performances by guest artists including the BBC Concert Orchestra. Find the full festival programme on the website.

Tickets are on sale from the website and by means of a postal booking form. Tickets for individual concerts will also be available on the door, subject to availability. Full Festival and Day Passes are also available.

Dorchester Abbey is the venue for the duration of the long weekend with talks taking place in the Village Hall as well as a Festival Lunch (pre-booking required). A dedicated mini-bus shuttle operates to/from Didcot Parkway rail station - bookings should be made via the website on publication of the timetable.

Photo shows Raphael Wallfisch (photo, Benjamin Ealovega)

Friday 23rd May

The BBC Concert Orchestra

Saturday 24th May

Rupert Marshall-Luck

Sunday 25th May

Hilary Davan Wetton

Monday 26th May

Berkeley Ensemble

The BBC Concert Orchestra

Now celebrating a half century of broadcasting, this versatile orchestra varies its range from classical works and grand opera to light music and popular songs. They are regular performers at the Last Night of the Proms and their wide-ranging and eclectic repertoire can be heard on Radio and TV, including The Blue Planet soundtrack and Proms in the Park and on the concert platform with artists such as The Corrs, Nigel Kennedy and José Cura.

See The BBC Concert Orchestra tour dates

Rupert Marshall-Luck

'Marshall-Luck's technique and intonation are flawless... each work is projected with knowing sensitivity and communicative expression' (Fanfare) 'A searing performance by Marshall-Luck... an utterance of compressed energy, ideally realised (International Record Review) '... deeply committed and discriminating performances... Marshall-Luck's ability to spin cantabile lines with the subtlest of phrasal inflections pays dividends (The Strad).

See Rupert Marshall-Luck tour dates

Hilary Davan Wetton

A noted presenter on Classical FM who uses his skills to introduce people to classical music.

See Hilary Davan Wetton tour dates

Berkeley Ensemble

The Berkeley Ensemble champions British music and works alongside the standard chamber music repertory. Formed in 2008 by members of Britain's young professional orchestra, Southbank Sinfonia, the ensemble now enjoys a busy concert schedule. Its members are also in demand as orchestral players, having appeared with the English Chamber Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, among others.

See Berkeley Ensemble tour dates