‘Rites of Passage’, the theme of the 2026 Crickhowell Music Festival, is the 30th staging of this musical extravaganza. The programme explores composers at their most inspired, rising to the challenge of expressing our deepest loves, hopes and fears in music that chart the milestones of human experience.

Our performances will travel through all the changing scenes of life, from birthday blessings courtesy of Purcell, love songs for newlyweds from J.S. Bach and Eric Whitacre, and marking the ‘coming of age’ with sacred texts associated with the Jewish bar mitzvah and Christian confirmation ceremonies in settings by two relatively unsung musical geniuses, Caldara and Zelenka. There are more lost treasures to accompany Mozart’s much loved Requiem Mass including a short motet, also by Mozart, and another by Schubert.

An undoubted highlight this year will be Saturday’s performance of Mondonville’s dramatic psalm setting, In exitu Israel, a re-enactment of the Exodus story, symbolising individual freedom and spiritual renewal. This choral tour de force is simply stunning, bringing another hidden masterpiece into the limelight.

To meet the musical demands of such pieces we are blessed with a star lineup of soloists whose stylish singing always proves such a highlight of our concerts.

But it all starts with a performance by the Kosmos Ensemble at Friday’s opening Folk Night. This highly acclaimed and exuberant trio bring life-enhancing songs and dances from around the globe in a kaleidoscope of folk styles destined to get everyone’s feet tapping.

And don’t miss our final Bank Holiday Recital when we celebrate ten years of our innovative Choral Scholars’ scheme which encourages young musicians to develop and perform. Here we can experience at first hand the rejuvenating power of singing, courtesy of our talented students past and present. As the song goes, “who could ask for anything more?”