Discover the history of this unique site from Saxon times to the present day. The tour includes an exploration of the recent £5million restoration of the cathedral's exterior spaces, and entrance to the unique Mappa Mundi and Chained Library.

Tours start from outside the East End of the Cathedral at 10.45am and 2pm (limited to 20 people per tour) Tours take place on: *Sat 21st, Mon 23rd - Sat 28th July.

A Three Choirs Plus event, which shines a spotlight on the creative talents of young people and regional artists, singers, dancers, actors, craftspeople and all-round entertainers.  

This hour long walk is led by a volunteer from the Mayor's Guild of Guides.

The Guild was formed in 1981 as a non-profit making body to assist tourism in the City. The guides are unpaid volunteers who have made a study of the origins and development of Hereford. They have been accepted as the Mayor’s Official Guides and are proud to wear a badge with the city’s coat-of-arms.

I Fagiolini
Robert Hollingworth director

In memoriam Prince Henry

Tomkins When David Heard
Ward Weep forth your tears
Milton O woe is me for thee
Janequin Le chant des oyseaulx

From The Full Monteverdi

Sfogava con le stelle
Anima mia perdona
Longe da te cor mio
Piagn’e sospira

Psalms

Tomkins Woe is me
Gibbons O clap your hands together

Poulenc Sept chansons
Williams/Knapman Damnalot (The Faust Show)

Hosted by the Elgar Society

Elgar and Hereford: A Musical Relationship

This event is open to all. We are delighted to welcome Stephen Johnson, a frequent broadcaster on the BBC World Service and Radios 3 and 4.

A Three Choirs Plus event, which shines a spotlight on the creative talents of young people and regional artists, singers, dancers, actors, craftspeople and all-round entertainers.

Herefordshire Junior Singing Club
Martyn Lane Director

This is the club’s second appearance in the Hereford Three Choirs Festival. The programme will include music by Purcell, Schubert and Britten – a rare stage performance of The Golden Vanity.

This two-course lunch with wine is open to all, and is promoted by the Elgar Society.

When tickets become available, please be sure to book your place within 3 weeks of the event.

Jeremy Lloyd organ

Programme to be confirmed.

The second in a series of four recitals given by prize-winning young players selected by the Royal College of Organists.

Discover the history of this unique site from Saxon times to the present day. The tour includes an exploration of the recent £5million restoration of the cathedral's exterior spaces, and entrance to the unique Mappa Mundi and Chained Library.

Tours start from outside the East End of the Cathedral at 10.45am and 2pm (limited to 20 people per tour) Tours take place on: *Sat 21st, Mon 23rd - Sat 28th July.

Shakespeare Richard III

The Festival Players Theatre Company is thrilled to bring you the drama of the last King of England to be killed in battle. With its inimitable colourful, energetic, and crystal-clear style, this all-male ensemble promise an exciting and unforgettable theatrical experience.

An all-male touring company of professional actors and musicians who perform open-air Shakespeare – from National Trust properties to London squares, village greens and Scottish castles – this company make Shakespeare's work accessible to more people.

Reiko Ichise
Asako Morikawa
Susanna Pell
Richard Boothby
Richard Tunnicliffe

Supported by the Dean of Hereford Cathedral

J S Bach Goldberg Variations

For over 20 years, all around the globe, Fretwork has brought music for viols to life through live concerts, recordings and broadcasts. Their repertory includes anything and everything that can be played on viols, from the first printed music in Venice in 1501 to music composed for them today. 

Three Cathedral Choirs
Geraint Bowen conductor
Peter Dyke organ

Bairstow Let all mortal flesh keep silence
Rose Responses
Wood Evening Service in F ‘Collegium Regale’
Dobrinka Tabakova Praise
Widor Allegro (Symphony No 6)

A Three Choirs Plus event, which shines a spotlight on the creative talents of young people and regional artists, singers, dancers, actors, craftspeople and all-round entertainers.

The Shani Choir
Pnina Inbar conductor
Maor Tzur piano

John Rutter It was a lover
Mendelssohn Veni Domine
Elgar As torrents in summer
Khuri arr. Inbar Ghanni lel chub
Arabic andalusian arr. Inbar Lamma bada Yatathanna (when she begins to sway)
Pen/Nardi arr. Inbar Shtu haadarim (drink thy herds)
Misha Segal /Natan Zach arr. Inbar Tzipor Shnia (another bird)
Chefer/Argove arr.Inbar Hakol Zahav (all is gold)
Trad Old Irish Blessing
Spiritual arr. Caldwell/Ivory Go where I send thee
Bernstein Somewhere
Manor/Caspi arr. Inbar Emor Shalom (say Shalom)
Lenon arr. Inbar Imagine  

Jeremy Davies speaker

Jeremy Davies has been Canon Precentor of Salisbury Cathedral for 26 years until his retirement earlier this year. He is well known as a preacher , hymn writer and lecturer on spirituality and literature. He has been involved in community theatre, most notably writing and directing the Way of the Cross and he wrote the libretto for Simon McEnery's Easter oratorio The Resurrection"

Jeremy's talk will reflect on the poetry of the poets George Herbert, Thomas Traherne and Henry Vaughan, focussing on the music in their poetry and the inspiration their poetry has been to musicians.

Paul Spicer speaker

'Observing the populace : Dyson’s and Chaucer’s Canterbury Pilgrims'

A pre-concert talk on Dyson Canterbury Pilgrims for those unfamiliar with this work. 

A showing of the film 'Fezeka's Voice' preceded by an introduction to the film from the producer & director Katherine Crawley.

Fezeka's Voice is the story of one man, Phumi Tsewu, and the choir to which he has dedicated the last 12 years of his life: the award winning Fezeka High School Choir. This is the story of how one man's infectious love of music has inspired 77 under-priviledged children to embrace focus, confidence, self-belief and an unwavering faith in their own futures.

A Three Choirs Plus event, which shines a spotlight on the creative talents of young people and regional artists, singers, dancers, actors, craftspeople and all-round entertainers.

Hereford Cathedral School
Lucy Zammit producer

Tom Stoppard The Real Inspector Hound

Festival Chorus
Philharmonia Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins conductor
Susan Gritton soprano
Alan Oke tenor
Simon Bailey bass-baritone

Supported by The Sir George Dyson Trust, The Elmley Foundation and the Music Reprieval Trust

Dyson The Canterbury Pilgrims

Gerard McChrystal saxophone

The programme will be an eclectic mix from Telemann canonic sonatas and unaccompanied Bach to a world premiere of a new work by composer Joe Cutler for saxophone and loop station. Witty and virtuosic solo pieces by Australian composers Barry Cockroft and Ross Edwards include amazing effects like circular breathing and slap tonguing; in one case Gerard can sound like a chicken! The beautiful acoustics of the cathedral will be utilised by atmospheric works for saxophone and electronics by Karen Tanaka and Andy Scott. To complete the contrast Tony Davis’s uplifting dance-inspired work Iguacu come down and dance concludes the programme.