The English Music Festival 2026

THE English Music Festival celebrates Britain's rich musical heritage by showcasing the brilliance, innovation and beauty of English music.

It was established to provide a platform for the many powerful and lovely works by British composers – primarily from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries – that had been all too rarely heard for so many years. Yet although the focus of the Festival is the Golden Renaissance of English Music, our programmes span from mediaeval music and the timeless delights of Tallis and Byrd through to contemporary music: indeed, the Festival has commissioned numerous thrilling and accessible new works from some of Britain's most admired contemporary composers. We are proud to have staged the world première performances not just of these new pieces, but also of important works by Frederick Delius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir Edward Elgar, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Arnold Bax, Sir Arthur Bliss, Herbert Howells, Benjamin Britten, York Bowen, E.J. Moeran, Ivor Gurney, George Butterworth, Sir Henry Walford Davies, Joseph Holbrooke and Rutland Boughton (amongst many others).

Each Festival is a dynamic and inspiring event, which not only acts as a platform for some truly exciting and moving music, but also offers talks to put the music in context and several social events. This year, we are incredibly excited to bring our festival to Devon for the first time, to the incredible and historic estate of Dartington Hall.