Welcome to the Grove Park Music Festival, 26th June – 6th July 2008   Registered charity: 1090308

The Grove Park Music Festival is once again inspired by Grove Park resident Julie Kennard, the Festival’s Artistic Director. Julie pursues an active international singing career, as does her husband Michael George, and also teaches singing at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music. For a long time she has had the ambition to set up a Music Festival of South Bank quality in the W4 area, and this year sees the fifth of her dreams taking place. “I want the Festival to be of the highest quality and appeal to a broad range of people. We do this by attracting esteemed artists, and by varying the concerts on offer.”

There are six concerts in the Festival spread over ten days, which all take place in 3 churches in and around Grove Park – St Nicholas’, St Paul’s and St Michael’s Sutton Court, which are followed on 6th July by a Choral Evensong in St Nicholas' with the collection being presented to  our selected charity for this years Festival.

The Festival opens with an inaugural Mass at St Nicholas' Church on Sunday 22nd June. The first concert is on Thursday 26th June with a Harpsichord Recital by Laurence Cummings, which is preceded by a reception for those who have kindly supported it. This is followed on Friday 27th by An Evening of Purcell and Handel during which the world-famous Counter-tenor, James Bowman, will sing duets with Owen Willetts, accompanied by Canzona under its Director, Theresa Caudle.

On Sunday 29th June is a concert entitled An Afternoon of Music for Children by the Brandenburg Sinfonia conducted by Robert Porter including Babar the Elephant narrated by Sarah Jupe, who is the regular storyteller at Richmond’s Lion Unicorn children’s bookshop. This concert will also include performances from the winners of the singing competition.

On Tuesday 1st July comes music from the 17th to the 20th centuries played by David Titterington on the Organ, and Trinity College of Music Strings directed by Nicholas Pendelbury. This is followed on Thursday 3rd July when the much-celebrated Alberni String Quartet will accompany Ian Partridge in the song-cycle On Wenlock Edge by Ralph Vaughan-Williams, and joined by Anna Hashimoto - an outstanding young clarinettist, will perform a new String Quintet by local resident Ivan Moseley.

The final concert on Saturday 5th July features the music of Rossini and Mendelssohn conducted by Brian Kay. Brian will be familiar to radio listeners as the presenter of Radio 2’s Friday Night is Music Night and Brian Kay’s Light Programme on Sunday afternoons on Radio 3. This concert features pianists  Christopher Glynn, Jan Cunningham as well as singers Julie Kennard, Sally Burgess, Allan Clayton, and Michael George, with The Grove Park Festival Chorus, trained by Helen Vickery.