Brecon Baroque festival 2026
Brecon Baroque Festival is back at the Cathedral for its 20th Birthday.
The Brecon Baroque Festival begins on Friday 16th October and runs until Monday 19 October, and we're delighted that six of its events will be here with us at the Cathedral on its 20th birthday. This year's theme is From Dowland to Bach, under the festival's artistic director, the violinist Rachel Podger.
Things begin on Friday evening at 7.30pm, when Kristian Bezuidenhout directs Rachel Podger and the Brecon Baroque Ensemble in three cantatas by Bach. The first is the Ode of Mourning, BWV 198, and it is followed by two cantatas written for Easter Monday. The soloists are Eleonore Cockerham, Ciara Hendrick, Matthew Long and Frederick Long.
On Saturday afternoon at 2.45pm, Dr Alicia Foster comes to the Tithebarn to talk about the Welsh painter Gwen John, the subject of her book, Gwen John: Art & Life in London and Paris
Sunday is our busiest day. At 1pm the ensemble In Echo, directed by Gawain Glenton, plays music by Bach, Buxtehude and Schütz, woven together with readings by the writer Horatio Clare from his book, Something of His Art, which follows Bach's walk to Lübeck in music and words It's a concert about journeys, real and imagined, and it includes the first ever performance of White Gold by Silas Wollston.
At 3.30pm Brecon Cathedral Choir sings a Festival Evensong, joined by a consort of viols from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. Evensong is free and no ticket is required, so if you've never been to a choral evensong before, this would be a wonderful one to start with.
Then at 6.30pm the tenor Ian Bostridge joins the viol consort Fretwork and the lutenist Kristiina Watt for the songs of John Dowland, among them Flow my tears, In darkness let me dwell and Time stands still.
On Monday morning at 10am, Ruth Phillips gives a talk on Mindfulness and Musicianship in the Cathedral Tithebarn.
Tickets can be purchased through the Theatre Brycheiniog box office, the full festival programme visit, breconbaroquefestival.com
