Young Musicians Series programme announced for Summer 2023
Harrogate Music Festival is set to showcase the up and coming stars of the classical world this summer, welcoming four highly acclaimed young talents to the Harrogate stage.
A major part of the Festival’s history and its future, the Young Musicians Series has long provided a springboard for the great artists of the future, including Julian Lloyd Webber, who is set to return to the Festival stage this year having first appeared in Harrogate as a Young Musician in 1970.
With the support of the Dorothy Parkinson Memorial Award for Young British Musicians, pianist Iwan Owen will open the Young Musicians Series in the stunning setting of St Wilfrid’s Church. Iwan graduated rom the Royal Northern College of Music in 2019, having achieved a Master’s degree with distinction and won the Piano Recital Prize in 2018, the college’s highest award for piano playing. His Harrogate debut will feature works by Mozart, Schubert, Debussy and Chopin.
Violinist Maja Horvat, who made her Wigmore Hall debut in 2021, is set to perform with our guest curator for 2023, pianist Robin Green. Maja has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Chamber Orchestra and has performed as concertmaster of the Royal College of Music Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestra and the Echo Ensemble. In 2019 she was awarded the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Emily Anderson Prize. Her programme celebrates masterpieces by Mozart, Debussy, Bartok and Franck.
Acclaimed guitarist Sam Rodwell brings a wide-ranging programme of chamber and folk music, from The Bonnie Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond to pieces by Bach and Dowland. He has given many recitals in some of the most recognised concert halls in the U.K. including the De Montfort Hall (Leicester), St Martins-in-the-Fields, The David Josefowitz Recital Hall, Bridgewater Hall, RNCM Concert Hall, Buxton Pavilion and many more.
The Young Musicians Series closes with Leeds international Piano Competition finalist Thomas Kelly, who accompanied 2022 young musician Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux, and this year returns to make his debut solo performance.
Harrogate International Festivals Chief Executive Sharon Canavar said: “Harrogate Music Festival has a proud tradition of supporting up and coming stars early on in their careers, having long provided a springboard for the great artists of the future from Lesley Garrett, Emma Johnson and Julian Lloyd Webber to Amy Winehouse and Paloma Faith. This year is no exception and it is an honour to platform these talented young musicians as they start out on their musical careers.”
Tickets for each performance are £15. Book to see all four for £50 and save £10. Full details of the Music Festival are in the Summer Season online brochure, which can be downloaded here.