Welcome to the Gower Festival

We look forward to welcoming you to great concerts in a wonderful environment.

For over 40 years the Gower Festival has brought music and art of the highest quality to this area of southwest Wales. Now, as well as our traditional Summer fortnight held in our ancient, atmospheric Gower churches, we also present Spring and Autumn entertainments. These include ‘big band’ and jazz with poetry evenings where food and drink are served in a relaxed setting. As always, we present internationally acclaimed artists, while we keep the ticket prices spectacularly low by attracting generous sponsorship.

As you navigate the web site, clicking photographs will reveal further information.

Image of Gordon Back Artistc Director

2024 Festival video Review

"coming soon"

The 2024 Gower Festival was a brilliant success!

It is difficult to highlight a few concerts, as we heard such wonderful performances of the highest artistic quality.

We reached a larger audience than ever before, had record ticket sales and increased the number of young people attending the festival.

I do want to thank our committee who have worked tirelessly to produce a seamless event and our sponsors without whom it would not take place.

We look forward to 2025 with great anticipation.

Gordon Back
Artistic Director
Image of Gordon Back Artistc Director

gordon back

Artistic Director

Next year’s festival will be held from
1-12 July.

International acclaimed performers will include...

Leon McCawley

Fiddlesticks Ensemble

Jane Austen 250

Joe Dunthorne

Lumas Wind Quintet

Heath Quartet

An evening with Martyn Brabbins

Comedy Genius of Rainer Hersch

2025 FESTIVAL preview

We are honoured to have Sir Karl Jenkins as our President. Brought up in Penclawdd and educated at Gowerton Grammar School, he is one of the most frequently performed living composers.

“It is a privilege for me, as President, to be able to welcome you to the Gower Festival, my ‘local’ festival, having been raised on the beautiful Gower Peninsula. There is an exciting programme for you to enjoy, with concerts in the historic churches of Gower.”

Sir Karl Jenkins CBE
President
Image of Sir Karl Jenkins, President

Sir Karl Jenkins CBE

President

Llŷr is an internationally recognised concert pianist. He has been the recipient of many awards and is the official accompanist to the Cardiff Singer of the World. He has delighted Gower Festival audiences with his sensitive, meticulously performed recitals.

“The Gower Festival represents the best of the British summer festival tradition, great music for friendly and appreciative audiences in the most beautiful surroundings. I always look forward to returning with much anticipation.”

Llŷr Williams
Patron
Image of Llyr Williams, Patron

Llŷr Williams

Patron

Catrin is an internationally renowned harpist. In 2000 she was appointed for a term as Royal Harpist to Charles, Prince of Wales. She has developed an eclectic approach to the instrument with her recent international collaborations.

“Performing at the Gower Festival on many occasions has always been a special experience for me. I am therefore thrilled to be invited to be a Patron of this outstanding Festival.”

Catrin Finch
Patron
Image of Catrin Finch, Patron

Catrin Finch

Patron

Place holder text

2024 Gower Festival

Book your tickets online

Festival Friends have priority booking. Tickets are on sale to the general public.

Latest news

Save the date:
Wednesday 11th December

Swing into Christmas

at the King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston - further details coming soon!

King Arthur Hotel, Reynolston

16-09-24

Supporting the Gower Festival

We are very grateful to those who support us financially through sponsorship. If you would like to help the Gower Festival for the long term, there are two ways:

Concert Sponsors. The concert sponsorship of £500 allows us to book internationally acclaimed performers for concerts in the intimate atmosphere of Gower churches. Concert sponsors are individually acknowledged in the programme book in association with their sponsored concert.

Festival Sponsors donate at least £100, preferably by Standing Order, to help with the overall costs of running the Festival. They are acknowledged in the programme book.

If you would like to consider becoming a Sponsor please contact Bill Anderson at billanderson191@outlook.com

Finally, have you thought of leaving a legacy to The Gower Festival in your Will?

29-07-24

WATCH THE KARL JENKINS
DOCUMENTARY ON BBC4

On Sunday 14th July BBC4 broadcast a fascinating documentary on the life and work of our President, Sir Karl Jenkins. This included many of the video selections used in the interview with John Suchet at the King Arthur Hotel on July 4th during the Gower Festival. The documentary is available on BBC I-Player.

Sir Karl Jenkins: The Composer behind the Moustache

16-07-24

New Piano for 2024 Gower Festival

Gordon Back our Musical Director writes:

We are thrilled to debut our new Steinway model B piano for the opening concert of the 2024 Gower Festival, performed by the brilliant pianist, Yevgeny Sudbin. The Gower Festival acknowledges the Swansea Festival of Music and the Arts for their generous donation which has allowed us to purchase the new instrument. Thanks also to Coach House Pianos for their outstanding help in securing the piano.

21-06-24

2024 programme

‘One of the most inspired of today’s pianists’, Yevgeny Sudbin has performed with many of the world’s greatest orchestras. This evening he plays music by Liszt, Chopin, Scriabin and Debussy – his L’Isle Joyeuse, sparkling with summer sunshine. A perfect opening to the 2024 Festival.

Visit artists website
Monday 1 July 7.30pm
yevgeny sudbin, piano
Photo © Nikolaj Lund

yevgeny sudbin, piano

Monday 1 July 7.30pm
St Paul’s Church, Sketty  
SA2 9AR

Bartosz Głowacki was a hit at the 2022 Festival and we are delighted that he is returning to Gower in July. His programme of baroque, classical and world music includes pieces by Scarlatti, Maxwell Davies (Farewell to Stromness) and Astor Piazzolla. An evening to remember.

Visit artists website
Tuesday 2 July 7.30pm
BARTOSZ GLOWACKI, accordion

BARTOSZ GŁOWACKI, accordion

Tuesday 2 July 7.30pm
ST Hilary's Church, Killay
Sa2 7DZ

Morgan Szymanski is Mexico’s leading guitarist and an international ambassador for his country’s music and culture. In the beautiful surroundings of Cheriton Church he takes us on a Latin American musical journey, with pieces from Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina.

Visit artists website
Wednesday 3 July, 7.30 pm
Morgan Szymanski, guitar
Photo © Tania Esquivel

Morgan Szymanski, guitar

Wednesday 3 July 7.30pm
St Cadoc’s Church, Cheriton
SA3 1BY

A mixed programme of music by baroque and classical composers – Bach, Sor, Tárrega and Albéniz. Also included is a movement from Jigges and Fancies by Gareth Walters.

Visit artists website
Thursday4 July 2.30pm
Morgan Szymanski, guitar
Photo © Tania Esquivel

Morgan Szymanski, guitar

Thursday 4 July 2.30pm
St David’s Church, Llanddewi
SA3 1AU

In conversation with music presenter John Suchet, our President Sir Karl Jenkins, born and raised in Penclawdd, talks about his life and career as a multi-talented composer and instrumentalist. His appeal is universal: ‘music without boundaries, loved by everyone’.

Visit artists website
Thursday4 July 7.30pm
John Suchet and Karl Jenkins

KARL JENKINS at eighty, in conversation with John Suchet

Thursday 4 July 7.30pm
Avalon Suite, King Arthur Hotel, Reynoldston  
SA3 1AD

‘A pianist of extraordinary gifts’, Clare Hammond offers a beautifully varied programme. She will play Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata as well as a new workby Samy Moussa, pieces by Fauré and Debussy alongside music of Clara Schumann and Cécile Chaminade. An evening of delights and discoveries.

Visit artists website
Friday 5 July 7.30pm
Clare hammond, piano
Photo © Philip Gatward

Clare hammond, piano

Friday 5 July 7.30pm
St Peter’s Church, Newton
SA3 4RB

The Bach Choir’s recent concerts in Swansea have been wonderful and we look forward to welcoming these talented singers to Gower. Their programme includes music by Britten, Holst and Vaughan Williams, plus the premiere of a new work written for them by Welsh composer Gareth Treseder.

Visit artists website
Saturday 6 July 7.30pm
swansea bach choir
Photo © George Mutter

swansea bach choir

Saturday 6 July 7.30pm
St Cenydd’s Church, Llangennith
SA3 1HU

Leading recorder player Tabea Debus and lutenist Toby Carr move across the centuries from anonymous medieval dances to the music of 16th- and 17th-century masters such as John Dowland and Henry Purcell. A fascinating exploration of ‘ear worms’, those tunes that get lodged in the mind.

Visit artists website
Monday 8 July 2.30pm
Toby Carr, lute and Tabea Debus, recorder

Tabea debus, recorder
and Toby Carr, lute

Monday 8 July 2.30pm
Clyne Chapel, Mayals, Swansea
SA3 5BT

Celebrating Gower art and artists, the Festival pays affectionate tribute to the painter Glenys Cour in the year of her one-hundredth birthday. Come and enjoy an exhibition of work inspired by Gower, a talk by the art historian Peter Wakelin, and a tea party.

Visit artists website
Tuesday 9 July 2.30pm
Exterior photo of glynn vivian building

ARTISTS OF GOWER
AT THE GLYNN VIVIAN ART GALLERY

Tuesday 9 July 2.30pm
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery,
Alexandra Road, Swansea
SA1 5DZ

We welcome the acclaimed Castalian Quartet on their first visit to Gower. Alongside Viennese classics by Schubert and Beethoven, they play Five Fantasy Pieces by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, full of colour and rhythmic vitality echoing the music of Dvořák.

Visit artists website
Wednesday 10 July 2.30pm
Castalian String Quartet standing in front of a building.

Castalian String Quartet

Wednesday 10 July 2.30pm
St Mary’s Church, Rhossili
SA3 1PL

Name that tune–name the composer?

Griff Harries tells the stories of some composers from across South Wales who wrote melodies which became famous. Featured on film and television, their tunes were sung, whistled and hummed by millions. Sadly not all these composers are remembered: their names have disappeared into the mists of time but their music hasn’t. There will be sound clips, film, surprising facts, controversy, humour and even the chance to join in.

Visit artists website
Wednesday 10 July 7.30pm
Griff Harries

FUN TALK BY
griff harries

Wednesday 10 July 7.30pm
Vestry, Capel y CrwYs, Three Crosses,
SA4 3PU

In the beauty of Llanrhidian Church the Castalian Quartet perform three late masterpieces. Haydn’s ‘Sunrise’ Quartet, Op. 76, is followed by Janáček’s First Quartet, drawing on Moravian folk music, and then Schubert’s great G major Quartet, with its amazing fund of melody and drama.

Visit artists website
Thursday 11 July 7.30pm
Castalian String Quartet playing instruments.

Castalian String Quartet

Thursday 11 July 7.30pm
St Rhidian & St Illtyd’s Church, Llanrhidian
SA3 1ER

A firm favourite with Gower audiences, Pavel Kolesnikov is one of the most sensitive and thoughtful pianists of his generation, admired for his ability to offer listeners a fresh perspective on familiar music. After an absence of some years we look forward to welcoming him once again. He will perform one of the greatest works in the piano repertoire. J.S.Bach: Goldberg Variations.

Visit artists website
Friday 12 July 7.30pm
pavel kolesnikov, piano
Photo © Eva Vermandel

pavel kolesnikov, piano

Friday 12 July 7.30pm
St Peter’s Church, Newton
SA3 4RB

Maxim Lando is one of the most brilliant and imaginative young pianists to emerge in recent years. His varied programme takes us from ragtime to ‘Frankenstein’, a new work by Lowell Liebermann here receiving its world premiere. We’ll also hear tunes from Stephen Sondheim’s musical Sweeney Todd, a piece by Florence Price, the first African-American classical composer, plus one of Liszt’s most evocative works, his Reminiscences of Don Juan on themes from Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni.  

A thrilling evening.

Visit artists website
Friday 14 July, 7.30 pm
Festival information

Become a friend

Benefits of becoming a Friend include the advance booking for concerts, much appreciated as many concerts, particularly at smaller venues, sell out quickly.

download a form

Named after the original ‘red priest’, Antonio Vivaldi, this quartet of musicians are famous for their uniquely energetic approach to baroque music, combining technical wizardry and dramatic showmanship. They will bring this year’s festival to an exhilarating conclusion.

Visit artists website
Saturday 13 July 7.30pm
4 Red Priest artists striking a pose.

red priest

Saturday 13 July 7.30pm
Reynoldston Village Hall
SA3 1AA

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2024 Gower Festival

Book your tickets online

Festival Friends have priority booking. Tickets are on sale to the general public.
Click to view a PDF of the events programme.

gower festival venues

Map of Gower festival venues

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The Story of the Gower Festival

From its early years the Gower Festival has been concerned to foster a wide range of music in idyllic settings...

Friends of the Gower Festival

We have had some wonderful concerts arranged for the 2024 Gower Festival.
Festival Friends have priority booking.

Benefits of becoming a Friend

➢ Advance booking for concerts. This benefit is much appreciated by Friends as many concerts, particularly at smaller venues, sell out quickly.

➢ Regular Festival email updates.

➢ Acknowledgement in the Festival programme.

➢ Opportunities to help with the running of Festival events and to attend the Society’s Annual Meeting.

Annual membership costs £15 per household

You can join in one of four ways:

♦ Contact Mrs Anne Pope, 10 Vowley View, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 8HT

♦ Email: friends@gowerfestival.org

♦ Download a Gower Festival application form

♦ Pick up an application form at any festival venue.

Gower Festival Friends 100 Club

Don’t miss your chance to support the Gower Festival Society and win cash prizes for yourself!
There are three prize draws per year - July, November and March.

➢ 1st Prize per draw £100

➢ 2nd Prize of £50

➢ 3rd Prizes of £25 (the number of 3rd prizes is dependent on the number of tickets sold per year).
Last year the 100 Club raised over £600 for the Gower Festival - a significant contribution towards the cost of a concert.

The cost of a share is only £12 per year - that’s just £1 per month. You may take out more than one share if you wish.

You can join in one of three ways:

♦ Contact Mrs Anne Pope, 10 Vowley View, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 8HT

♦ Email: friends@gowerfestival.org

♦ Pick up an application form at any festival venue, or download an application form.

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