Welcome to the website for the Alwyn Music Festival, the Suffolk coast’s autumn classical music festival.

Covid-19 update from Artistic Director, Nathan Williamson

As we settle into 2021 and sadly remain in lockdown, I felt it worth providing a quick update on plans for the Alwyn Music Festival 2021.

All of us on the festival planning committee and the Alwyn Foundation trustees are fully committed to staging a Festival in October 2021 provided we are able to do so safely. Naturally, all of us will be hoping that some semblance of normal concert-going life will have been re-established by this autumn but we take nothing for granted. We will be monitoring the situation carefully before making a final decision in the early summer.

Should we be able to go ahead, the 2021 festival will take place between 7th and 9th October. We look forward to welcoming a wonderful list of artists to perform for us, including the Meraki Duo, the Gildas Quartet, James Gilchrist, the Rossetti Ensemble, John Turner and pianist Alexander Karpeyev. 

New music is well represented, with the world premiere of a specially commissioned piece by Elis Pehkonen and a new work by myself for the Rossetti Ensemble. Music by William Alwyn and Doreen Carwithen runs throughout the festival programme with plenty of other British composers alongside – Frank Bridge, Rebecca Clarke, Peter Dickinson, Madeleine Dring, Gustav Holst, Peter Hope, Elizabeth Maconchy, Lloyd Moore and William Walton to name a few. 

Events will take place at four iconic venues; Southwold and Blythburgh churches, the Red House in Aldeburgh and Southwold’s Electric Picture Palace. 

My best wishes to you all for the coming difficult few months. We are forever grateful for your continued support and very much hope to welcome you to Suffolk this October.

Nathan Williamson 

Artistic Director

Enter your email address in the box to your right to receive news of the 2021 Festival. If you prefer to receive a brochure in the post, use the contact form to send us your details.