Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2024 offers something for music fans of all tastes to enjoy – from a world premiere composition by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood and atmospheric organ recitals in the cathedral, to an array of late-night acts in the iconic Adnams Spiegeltent.
The festival has always been a welcoming home for great music, both local and international. In fact, it traces its origins back to a fundraising concert held in 1772 for Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which became an annual tradition and soon grew into a weekend-long music festival.
Though the festival eventually grew to encompass other art forms, from theatre to dance to visual arts, music has always remained a key part of its programme.
In recent years, Norfolk has welcomed musical heroes like composer Philip Glass alongside Laurie Anderson in 2017, the Velvet Underground’s John Cale in 2010 and actress and singer Ute Lemper in 2009.
Artists in residence at this year’s festival, which runs until May 26, include local Norfolk musician Laura Cannell, who will perform a collaborative performance with an assembled collective exploring the meaning of Modern Ritual.
Elsewhere, harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani presents his own trio of shows, ranging from a powerful solo performance of classic and new harpsichord works, to a collaborative rendition of Bach with Britten Sinfonia, to an ultra-intimate series of 10-minute shows presented to select audiences at a secret Norwich city centre venue.
Innovative musicians will grace the atmospheric surroundings of the Octagon Chapel. Jonny Greenwood, a founding member of Radiohead, presents the world premiere of his new composition, 268 Years of Reverb, an eight-hour opus performed by James McVinnie and Eliza McCarthy.
Additionally, Apartment House will present The Marble Index, the seminal post-gothic, harmonium-sick 1968 album by Nico and John Cale, featuring Francesca Fargion as vocalist, alongside a new work for cello and ensemble by Cassandra Miller.
It wouldn’t be the Norfolk & Norwich Festival without the Adnams Spiegeltent in the Festival Gardens, and this year offers another exciting line-up of late-night musical acts set to cap off the day’s festivities.
Girl Ray will showcase their life-affirming take on 80s post-disco, while Queen of Kuduro Pongo mixes genres and languages to create addictive party music.
Award-winning songwriter Karine Polwart and radical duo Stick in the Wheel offer exciting reinterpretations of folk storytelling, while virtuosic collectives Nubiyan Twist and Baque Luar display the freewheeling and fundamentally hopeful power of creating music together.
The festival has always been a place where artistic forms blend together, and that’s encapsulated perfectly in Rachel Ní Bhraonáin’s MOSH, a high-octane piece of dance theatre presented at Norwich’s Epic Studios that celebrates the culture of the mosh pit to both headbanging and heartwarming effect.
At this year’s festival, there’s a chance for music fans to celebrate the genres and artists they love, but also to discover something new – and develop a new appreciation for the different ways in which music can move us along the way.
For full details please visit nnfestival.org.uk
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