HEREFORD is set to host one of the country’s most distinguished cultural events this summer, as the Three Choirs Festival returns to the city from Saturday, July 26 to Saturday, August 2.

Renowned as the world’s oldest continuously running classical music festival, the event rotates annually between Gloucester, Worcester and Hereford. Now in its 297th year, it continues to combine historical significance with artistic innovation, bringing together internationally acclaimed performers, world premieres, and community-based participation on an extraordinary scale.

The 2025 programme offers a compelling blend of the traditional and the contemporary. A notable centrepiece is the revival of The Atonement by celebrated British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Originally performed at the Hereford festival in 1903, this rarely heard work returns as part of the composer’s 150th anniversary celebrations, highlighting the festival’s role in restoring neglected choral repertoire to the public stage.

In addition, the festival will feature a major new commission, The Black Lake by composer Richard Blackford. Inspired by the Welsh novel One Moonlit Night, the piece is described as a sweeping, emotionally charged journey through memory, community and the transition to adulthood, set against the backdrop of rural North Wales. Scored for full orchestra, chorus, narrators and soloists, it represents the festival’s continued commitment to commissioning substantial new works that speak to modern audiences.

The large scale evening concerts will once again be held in the atmospheric setting of Hereford Cathedral, with performances by the world renowned Philharmonia Orchestra and the festival’s own ensembles, the Festival Chorus, Festival Voices and Youth Choir. These groups comprise both auditioned and open access singers, many drawn from across Herefordshire and the wider Three Counties, reflecting the festival’s strong community foundations.

Chief Executive David Francis said the 2025 programme underlines the festival’s dual commitment to tradition and innovation: “The 2025 Three Choirs Festival demonstrates our commitment to great choral repertoire, commissioning and premiering new works as well as revisiting festival commissions. For over 300 years the festival has brought together a community of musicians and singers to deliver a world renowned festival, and 2025 will be no exception.”

Elsewhere in the programme, audiences can expect celebrated works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Fauré’s Requiem and Herbert Howells’ Hymnus Paradisi, alongside appearances from high profile artists including the King’s Singers, Roderick Williams, Sarah Connolly, Emma Johnson, the Carducci Quartet and Stile Antico.

Beyond the concert hall, the festival offers a wide range of informal and family friendly events, including open rehearsals, outdoor performances on the bandstand and a festival bar and craft marquee, helping to make the event accessible and welcoming to a broad audience.

Full programme details will be available from Friday, March 21, 2025, with tickets on general sale from Monday, April 14. Further information can be found at www.3choirs.org.

With its rich heritage and continued artistic ambition, the Three Choirs Festival remains one of the country’s most important cultural institutions. Its return to Hereford promises a summer celebration of choral music on a scale few other cities could host.