On Tuesday 7th July, Julian Bliss will join the players of the New Zealand String Quartet to perform Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet. The concert will take place in the spectacular Pittville Pump Room with its crystal-clear acoustic. For tickets and more information, visit the Cheltenham Music Festival website.

Julian will also be performing Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time as part of a late-night concert on Thursday 9th July.

This concert could equally be called From Görlitz to Bergen-Belsen. Messiaen wrote his quartet while interned in the POW camp Stalag VIII-A at Görlitz – its first performance, remarkably, was outside and in the rain on 15 January 1941 – while Britten’s Donne sonnets came soon after performing to survivors of the liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with Yehudi Menuhin in July 1945. From Messiaen’s transcendental vision to Britten’s deep, dark explorations of Donne – these are remarkable responses to the traumas of war.

Cheltenham Music Festival has today announced its full 2015 programme! This world renowned festival hosts a wide variety of talks, concerts and other events featuring a large and diverse range of classical music.