Cheltenham International Festival of Music is an annual music festival held in June or July in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Its aim is to serve as a showcase for contemporary music from the United Kingdom and countries across Europe. The festival features concerts of orchestral, chamber, choral, and solo music as well as performances of contemporary musical theater.
The Cheltenham International Festival has staged premieres of several operas, including A Night at the Chinese Opera (1987) by the Scottish composer Judith Weir, and Baa Baa Black Sheep (1993) and Jane Eyre (2000), both by the English composer and broadcaster Michael Berkeley. The festival has also presented premieres of works by such modern English composers as Thomas Ades, Arthur Bliss, Benjamin Britten, William Walton, and John Woolrich.
The Cheltenham Festival was founded in 1945 as a festival of contemporary music from the United Kingdom, offering works by British composers, such as Geoffrey Bush and Edmund Rubbra. Starting in 1969, under director John Manduell, the festival broadened its scope and became international in content. It adopted its present name, Cheltenham International Festival of Music, in 1974. The festival’s first director was G. A. M. Wilkinson, followed by John Manduell in 1969, Michael Berkeley in 1995, Martyn Brabbins in 2005, and Meurig Bowen in 2007.
The Cheltenham International Festival of Music is part of a group of festivals based in Cheltenham held at various times during the year. The Cheltenham Festival of Literature, which was founded in 1949, is held in October. The Cheltenham Jazz Festival, founded in 1996, takes place in May. The Cheltenham Folk Festival, founded in 1997, takes place in February. The Cheltenham Science Festival, founded in 2002, takes place in June.
