World-class music comes to Glossop as Summer Festival returns this June

Glossop will host six days of live music this summer as the Glossop Music Festival returns with its Summer Festival from Monday 15 to Saturday 20 June 2026.

Concerts take place across familiar local venues including Glossop Parish Church and St James’ Church, bringing together outstanding professional musicians for a programme that spans large-scale choral and orchestral performances, intimate late-night piano recitals and family-friendly events. Alongside its public concerts, the Festival also includes a programme of dedicated schools and SEND performances during the week, reflecting its ongoing commitment to music education and accessibility for young people and those with additional needs.

The Festival opens to the public on Friday 19 June with a major choral concert by Kantos Chamber Choir, one of the UK’s leading professional vocal groups, performing an immersive, atmospheric programme in Glossop Parish Church. The concert, conducted by Ellie Slorach_, features music by Cristóbal de Morales, Benjamin Britten, Jonathan Dove, Frank Ticheli and Sarah Rimkus, enhanced by the spine-tingling saxophone of nationally renowned, Glossop-based musician Carl Raven.

Later the same evening, audiences can experience a compelling late-night piano recital by Benjamin Powell, featuring two landmark works: Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Frederic Rzewski’s De Profundis. Performed at 9.30pm in the intimate acoustics of Glossop Parish Church, the concert offers a reflective and immersive close to the opening night.

Family audiences are catered for on Saturday 20 June, with two performances of Aardman in Concert at St James’ Church. Marking Aardman’s 50th anniversary, the screenings feature much-loved characters including Wallace & Gromit and Shaun the Sheep, accompanied live by an orchestra of fifteen musicians. The performances offer an engaging and accessible introduction to orchestral music for audiences of all ages, and families can also join self-led model making workshops, where they can take home their very own Shaun or Gromit.

The Festival concludes on Saturday evening with an orchestral finale featuring international pianist and Festival President Viv McLean, performing alongside the Glossop Music Festival Orchestra, led by violinist Katie Stillman, leader of the Orchestra of Opera North. The orchestra brings together musicians from leading UK ensembles including the Hallé, BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

The programme includes Debussy’s Clair de lune, Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 alongside other well-known works.

Artistic Team Leader Claire Surman said: “Each year the Summer Festival is shaped around the idea of bringing outstanding live music into the heart of Glossop for everyone. These public concerts are designed to be welcoming, high-quality and accessible, whether it’s choral music and piano recitals, family and school concerts, or a full orchestral finale. We want people to feel that world-class performance isn’t something distant, but something happening right here in their own community.”

Keeping access at the heart of the Festival, ticket prices are kept as low as possible. Half-price tickets are available for young adults aged 18–25, and under-18s can attend all evening concerts free of charge.

The Festival is supported by CDL, Glossop Garden Centre, The Granada Foundation and Derbyshire Music Hub.

Tickets for all public events are on sale now at www.glossopmusicfestival.org.uk

Pianist Ben Powell