Jack Bazalgette on his first Cheltenham Music Pageant as inventive director

Jack Bazalgette (Picture: Ehimetalor Unuabona)

Jack Bazalgette is probably greatest often known as the co-founder and director of by way of the noise, which since 2020 has programmed greater than 130 classical music live shows in non-traditional venues utilizing an progressive crowd-funding mannequin to widen viewers enchantment [see my review of their noisenight at the 2024 Leeds Lieder Festival]. 

Final yr, Jack was appointed as inventive director of the Cheltenham Music Pageant and the 2025 pageant, which runs from 4 to 12 July, is the primary underneath his stewardship. This yr, not solely is the pageant celebrating its eightieth birthday, but additionally the a hundred and fiftieth birthday of native son, Gustav Holst.

Once I ask Jack what, for him are the highlights of this yr’s pageant he charmingly demurs however highlights the pageant’s ultimate live performance on 12 July when the BBC Nationwide Orchestra of Wales (BBC NOW), conductor Gergely Madaras is taking part in a programme which displays the pageant’s early years. For Jack that is vital, he factors out that so many nice items had been commissioned by or written for the pageant and he was eager to focus on these. The 12 July live performance will function Malcolm Arnold’s Symphony No. 5 which premiered at Cheltenham in 1961 and which Jack sees is a masterpiece that he seeks to reclaim for the pageant. The entire programme has these types of hyperlinks, there’s Britten’s 4 Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, which somewhat amazingly premiered on the first pageant in 1945, a brand new piece by Anna Semple which has been commissioned specifically, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations which had been in that first ever live performance.

The primary live performance of the pageant in 1945 featured the Elgar alongside new works, and it is a combine that Jack desires to get again to, a combination that he hopes will convey audiences to new music. He admits that orchestral programming is at all times difficult; moreover, in Cheltenham, they must be aware of what is going to truly match on the stage. Additionally, being a pageant somewhat than a live performance collection, they solely get one probability at getting one thing proper. He factors out that with the 12 July live performance having each the Britten and the Elgar, every work is made up of a number of smaller actions, which brings coherence to the general programme too. You additionally want to keep in mind that Cheltenham is a spa city, a enjoyable place and he desires the pageant live shows to convey a enjoyable time out in addition to broaden the thoughts.

The Pump Room, Cheltenham – constructed by architect John Forbes between 1825 and 1830

This yr’s pageant programme is nearly all Jack’s accountability; when he took over the mounted factors had been a live performance from the BBC NOW and Madaras (with an unspecified programme) and the concept of doing Friday Night time is Music Night time in Cheltenham (on 11 July with vocalist Clare Teal, BBC Live performance Orchestra and conductor Karen Ni Bhroin), and he admits that the programme was pulled collectively fairly shortly however this is not the primary time this has occurred on the pageant, different years there have been fast adjustments between inventive director. However as he will get into the pageant he desires to plan additional prematurely as it’s tough getting larger artists at quick discover, although it ought to be identified that this yr’s pageant consists of performances from pianists Imogen Cooper and Pavel Kolesnikov and mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly.

The UK is blessed with a number of festivals, these are available all sizes and styles and are often differentiated by place. At Cheltenham, Jack feels they’re blessed with two superb venues, the Pump Room and the City Corridor, however he desires to go additional than this and re-establish the pageant as a house for brand new music and music creation. The pageant has at all times been a house for composers, from Vaughan Williams, Britten and Malcolm Arnold within the early days to Thomas Adès bringing his college students within the Nineties. Within the pageant’s 80 years, there have been over 1000 premieres, and Jack desires to recapture a few of this id by supporting up to date composers. However he admits that the onerous factor within the current local weather is to fund a fee, significantly as you often do not get the cash again in ticket gross sales. However because the pageant’s funds enhance, as they’re doing as he proudly factors out, so they’ll have the ability to broaden the brand new music strand. [after Jack and I had talked, the festival announced that it had secured funding for its highly regarded Composer Academy which returns this year under composer & alumnus Daniel Kidane. See my article.]

Even when he co-founded by way of the noise, Jack emphasises that he was by no means an on-stage inventive, but he’s at all times a presence, guiding, suggesting and questioning, the intention being to information the performers by way of placing on a fantastic live performance. He admits that he’s at all times studying, with some performers he says nothing however others want extra steerage and help. He finds it stimulating and difficult, not treading on toes and attempting to offer individuals the area to make their greatest work. There have been occasions when he has tried to assist however the ultimate product was not best, and he at all times tries to be taught from his errors.

The workforce at by way of the noise has just lately expanded to Jack will proceed as director there in addition to being inventive director at Cheltenham, mentioning that historically the pageant has by no means been run by a full-time individual.

Metropolis of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Cheltenham City Corridor – Cheltenham Music Pageant 2023

He’s happy with the overarching really feel of the pageant and the general stability of various strands, and he worries that he would possibly go too far down a specific rabbit gap. This yr, he feels, there’s a stability between high-level music efficiency, new and fascinating programmes, and left-field occasions, in addition to 4 completely different orchestras doing 4 completely different programmes:There are additionally two important commissions, Deborah Pritchard‘s Octet which the Britten Sinfonia are taking part in with Mendelssohn’s Octet on the opening live performance, and Anna Semple’s work for the closing live performance. That is spectacular within the present local weather, because the pageant has no funding companions for these commissions.

He sees this yr’s pageant as a superb step within the longer-term plan in the direction of the place he wish to be in 5 years. He desires the pageant to thrive and develop, not simply in dimension however in confidence, in order that they will take inventive dangers while taking the viewers with them, to create the UK’s house of composing and commissioning.

On the similar time, he desires to show how broad a classical pageant might be, and he feels that one of the simplest ways to do that is to have as broad a church as attainable, so it isn’t both or. This yr, there’s Kora participant Seckou Keita, not as a substitute of classical repertoire however in addition to. He desires to point out that the pageant is open-minded, open to all and may embody occasions like this which generally is a method in for individuals. He factors out that by way of the noise presents jazz occasions, however their core remains to be classical music. He desires to recover from the sensation that as quickly as a pageant consists of non-classical music then it’s now not critical.

He feels that it’ll take 5 years earlier than the pageant returns to the importance and scale that it had earlier than COVID. They want huge audiences and large ticket gross sales to have the ability to succeed, and this yr’s ticket gross sales are up drastically. To afford huge names, they want individuals to come back to the pageant and this takes years, however this yr is an enormous step in the appropriate route.

Jack Bazalgette being filmed for BBC Proms

The pageant is fortunate to have a big neighborhood of established viewers members, many reside inside a 20-minute drive of Cheltenham and have been coming for many years, they care deeply in regards to the pageant and supply deep roots of help. He hopes to develop the variety of guests to the pageant. Cheltenham is a little bit of a vacation metropolis, a fantastic place to spend a number of days. The intention is to draw cultural holidaymakers. However to get them they should justify the go to, to have sufficient occasions which can be a draw, and sufficient live shows to make a visit worthwhile. The pageant might be doing surveys this yr, to search out out extra.

Jack’s ultimate level is that the music pageant may reap the benefits of being a part of a household. The opposite Cheltenham festivals are large – the jazz, science, and literature festivals are an enormous a part of the cultural lifetime of the town.