Three Choirs Festival launches 2023 programme for Gloucester

The Three Choirs Festival, taking place in and around Gloucester between 22 and 29 July, has launched its innovative programme for 2023.

The Three Choirs Festival is a week-long programme of world-class music making, featuring choral and orchestral concerts, solo and chamber music recitals, talks, cathedral services, theatre, exhibitions, and walks, rotating each summer between the English cathedral cities of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester. This year, Three Choirs celebrates its 295th festival at Gloucester Cathedral with 21 premieres and music by almost 50 living composers included in a programme of over 60 events.

Familiar masterpieces will showcase alongside newer works from Gloucestershire composers, with large-scale choral-orchestral concerts, solo recitals, chamber concerts and family events making up just part of this wide-ranging celebration of music. The Festival Village, situated on College Green just outside Gloucester Cathedral, will offer the opportunity to relax in between events, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy free live entertainment on the community bandstand.

New for this year, the Three Choirs Festival Voices will provide more local singers with the opportunity to take part in the festival, and will be performing with the Philharmonia Orchestra, who have held a residency at the festival since 2012.

Chief Executive Alexis Paterson said: “I’m thrilled to see the festival returning to Gloucester with such scale, breadth and ambition. There’s simply nothing else in our region that delivers this distinctive music-making year after year, and it’s such a magnificent feast for the eyes and ears. With free open rehearsals, ticket offers for families and young people, and volunteering opportunities to get behind the scenes, there’s rarely a better chance to discover such a wonderful breadth of music on your doorstep.”

Artistic Director Adrian Partington said: “The 2023 Gloucester Three Choirs Festival is all about innovation. Most importantly, a new ‘all-comers’ chorus has been established which will make its debut during the week; there will be a new Opening Celebration in the City, to try and engage with people who would not normally come to the festival; and there will be lots of new music performed during the week, much of it by female composers, including all three of this year’s festival commissions.”

Booking and full programme details can be found at 3choirs.org. Tickets for members are now on sale from with general booking opening from 26 April. There are also opportunities for singers aged 14 to 25 to sign up for the festival’s Youth Choir, and volunteer positions across a range of roles available to those aged 16 and above.