+44 (0)1386 849018 Web: For two decades the festival has provided the soundtrack to a Cotswold Spring, and for anniversary year, medieval St James’ Church welcomes returning friends such as Florilegium, cellist Steven Isserlis and festival president Paul Lewis. Chipping Campden FestivalĬhipping Campden, 7-21 May Tel. Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring gets the Big Top treatment from Circa the Marian Consort pairs Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien with a new work by David Fennessy and under Ilan Volkov the Festival Chorus and Philharmonia Orchestra weigh anchor on Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony and Kaija Saariaho’s Oltra mar. Over 150 events muster some 10 commissions, plus five world and UK premieres. Brighton certainly rebuilds with a vengeance.

This year the mantle falls on writer-architect Marwa Al-Sabouni and site-specific theatre artist Tristan Sharps – their theme, ‘Rebuilding’.

May Brighton Festivalīrighton, 7-29 May Tel: +44 (0)1273 709709 Web: Sculptor Anish Kapoor was the first guest director of the festival back in 2009, and successors have included Laurie Anderson and Ali Smith. There are new works by Jonathan Dove and Deborah Pritchard, ‘SongPath’ walking trails and protest songs by the likes of Joni Mitchell to ring the changes on more mainstream fare such as Mahler from soprano Dorothea Röschmann and Schubert’s Schwanengesang performed by tenor Ian Bostridge with Imogen Cooper. +44 (0)1 Web: ‘Song Illuminated’ is the strapline under which Leeds Lieder returns to the handsomely refurbished Howard Assembly Room. There are world premieres, too, of works by Erkki-Sven Tüür and Mica Levi.

But the waiting is over as string ensembles representing Scotland, Germany, Norway and Estonia build bridges across Glasgow’s cafes, warehouses and pavements! The Scottish Ensemble, Trondheim Soloists, Ensemble Resonanz and PLMF Music Trust join forces on opening night for a pan-European celebration in the Barrowland Ballroom, with composers ranging from Hildegard of Bingen to Jonny Greenwood. Glasgow, 21-24 April Web: The cancellation of last year’s debut edition was a blow.

In classical mood a night at the opera