Cheltenham Music Festival appoints new Artistic Director

JACK BAZALGETTE has been appointed Artistic Director of Cheltenham Music Festival for the 2025 season onwards.

Bazalgette is is a conductor, singer, and animateur. He has worked as chorusmaster with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, conducted the Malcolm Street Orchestra, and was Senior Conductor of the Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra. 

He is also the co-founder and director of the classical music promotions company, through the noise, which has programmed over 130 classical music concerts since 2020, offering "a vision for the future of live classical music".   

Bazalgette has been appointed on a three-year basis. His first programme, which will be announced in March 2025, will mark the festival's 80th year.

Commenting on his new role, Bazalgette said the festival had “an astonishing history" of commissioning new works and "showcasing the world's most talented musicians", adding that its year-round work with young people and schools is "crucial to introducing diverse audiences to the joy of classical music".

He continued: "As Cheltenham’s Artistic Director, I will be continuing this work while also seeking to expand its audiences – and our understandings of what live classical music can and should be in the twenty-first century."