Dozens of international musicians will once again arrive in Merton for the International Wimbledon Music Festival in November.
Among the stars will be pianist Angela Hewitt playing Bach, The Brodsky Quartet playing Verdi, Wagner and Brahms and opera singer Sir John Tomlinson with David Owen Norris paying tribute to Michelangelo and Britten.
With preparations well under way Lauren May caught up with its Raynes Park founder and director, Anthony Wilkinson to find out what it’s all about.
LM: What first inspired you to set up the festival?
AW: I went to a summer music course at Dartington with a friend who had been artistic director of the London Chamber Music Society. He introduced me to many of the artists there that he had booked. Among them were the cellist Raphael Wallfisch and violist Rivka Golani, both of whom became friends, (both now artistic patrons of the Festival.) I booked them and several other great world-class musicians to help a local church festival, but the costs seemed too risky. I phoned artists and said June was not possible but were they free in November. They all said yes and really the festival was launched by default!
LM: How has the festival grown over the years?
AW: We began in 2009 with 13 events over ten days. This year we have 18 events over sixteen days, but the festival has grown in other ways. We have five major international festival partners - two in the USA, in Alaska touring Canada, in Switzerland, and Australia. We have already co-commissioned a major work now performed several times and premiered on three continents.
LM: What is it about the festival that keeps people coming back each year?
AW: The extraordinarily high quality of music making that is on offer year after year. Except for outstanding students from the Yehudi Menuhin School, or one of the elite Music Colleges, I book no artists for the festival other than international artists of world importance. Critics are now recognizing the exceptional quality of artists coming to Wimbledon, congratulating the festival for attracting consistently "high calibre artists to the suburbs".
LM: What will be this year’s highlights?
AW: Because the artists are all so exceptional every concert ranks as a ‘highlight’. The most recognizable ‘names’ would be the wonderful pianist Angela Hewitt, Covent Garden’s great bass Sir John Tomlinson, the Brodsky Quartet who sold out all their concerts two years ago are returning with arguably the greatest clarinet player in the world, Michael Collins. I am particularly pleased to bring Calefax, the extraordinary Dutch reed quintet, to the Festival; a rare group of woodwind players dedicated themselves only to Calefax, who for more than 25 years have given 100 concerts a year together. They rank, in my opinion, with the great reed quartets of the world.
LM: What is your favourite aspect of the festival?
AW: Creating new productions, discovering exceptional musicians, sometimes little known in the UK but major players in other territories - and eventually landing an artist that I have been after for several years.
LM: Who would be your dream act?
AW: You will have to wait to see!
International Wimbledon Music Festival; November 9 to 24; wimbledonmusicfestival.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here