We’re supporting Deal Music & Arts again this year by renewing our corporate sponsorship of the summer festival.
Organisers have lined up 50 events which are taking place over 10 days between July 7-16 and this year the festival will celebrate the 80th birthday of composer David Matthews – artistic director of Deal Festival from 1989 to 2003.
This year’s festival also sees the debut of its new artistic director, composer Luke Styles, who was the first Glyndebourne Young Composer in Residence and the first composer in residence at the Foundling Museum since Handel.
He said: “I am thrilled to be appointed and am looking forward to drawing together broad communities to experience the Deal Festival and all that Deal Music & Arts can offer. I am dedicated to making the experience of music and the arts a welcoming and inclusive one, that champions excellence and innovation.”
Ray Charles tribute
This year, as part of their national tour, the festival is presenting the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in a tribute to Ray Charles, featuring the Strictly Come Dancing singer Tommy Blaize.
A new Literary Festival which runs as part of Festival 2023 has been introduced and will be curated by Gavin Esler and Christopher Cook, chairman of the festival’s trustees, in partnership with Deal Book Shop. Speakers will include Philippa Gregory, one of the world’s foremost historical novelists, whose works include The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen, as well as Polly Toynbee and newspaper columnist Simon Heffer.
Innovation
There’ll be a range of music, theatre and arts, including a core of classical music from leading chamber ensembles, singers and orchestras, featuring composers from the baroque through to living composers, with more details about the programme being announced nearer the time.
Mark Scutchings, managing director of Hearbase, said: “Being part of Deal Music & Arts is about supporting an important cultural festival that is part of the community. As a local business we are keen to be able to support the creativity, innovation and the commitment to the community that is at the heart of this event.”
Find out more about Deal Music & Arts here.
