10 quirky facts about Budleigh Music Festival

Budleigh Music Festival, this year running from 28 June - 7 July, has developed a reputation for bringing world class musicians to the East Devon seaside town and this year is no exception, with internationally acclaimed artists such as mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor set to wow audiences. 6 July will see the BBC Big Band raise the roof of St Peter’s Church in a celebration of classics and jazz, with special guest appearance by singer Elaine Delmar. The Festival ends on 7 July with a special family concert, in partnership with Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival, bringing Michael Morpurgo and cellist Clare O’Connell together in his version of The Carnival of the Animals. But what about the history of the festival its quirky history?

From an organist who used his feet to play the organ, to a gaggle of musicians going skinny dipping, there’s a lot more to Budleigh Music Festival than meets the eye, writes Sue McQueenie.

1. Cellist Sheku Kanneh Mason was booked to appear at the 2019 Budleigh Music Festival before he became famous for playing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle in November 2018. Following the 19-year-old’s performance of Ave Maria in St George’s Chapel, the demand for tickets caused some rapid reorganisation to move his performance to a larger venue which sold out virtually overnight. Sheku must have given the Festival great feedback as his sister Jeneba has appeared twice in recent years.

2. The event started life as the Budleigh Salterton Festival in 2005, when visionaries Roger and Brenda Bowen founded an annual arts festival in this small seaside town. It was originally a mixed genre programme - classical, jazz, food, walks, with other specialist festivals growing out of it over time. Now the town has two highly regarded festivals – Music and Literary – both of which are enthusiastically supported by teams of volunteers, festival friends and the local business community.

3.Local organist Bob Millington, who was former Head of Music at Sidmouth College, once performed an organ recital just using his feet.

4. In 2011, a pianist booked to perform at the festival was taken ill in South America 48 hours before he was due to perform. Then Artistic Director, Nicky Marshall, was able to find a replacement, world famous Alexandra Dariescu, who had decided not to accompany her husband on a business trip to New York and made her way to Budleigh Salterton instead.

5.This year festival-goers will hear the music of the kora – played by Senagalese musician Seckou Keita. The kora is a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa which combines features of the lute and harp. It typically has 21 strings, played by plucking with the fingers. Tunings of the instrument vary according to where in Africa is it being played, but Seckou is unique in that he brings those tunings together, creating wonderful music with this ancient instrument, which dates back to the 13th century Mali Empire of Sunjata Keita, from whom he is descended.

6. The late Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, creator not only of jazz and classical pieces but also of film scores for box-office hits like Far from the Madding Crowd and Four Weddings and a Funeral grew up Budleigh Salterton and performed at what was then Budleigh Jazz Festival – later to become Budleigh Music Festival - in 2010. He was president of the Jazz Festival and his works have been performed in Budleigh many times over the years. This year is no exception – Dame Sarah Connolly will perform one of his works on 2 July. 

7. Inclusivity is central to Budleigh Music Festival. This year, three performances will be interpreted into British Sign Language – those by Dame Sarah Connolly, The Carnival of the Animals which features author Michael Morpurgo and cellist Clare O’Connell, and Bethany Partridge, who began her singing career as a chorister at Exeter Cathedral.

8.Budleigh Salterton is famous for its Christmas Day swim, which sees hundreds of people plunge into the water every year. But did you know that one year a group of visiting musicians, who hadn’t brought their costumes, couldn’t resist a dip in the ocean and ended up skinny dipping!

9.The Festival’s Artistic Director is Jason Thornton, who is also Musical Director of Bath Philharmonia. He is passionate about providing opportunities for young people who may not otherwise be able to access classical music, and has created an orchestra made up of young carers from across the south west. Through his programme, more than 1,500 young carers from across the region have had the opportunity to co-create and perform their own music since 2009.

10.St Peter’s Church in Budleigh Salterton provides a wonderful acoustic setting for Festival performances, with the majority of artists appearing there. The original design of the Church, which was built in 1893, included a tower with a spire to be erected to a height of 140 feet but this was never built. The total cost of the building in 1893 was £10,000.

www.budleighmusicfestival.co.uk