Busy classical programme at this year's Brighton Festival

Alongside brand new and well-loved classical compositions, Iqbal’s love of folk music as a mode of storytelling can be seen across the programme.

Spokeswoman Hayley Willis explains: “On May 26, the sensational pianist Yuja Wang joins London Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Magnus Lindberg’s new Piano Concerto No 3, led by pioneering French conductor Francois-Xavier Roth. Written especially for Wang, the piece is a huge three-movement work of almost operatic dimensions and drama, with two flamboyant cadenzas designed to showcase the soloist’s virtuosity. To end the concert, Beethoven’s profound love of the countryside is expressed in a performance of the evergreen Pastoral Symphony.

“World leading ensemble Britten Sinfonia perform Vaughan Williams’s The Lark Ascending, part elegy for the culture of folksong-singing lost to the Great War and part tribute to the English pastoral tradition, on May 17. The concert features the Brighton Festival Chorus, led by Adam Hickox, son of renowned conductor Richard Hickox, and includes a world premiere of new work from British composer Joseph Phibbs and Brighton-born Frank Bridge’s folk-inflected lament for Shakespeare’s Ophelia alongside Vaughan Williams’ desperate plea for peace, Dona nobis pacem.

“Two of the UK’s finest recitalists, tenor Mark Padmore and baritone Roderick Williams, join actors Rory Kinnear and Pandora Colin and peerless pianist Julius Drake on May 25, for a programme of words and music inspired by Shakespeare’s Seven Ages of Man. The performance will also include poetry by Donne, Yeats and Carol Ann Duffy, with music from Purcell and Schubert and Copland and Barber, via Frank Bridge and Benjamin Britten.

“On May 13, virtuoso a capella choral group Tenebrae sing Joby Talbot’s dazzlingly polystylistic Path of Miracles. A vocal tour de force, the piece evokes both the physical challenges of the pilgrims’ path to Santiago de Compostela and the spiritual rewards upon arrival at St James’s shrine.

“Brighton & East Sussex Youth Orchestra perform a series of folk and dance-inspired pieces on May 15, in a concert put together with mentoring support from members of the London Symphony Orchestra. There will also be a series of hour-long concerts at venues across the city celebrate classical music stars of the future from around the world. Performances include award-winning Scottish pianist and composer Yuanfan Yang, British-Indian cellist Meera Priyanka Raja and French-Korean violinist Irene Duval. Also coming up is All Sounds at All Saints (May 9-12).”