Nova Classical Music Festival

New classical music festival in Clay Country

Young musicians bringing classical music home to Wheal Martyn…

Live music is coming back to St Austell on 6th and 7th August 2021: after a year of making do with online performances, a brand new classical music festival, Nova, will host young musicians and live audiences in the real world, at the wonderful Wheal Martyn Museum in St Austell…

Joseph Barker, the artistic director and founder, has teamed up with 4 fellow Cornish musicians, now in their first year at London and Birmingham conservatoires, to bring a fantastic, varied programme over 2 nights to entertain locals and holiday-makers alike.

With pre-concert drinks and snacks on the pretty clematis-strewn terrace, and beautiful Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Mozart movements played by a variety of ensembles in the lovely glass entry area of the museum, it’s the perfect, chilled summer evening out; an antidote to everything we’ve been missing over this last dreadful year.

The festival is named Nova after the term for a new star, representing not only its aim to celebrate young musicians on the cusp of their careers, but also to give them performance experience, provide fresh concerts for local audiences and to encourage new musicians right from scratch, to encourage local kids to enjoy and get into music.

Free workshops and interactive performances will be on offer the week before in St Austell town centre (with help from a Feast grant) for children, who are beginning to learn their instruments, or who don’t know they want to play an instrument yet!

“I decided I wanted to play the cello when I was 7 after Karen Frost invited a string quartet to come into our school to play for us at St Mewan. I don’t think I would have thought of it without that” says Joseph “if we can offer that lightbulb moment to even just one child, it’d all be worth it”.

Go to www.novalclassicalfestival.com for more info and ticket sales: adults £15 in advance, under 25s £6