How it all came together perfectly for the Petworth Festival

Hopes, original plans and final programme are looking remarkably similar in a hugely encouraging year for the Petworth Festival.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. One of the

00:08great pleasures of the year to speak to Stuart Collins, Artistic Director of the Petworth

00:13Festival. And goodness, this does come around extraordinarily quickly. But it's going to

00:17be a particularly special one this year, isn't it? Because you were saying you have all sorts

00:22of intentions and sometimes things don't necessarily come off. But this year, just about all the

00:27little boats that you floated has come back, hasn't it? And you've got the programme that

00:31you were looking for. Yeah, I hope it doesn't sound terribly smug. But essentially, you kind

00:38of have a wish list when you sit down to plan these things. And sort of the way things work

00:44is you manage to get sort of 70% of your wish list in a good year. And to be perfectly honest,

00:50this year, I wouldn't say it's 100%. But if it's less than 90%, I'd be very surprised.

00:55We put together the sort of the things that make the perfect balance for the Petworth Festival

01:0218 months out. And when it comes together, as it does this year, you do actually feel

01:09rather pleased and just hope that it's going to do what you think it's going to do. Because

01:14it's sort of, if there's, if Petworth Festival has any kind of reputation, it's for the variety

01:22and quality of things that we do. But everyone loves the range. And I'm delighted that that

01:29range is there in full part this year.

01:32Absolutely. And you are far too modest to say it yourself. So I can say it, I think the

01:36fact that all your little hopes and invitations were realised does reflect the standing of the

01:42festival, doesn't it? Well, yes, I have to agree that the people we're working with are very much from

01:50the top drawer, you know, in all the various genres, whether it be the top jazz musicians, classical

01:56musicians, world musicians, folk musicians, comedians, whatever, they're all the top agents. And, you know,

02:03because of our track record over the years, you know, when we phone up, they don't say the Petworth

02:09what, they say, Oh, yeah, hi, Stuart, you know, which is, which is really nice. And, you know,

02:13it's gratifying when that happens, even more gratifying when, when they say, Yes, the artist

02:19you're looking for is available. And yes, they will pay the fee, they will accept the fee that's on offer.

02:25Fantastic. But it's also about bringing the changes, isn't it? You can't just keep repeating successes and

02:31formulae. This year is interesting, you've got your first ever countertenor at the Petworth Festival.

02:36That's something, isn't it? Well, you're so right. I mean, what I hate to be is predictable. It's

02:45always the duty of a festival, I think, to sort of, obviously, to be recognisable to its, the people

02:50who go to it, you know, this is the thing we like going to, but always, to bring the changes

02:57where possible. And yeah, it's interesting, in all the years I've been booking festivals and

03:02being, being an artistic director, I don't think I've ever actually engaged a countertenor in a solo

03:09capacity. And in Yeston Davis, we've really got one of the, the finest of his, of his voice. I mean,

03:18whether it be in the opera world, whether it be in just the general choral and world recording world,

03:24but he, he has so many quotes after his name saying, this person has a voice to die for,

03:31you've got to hear him. And it's, it's really, really nice. And as I say, it's, it's a first for us.

03:36And he, you know, his, his appearance in our St. Mary's Church, which has such an amazing acoustic,

03:44has got to be something to look forward to. Yeah.

03:46Absolutely. And that's just one of 42 events. It really is a fabulous looking program. It's the

03:52Petworth Summer Festival running from July the 17th to August the 2nd. Congratulations,

03:58Joe. I'm putting together something that looks so brilliant. It looks great. Thank you.