2026 Festival Report by Stella Redburn
- 23 hours ago
- 2 min read
I am delighted to report that our 2026 festival was a great success for all involved. The chance to perform or contribute in front of a live audience and then receive professional feedback is appreciated by so many – young and old; individuals and groups; players, singers, speakers and composers.
In past years, there were many competitive music festivals, but due to lack of volunteers to run them, many of them have closed. We see that there is a great demand and a great need, so every year we rise to the challenge and present another Stratford & East London Music Festival. We have been running since 1882 and long may the festival thrive!
On 9 and 10 February, we welcomed well over 500 participants for our Choirs, Orchestras & Bands days at St Mary's Church in South Woodford. This included five orchestras, 12 school choirs and eight adult choirs. We certainly had a wonderful time of amazing music and one that all participants loved.
The main week of the festival followed, between 16 and 21 February, with enjoyable and sometimes breathtaking performances in every section. If you have not had the opportunity to come and hear the concerto class, or any of the recital classes, then you should try to come along next year.
This year, the prestigious Felix Marr Award was won by Lok Him (Duncan) Tsang, who also carried off the 11 – 18 Years Piano Recital prize and the Open Piano Recital Class.
The highlight of the festival for many people is our Young Musician of the Year competition, held on the last Saturday. Competition was fierce again this year and the standard of all the performers was outstanding, but the prize was carried off by Chloe Marler for her singing. Well done, Chloe!
There are many opportunities to take part in the festival – if you sing, why not consider entering a class? There are classes for all genres of singing, and there are also non-competitive classes.
Our piano classes are always bursting at the seams with eager entrants. Romantic, Classical, Baroque and Jazz - it’s all there. Also there are age-related classes and Grade classes.
Then, of course, there are all the opportunities for those who play instruments and those who play several different instruments! The Speech & Drama classes are always well worth attending and our new Composition discipline is continuing to go from strength to strength.
Thank you to those who have supported us by becoming a Friend of the Festival. It’s only £10 for the year and it gets you a free programme and free entry to all the classes. We do not get any funding for the festival - we run entirely on entry fees and donations. All our helpers, as I am sure you know, are volunteers who work tirelessly to promote the festival because they love it! We can always use more helpers on the ground during the festival so please consider giving us a day, or even half a day, of your time.
Stella Redburn
Festival Secretary