Glasgow Cathedral Festival 2024 Offers Audiences the Chance to Reconsider the Familiar

19 to 22 September 2024. Tickets and more at gcfestival.com

  • Glasgow Cathedral Festival has launched its eighth season - taking place from 19 to 22 September 2024, and featuring a diverse programme of live music, film, art, multi-media collaborations, talks and tours in the dramatic setting of Glasgow’s oldest building
  • The theme underpinning this year’s festival is reconsider, rediscover, reimagine, with a lineup that encourages audiences to expand their imaginations, explore beneath the surface and refresh their senses
  • From chamber music united with art and fashion to twilight jazz in the cloistered crypt, and immersive cinema to family-friendly folk sessions, the GCF2024 programme reaffirms the festival’s commitment to connecting meaningfully with a wide variety of audiences
  • In order to welcome the broadest possible audience, GCF is offering several free tours and talks, and all tickets for the 2024 festival will be sold at £17 or less – with many priced at £10 or under. Discounts will also be offered to students and those registered unemployed. Year round, GCF’s work extends beyond the cathedral, with an ongoing education programme (next due to take place in 2025) that unites communities and young people across the local area.

Images of the artists performing at Glasgow Cathedral Festival 2024. On the top row from left to right: Two woman with long dark hair, one in a patterned top and one in a dark teal shirt - this is Catriona Price and Esther Swift of Twelfth Day. A man in a suit and tie passionately playing the saxophone - this is Tommy Smith. A black and white professional photo of a woman with her hair in an elegant chignon and wearing an off the shoulder black top and earrings. This is Scottish mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier. On the bottom row from left to right: A woman with short hair and dresses in a blue patterned formal blazer standing next to a pipe organ. This is Katherine Dienes Williams. A black and white stylised photo of a woman with dark hair and a dark top. This is Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea. A woman wearing a white dress with short black hair, standing in a bright and airy room on a tiled floor before a large window playing the flute. This is a member of the Octandre ensemble. A man in a suit and tie (world-renowned organist Donald MacKenzie) sitting on the green 1920s organ of the Odeon Cinema in Leicester Square.

Artists performing at Glasgow Cathedral Festival 2024. On the top row from left to right: Catriona Price and Esther Swift of Twelfth Day, images courtesy of the artists. Saxophonist Tommy Smith, image by Derek Clark. Scottish mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier, image courtesy of the artist. On the bottom row from left to right: Katherine Dienes Williams, image courtesy of the artist. Colombian-American soprano Stephanie Lamprea, image by George Kampolis. A member of the Octandre ensemble, image courtesy of the artist. World-renowned organist Donald MacKenzie.

Filling the city’s medieval cathedral with changing light and ephemeral sound, Glasgow Cathedral Festival 2024 takes place from 19 to 22 September 2024.

This year’s programme comprises a host of performances, tours and talks from Scottish and international artists, united under the theme reconsider, rediscover, reimagine. Responding to resoundingly positive reactions from audiences and artists alike to the unique, site-specific experiences GCF has offered in recent seasons, this year’s audiences are invited to revisit the familiar—shielded from outside reality by the thick stone walls of the ancient cathedral as they explore hidden layers and messages through a programme of music, film, art and multi-media collaboration.

Opening GCF2024, Scottish mezzo-soprano Rowan Hellier’s She Represents sees fashion and song intersect in a lieder recital like no other. Exploring the role of symbolism and sensuality in the modern female identity, Hellier is joined by American pianist Jonathan Ware for a programme featuring Rita Strohl, Kurt Weill and Cathy Berberian, with outfits created by designer Rebekka Dornhege Reyes.

Silent film has become a key fixture of GCF, with screenings in the vast cathedral quire selling out each season. With a new, even larger screen for 2024, the festival includes the American horror classic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920), with a live soundtrack from Odeon Leicester Square’s organist Donald MacKenzie.

Another protagonist trapped between two realms appears in Pierrot Lunaire, bringing to life the deranged clown of Giraud’s poetry. For this concert in Schoenberg’s 150th anniversary year, Hebrides Ensemble performs his iconic Pierrot setting alongside new musical perspectives from Helen Grime and Electra Perivolaris. Complementing this performance, an exhibition of 21 new paintings by Kirsty Matheson transforms the evening into a multi-sensory experience.

A further element of GCF’s multi-media lineup for 2024 is Nine Whales, Tiree—an installation presented in the lower church’s newly reopened Blacader Aisle. Reflecting upon recent whale strandings on Tiree, the work uses Gaelic poetry, music and cinematography to explore the unexpected effects of this sad event on the local community.

The cathedral’s cloistered crypt also presents two faces to the festival’s audiences. By day, it will host a refreshing, energetic performance of delicacy and drive, with fiddle/harp duo Twelfth Day presenting their unique blend of classical skill and folk roots—a performance aimed at families and those who want to push their boundaries gently, in a more comfortable atmosphere.

At night, however, the lower church takes on a dark and moody tone; a perfect setting for GCF’s ever-popular Twilight in the Crypt performances. This year, the series includes saxophone improvisations from Scottish jazz legend Tommy Smith, and Octandre Ensemble making their Scottish debut with time-space-sound-light - a reflective sequence of music by Christian Mason.

Alongside all of this, GCF’s ever-popular free tours return in 2024, expanding beyond the cathedral with a lineup that includes a tour of the necropolis, and which links up with the museum of Glasgow Royal Infirmary across the precinct, amongst other talks and special insights.

The festival ends with another family-friendly lunchtime event: a recital from organist Katherine Dienes-Williams, Director of Music at Guildford Cathedral, whose programme evokes everything from Hollywood glamour to Scottish folk songs - with a sighting of some penguins along the way!

In line with GCF’s ongoing commitment to accessibility, all of the festival’s 2024 performances are accessible, and arrangements will be made where possible for any access requirements relating to tours and talks. The festival offers reduced-price wheelchair seating (including a free companion ticket), and welcomes requests for BSL interpretation and a programme-reading service for all events.

Booking for the festival is now open.

Andrew Forbes, Artistic Director said: “Walking into Glasgow Cathedral takes you to the head of a story stretching back over nine centuries. These medieval stones have witnessed a huge variety of emotion, enduring through immense changes in our national and cultural history—and the textured spaces they enclose give us sanctuaries in which we can safely step outside our day-to-day lives. Framed and inspired by these surroundings, our GCF2024 programme draws together artists and events that encourage us to imagine what lies beyond first impressions. We hope you will join us for this exciting opportunity to rediscover the familiar.”

Alan Morrison, Head of Music at Creative Scotland said: “The ancient stone walls of Glasgow Cathedral have witnessed many extraordinary sights and sounds over the centuries, and this year’s festival is no exception. With support from The National Lottery through Creative Scotland, this historic setting is the perfect backdrop for a programme that spans past and present, as silent film rubs shoulders with contemporary music, poetry, visual art and fashion. It’s a great opportunity to encounter inspiring works by a range of artists and to discover more about the hidden corners of this wonderful building itself.”

Background

GLASGOW CATHEDRAL FESTIVAL 2024

Thursday 19 September

  • Event 1 She Represents | 7pm
  • Event 2 time-space-sound-light | 9pm

Sunday 22 September

  • Event 7 Katherine Dienes-Williams | 1pm

Friday 20 September

  • Event 3 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1920) | 7pm
  • Event 4 Tommy Smith | 9pm

Throughout the festival

  • Nine Whales, Tiree audiovisual installation tours & talks dates/times tbc

Saturday 21 September

  • Event 5 Twelfth Day | 1pm
  • Event 6 Pierrot Lunaire | 7pm

Glasgow Cathedral Festival is operated by the Society of Friends of Glasgow Cathedral. The Society of Friends is a charitable, non-religious organisation that oversees the care and preservation of the cathedral for posterity. It encourages both Glasgow residents and visitors to experience the unique architectural and historical legacy of the city’s oldest building, as well as supporting artistic activity in and around the cathedral. The public email address for GCF is [email protected]. 

Glasgow Cathedral Festival is grateful to our sponsors and supporters, including The National Lottery through Creative Scotland, the Russell Lang Trust, the Hugh Fraser Foundation, and many generous individual donors.

Creative Scotland is the public body that supports culture and creativity across all parts of Scotland, distributing funding provided by the Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Further information at creativescotland.com. Follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Learn more about the value of art and creativity in Scotland and join in at www.ourcreativevoice.scot.

Media contact

PR Contact: Rachel Thomas, Festival Manager – [email protected]