New era begins as new artistic directors offer Petworth concert

The point is that after the 2026 festival, they will be taking over as the festival’s co-artistic directors with current artistic director Stewart Collins stepping down.

They will set the ball rolling with a special Welcome Concert at this year’s festival on Tuesday, July 28 at 7.30pm at St Mary’s Church, Petworth, with tickets available on https://petworthfestival.org.uk/charles-owen-lizzie-ball.

Charles will offer Chopin – Ballade no 1 in G minor, op. 23; Janáček – In the Mists; and Schubert – Wanderer Fantasie, D 760 in the first half. After the interval Lizzie Ball’s Classical Kicks Ensemble will offer a programme to include: Piazzolla’s Libertango, Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro, music by Ravel, de Falla and Monti, Bartok’s Six Roumanian Folk Dances and a medley of traditional bluegrass.

“I have played the Petworth Festival a few times before,” says Lizzie. “And I have known Stewart Collins for a long time through the various festivals he has looked after. I even did a festival for him in Barbados! He is a great colleague to have and someone that I really look up to.

“Petworth is great. There is such a variety of music but it's also the hospitality and the environment. All the venues are great but the most important thing is that the supporters and crowds are super enthusiastic and super lovely. I'm really looking forward to it.

“And I have known Charles for a long time as well. Mostly I think there is a sense that Charles and I bring a particular combination from different sides of the music world and that we both have a great pedigree for performing interesting things and creating interesting new concepts. Stewart is such a one-off that it is really hard to replace him with just one person but also I think it's a question of the fact that times change. Festival models have to be revisited and reworked. With the funding cuts, festivals have to be really resourceful and entrepreneurial, and I'm just so thrilled to be able to share a vision with Charles and to be able to share that vision with the board.

“It's a great combination with Charles. He brings that element of the classical world. I'm in that classical world too but I also work in other genres as well. We both have wide-reaching contacts and we are both in a good position to share. I have a good wide-ranging knowledge across all genres and Charles is in a really good position to cast a really helpful eye over what I might suggest. He totally gets the vibe of what I do, and I can work with him on his ideas. It's a shared vision and a vision that we share with the board.” And that’s particularly important as the festival heads to its 50th anniversary in just a few years’ time: “A big anniversary is something you want to have a big impact so there is a great sense of positive anticipation, and we are starting to think about some ideas.”