NO less than six world premiere music performances will be staged at this year’s Harwich Festival of the Arts.

On the opening night of Wednesday June 25 Gregory Rose will conduct the 111 cyclists performing Kagel’s Eine Brise at the opening ceremony before showcasing two of his own works.

The spectators of the initial spectacle will also be treated to his Heaven Haven procession played on pipe and drum.

The next night The Gaillard Ensemble will be perform Five Miniatures by Joshua Borin which won a competition they set up to celebrate two decades as a group.

Later, festival director Diana Burrell’s Sing Friends Sing to the Honour of the Lord commissioned by Opus Anglicanum will celebrate the charismatic Saint Dunstan which juxtaposes feelings of fear and joy expertly.

Pianist Nathan Williamson will debut his own work, Variations on a Theme of Cole Porter at a recital in Saint Nicholas church.

Finally the Harwich Festival’s commissioned piece called Pretty Stories by Toby Young will be performed for the first time. 

Artistic director Diana Burrell said: “I am particularly excited about the new music because my day job is as a composer so it is my particular interest."

For full listings and tickets go to harwichfestival.co.uk or visit the festival’s pop-up shop in Dovercourt High Street.