Gregory Porter is to become Artistic Curator of the Cheltenham Jazz Festival for the next three years. Amongst other things, this will see him performing a headline show on Saturday, May 4 at the 2019 event, as well as curating a series of artists for the festival and working in collaboration with guest artists.
Sayeth Gregory of his new position: “Cheltenham Jazz Festival has an international reputation for bringing the very best artists together and producing unique shows. I’m very excited to be working with theFestivalteam to help create this extraordinary artistic village.”
Jamie Cullum, who has filled the role since 2010, will now slide across to Associate Curator.
Early headliners who will appear at the2019 Festivalfrom May 1-6 include Brazilian bossa legend Sergio Mendes, who wil play the Big Top on Saturday, May 4, saxophonist Joshua Redman [with drummer Gregory Hutchinson and bassist Reuben Rogers], and boundary-crossing trio The Bad Plus, who will make their first visit to Cheltenham on Sunday, May 5, with a new pianist Orrin Evans.
This year the Henry Weston Big Top capacity will increase by 50% to 2,000 seats, enabling more people to enjoy the most popular events and offering better sightlines to the stage. The Free Stage will move to a new position within the Festival Village on Montpellier Gardens to ensure that the crowds who gather to see the top local and national talent for free over the Bank Holiday weekend have more space.
Tickets will go on sale to Cheltenham Festivals Members from 1pm on November 27 and to the general public at 1pm on November 29.Visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.com/jazz
