I'm so delighted you've chosen to focus on Ralph Vaughan Williams whose music for me epitomizes a pastoral and gentle England that was very real and not just the yearning of nostalgia. Vaughan Williams's England is no longer easy to find but extremely enriching for young and old alike.

Benjamin Luxon CBE

With its formidable array of expert performers and speakers this festival gives an ideal opportunity to get under the skin of this great and often undervalued composer. The combination of off-the-beaten-track works with old favourites looks irresistible.

Iain Burnside

This ambitious and exciting Festival is the creation of Howard Wong and of my esteemed predecessor, Dr Michael Downes (now Director of Music at St Andrew’s University), and I am delighted to have been able to help carry through the project to fruition. We are honoured to welcome such distinguished performers and speakers to Fitzwilliam, and now look forward to establishing an annual autumn music festival here, which will in 2009 feature the music of another great English composer, Henry Purcell.

Francis Knights (Director of Music, Fitzwilliam College)

Let me extend to you a warm welcome from Fitzwilliam College, and especially from the students. It is a great pleasure for us to be able to take part in such an event, celebrating one of our university’s most famous musical alumni. For Fitzwilliam College Music Society it is a special opportunity to share some of the musical activities, both professional and amateur, that the college has fostered over many years. Not only do we hope that this will be a weekend of great music making, but also one of insight. To be joined by both great performers and renowned speakers, allows us to put in perspective the music that we will hear, and understand better the life of one of England’s finest composers. Personally, the rich mix of music and talks that are on offer, as well as the chance to perform over the weekend, is an opportunity that one rarely is exposed to, and I hope that as a musician I will benefit from it immensely.

It is thus fitting that as we approach the 800th Anniversary of the University of Cambridge next year, we combine two things, music and scholarship, to enrich and enliven our perspectives of a composer who is sometimes overlooked. I hope that you enjoy the weekend as much as I know we will, and if there is anything that we can do to enhance your experience, don’t hesitate to ask.

Fergus Macleod (Junior President, Fitzwilliam College Music Society)