Founded in 1982 in the former county town of Radnorshire, the Presteigne Festival has become a significant part of the Welsh cultural calendar and is internationally renowned for its commissioning of new works, support of living composers and with a long tradition for the encouragement of young artists. The festival’s orchestra, conducted by Artistic Director George Vass, explores a selection of the many new works premiered by the festival in this volume of recent music for string orchestra, including the collaborative Variations on "Lovely Joan" (composers Thomas Hyde, Adrian Williams, David Matthews, Michael Berkeley, Christopher Gunning, Huw Watkins, Sally Beamish and Matthew Taylor), Martin Butler's Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Strings performed by Amy Dickson or Joe Duddell's Mnemonic for flute, harp and strings and Beginnings (Three Early Songs), Op. 54, and Divertimento, Op. 51, by Hugh Wood. © Resonus Classics