Tree of Strings Festival begins with a simple idea: music feels most alive when the familiar sits happily alongside the unexpected. For Artistic Director Adrian Brendel, that sense of discovery is at the heart of the festival’s first edition.
“From the very beginning, Tree of Strings has been about bringing together traditions audiences already know with sounds, styles and ideas they might not,” Adrian says. “It’s about creating space for curiosity — for people to make their own connections and find pleasure in the threads that link composers, eras and musical languages.”
Rather than presenting music in neat boxes, the festival invites listeners to wander. Classical cornerstones appear next to contemporary works; improvisation slips between written scores; and influences from beyond the classical world are welcomed in without apology.
As Adrian puts it, “This dialogue between old and new isn’t about contrast for its own sake — it’s about how different musical voices enrich one another when they’re placed in thoughtful conversation.”
Context matters, too. The programmes are shaped by the musicians involved, the venues themselves and the particular feel of each moment. “We want everything to feel fresh, generous and alive,” says Adrian.
Tree of Strings also draws on a long lineage of adventurous programming. With more than two decades of experience from the much loved Plush Festival and beyond, the team is gently pushing at the edges of expectation. “We’re offering audiences something a little surprising, a little spiced — and deeply human.”
Looking outward as well as forward, the festival embraces young musicians, reconnects with the long history of improvisation, and aims to create events that become part of summer life in Abbotsbury.
Above all, Tree of Strings is open to everyone. “You don’t need specialist knowledge,” Adrian says. “Just curiosity and openness.”
Tree of Strings invites you to listen, connect and experience music as something genuinely shared.