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Presteigne's composer in residence was Robin Holloway (born 1943, Leamington Spa), celebrating his sixtieth birthday with a season of special events, including Philharmonia Music of Today (9 October 2003), Manchester Resonances (16-18 October) and the Cambridge Festival (14-20 November). A former chorister at St Paul's Cathedral and a teenage student of Alexander Goehr, he has been a lecturer in music at Cambridge University since 1975. Presteigne audiences had several opportunities to experience Holloway the lecturer in action, both on his own -- especially in a talk about nostalgia and music looking back at the past -- and in conversation with other musicians.

There were also, of course, many interesting performances of Holloway's music -- the Suite for Alto Saxophone (Sarah Field) exploring Holloway's fascination with monody, a powerful Sonata for Solo Cello Op 91 (Alice Neary), providing an exercise in concentration for composer, performer and audience, the lyrical and late Romantic-sounding Ode, Op 45 (George Vass and the Festival Orchestra), a light, delicate and uplifting Serenade in G Op 64b (Raphael Ensemble), the short anthem Since I Believe, setting a poem by Robert Bridges (Peter Broadbent and the Joyful Company of Singers) and the astringent beauty of Romanza for violin (Katharine Gowers) and orchestra Op 31, all enabling concert-goers to build up a picture of a composer whose contemporary music is surprisingly accessible and steeped in the music of the past.

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