David Garrick Virtue and Morality" (Edinburgh 1797). At the age of 19, Garrick, who had been educated at Lichfield Grammar School, enrolled in Samuel Johnson's Edial Hall School. Garrick showed an enthusiasm for the theatre very early on and he appeared in a school production around this time in the role of Sergeant Kite in George Farquhar's "The Recruiting Officer". After Johnson's school was closed, he and Garrick, now friends, travelled to London together to seek their fortunes. Upon his arrival in 1737, Garrick and his brother became partners in a wine business with operations in both London and Lichfield with David
The Lichfield Festival was succeeded in Lichfield by Richard Hawley, previously orchestra manager with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO). Philip Glass performed a rare solo piano recital in 2007, while virtuoso double bass player François Rabbath made an extremely rare visit to England to perform at Lichfield in 2006, alongside rising British jazz star Gwilym Simcock, who was an artist-in-residence in the same year. Simcock's 2006 residency also included the first ever non-London performance of the Gwilym Simcock Big Band and a major big band commission entitled The Lichfield Suite, which was subsequently programmed by the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, broadcast on