Herbert Sumsion host cities, along with Worcester and Hereford, of the Three Choirs Festival, an annual festival of choral emphasis first held in the early 18th century. Sumsion would later write of his musically formative experiences at the cathedral: ‘Quite soon after my entry into the choir I was singing with the [Three Choirs] Festival Chorus and gradually absorbing the choral music of the great classical composers and the contemporary writers, of whom the giant was certainly Elgar.' When Sumsion’s treble voice broke at age 15, he became an ‘articled pupil’ to Brewer, a designation connoting a three-year apprenticeship in organ, choral
Worcester Music Festival, Massachusetts for thirteen years beginning in 1944, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was the resident orchestra from 1958 to 1974. In 1976, the festival changed from a week-long series of performances to a season-long series. In 1996, the Worcester County Music Association merged with the International Artists Series to form Music Worcester, Inc., which has organized the festival since then, incorporating the International Artists Series and the Mass Jazz Festival into the festival. Worcester Music Festival, Massachusetts Worcester Music Festival is a classical music festival held in Worcester, Massachusetts since 1858, and it is claimed to be the oldest music festival