Deal Festival appoints Luke Styles as artistic director

Deal Music and Arts (DMA) has announced that bass Matthew Rose will withdraw from the artistic directorship of the Deal Festival due to ill health. He will be replaced by composer Luke Styles with immediate effect.

Rose’s appointment was announced in September and he took on the position in early October. However, as he is now unable to continue the role, Styles has stepped in to begin planning next year’s festival, which will mark five decades of DMA.

Christopher Cook, the DMA’s chair of the trustees, said: ‘We are delighted that Luke will be joining us as the latest in a line of distinguished composers who have led the festival since its inception four decades ago. Luke brings an impressive record of creating collaborative and multi-disciplinary works with him; and a deep commitment to the point where tradition and innovation intersect, which is exactly what an arts festival should be exploring.’

The British-Australian composer’s experience includes attendance on Aldeburgh’s Jerwood Opera Writing Programme as well as three years spent as Glyndebourne’s first young composer in residence. and holding the role of first composer in residence at London’s Foundling Museum since Handel. His most recent oratorio, Voices of Power, premiered at Hereford Cathedral as part of this year’s Three Choirs Festival earlier this year. Styles extensive output also includes operas Ned Kelly and Awakening Shadow as well as saxophone concerto Tracks in the Orbit.

Scheduled to take place from 7 to 16 July 2023, Deal Festival will invite musicians from around the world to East Kent for over a week of performances and events in a wide range of venues across the area including historic castles, art galleries, theatres and ancient churches.

Luke Styles said: ‘I am thrilled to be appointed and am looking forward to drawing together broad communities to experience the Deal Festival and all that Deal Music and Arts can offer. I am dedicated to making the experience of music and the arts a welcoming and inclusive one, that champions excellence and innovation.’