The Festival’s Artistic Director, Jason Thornton, in conversation with one the most controversial figures in classical music. Author and columnist Norman Lebrecht considers the future of the classical music industry and the arts in general. How is it changing and what might the consequences be? Norman Lebrecht is an award-winning author including The Maestro Myth, Why Mahler? How one man and 10 Symphonies changed the World, and The Life & Death of Classical Music.

His blog Slipped Disc is the most widely read classical music blog with over three million subscribers. He is regarded as one of the great prophets of classical music: while his views are controversial, his predictions are invariably accurate.