William Shield Festival | The Legacy of Shield’s Songs
Events List
- William Shield Festival | The Legacy of Shield’s Songs
William Shield | Image source copyright free
Saturday 17th October | 1:30pm
Community Music Whickham & Swalwell and the Lit and Phil are proud to announce the 2026 William Shield Festival, an annual series of musical concerts to celebrate the life and times of this great, but often overlooked, local musician of yesteryear.
William Shield was born in Swalwell in 1748 and rose to the position of Master of the King’s Musick and was principal violinist at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. He is buried at Westminster Abbey. Events to celebrate the life and times of this local lad done good will take place in Swalwell (Shield’s birthplace), Newcastle upon Tyne and Whitley Bay.
A talk by Dr. Amelie Addison
The legacy of Shield’s songs in popular culture, focusing on a manuscript in Northumberland Archives. Amelie has carried out fascinating research into the music and times of William Shield and has made many important discoveries in this field. She is making a welcome return to the Festival.
For details of the whole festival including the Operas please download the leaflet here
The William Shield festival is grateful to Mr A. England for his unfailing support.
A LIVE Lit & Phil Event | FREE
(If you would like to book for this event, please click the link provided)