In 2018, the Stanford Society visited London for a fantastic festival with the centrepiece in the form of a performance of Stanford’s last opera, The Travelling Companion. This was given by New Sussex Opera in Cadogan Hall and was sponsored by the Stanford Society.

To kick off the Festival, the society attended a chamber concert given by students at the RCM and then experienced a guided tour of Stanford’s London, visiting his house and various contemporaries houses on the way to the Leighton museum. The society was given a guided tour of the museum by its curator. This was followed by a Stanford and Parry evensong in Westminster Abbey before the evening’s opera.

The Festival also featured a symposium on the music of Stanford and Parry with talks on the previous night’s opera, Stanford’s reaction to the war, Stanford’s other operas and a centenary appreciation of Parry. For the Stanford Societies gala dinner, the society visited the Oxford and Cambridge club and enjoyed a three-course dinner in beautiful surroundings.