"The performances are universally excellent, George Vass encouraging Orchestra Nova to give what is probably its finest recorded showing to date [David Matthews vocal and orchestral CD]" - International Records and Recording

"Performances under the direction of George Vass have plenty of vitality, with excellent solo vocal contributions [David Matthews vocal and orchestral CD]" - The Daily Telegraph

"Biting in attack, an amazingly assured performance [Hugh Wood: Divertimento for string orchestra] by the Presteigne Festival Orchestra once again testified to the remarkable results conductor and festival director George Vass obtains from his gifted young players ..." - The Birmingham Post

"... another recent Dutton release entitled British Viola Music, showcasing the considerable musicianship of violist Sarah-Jane Bradley. Her responsive accompanists are Orchestra Nova under George Vass ... Both soloist and conductor audibly love and understand this repertoire. They bring out the individual character of each work, drawing the listener in to its distinctive, secret world of invention." - Tempo

"The Hampstead and Highgate Festival ended with a concert in the beautiful airiness of St John-at-Hampstead by the Festival Orchestra ... conducted by George Vass, including striking accounts of Britten's Les Illuminations (the excellent soprano, Elizabeth Watts, sang from the pulpit), Paul Patterson's Violin Concerto (with a persuasive soloist in Tamas Andras) and Dvorak's Serenade for Strings" - Sunday Times

"George Vass and his Orchestra Nova make highly effective partners for [Sarah-Jane] Bradley, and the clear, warm-toned sound does all concerned full justice" - BBC Music Magazine

"Alice Neary plays this demanding work [Tovey: Cello Concerto] with immense skill and dedication, and she is impressively supported by the Ulster Orchestra conducted by George Vass ... A revelatory issue" - Sunday Telegraph

"The undoubted highlight of my three days in Presteigne was Anthony Marwood's spellbinding account of Vasks's Violin Concerto, Distant Light, on the opening night - it was still being raved about by the time I left. Here, Vass took on his parallel role of conductor, directing the crack band of young professional string players that makes up the Presteigne Festival Orchestra in music-making of the highest order" - Daily Telegraph

"George Vass, Presteigne's Artistic Director, conducted the Festival Orchestra with his characteristically pragmatic but sensitive approach. Vasks, Composer-in-Residence this year in deference to his 60th birthday, could surely only have been delighted" - Musical Opinion

"The recording quality is first-rate, and it is a great pleasure to hear that fine conductor George Vass once more directing excellent performances" - International Record Review

"Performances here are immaculate, full of life, and above all consistently reveal the composer's imaginative resource" - Gramophone

"The performance here under the admirable George Vass is splendid (as, indeed, are those of the other works on this disc.)" - International Record Review

"Artistic director George Vass conducted a meticulously prepared, judiciously balanced account from the expert young players of the Presteigne Festival Orchestra (premiere of Ian Wilson's In fretta, in vento)" - Musical Opinion

"Pleasure, in fact, seemed a constant factor at the Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts ... George Vass, its artistic director, programmed the six-day event with benevolent acuity, accenting the contemporary with festival commissions and a composer-in-residence, yet threading enough through from past times to provide a balanced diet." - The Times

"George Vass's sympathetic guidance inspires eager, zestful performances" - Gramophone

"The Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts continues to enchant and enrich ... Thanks to the unfailingly acute ear of Artistic Director George Vass for pieces uniting impeccable quality with engaging accessibility, the results are always magical. Special mention must be made of an evening concert by the excellent Presteigne Festival Orchestra and Canterbury Chamber Choir under Vass featuring impressively cogent performances of Tippett's Little Music for strings, Alan Rawsthorne's alluringly Arcadian Concertante Pastorale and culminating in a performance of Cecilia McDowall's graceful Magnificat. This reflective work ... has already been recorded by the choir, soloists and conductor and their assured singing radiated with the confidence of a team with this elegant choral piece in their blood." - Tempo

"George Vass, a tireless exponent of contemporary music and young artists ... conducts his Canterbury Chamber Choir and Orchestra Nova in finely polished and well recorded accounts of these delightful pieces." - Birmingham Post

"George Vass shows himself an honest, thoroughly musical commentator ...
phrases are always shapely and dynamics scrupulously adhered to" - Gramophone