Oundle International Festival is delighted to announce its third programme of one-day workshops for singers of all ages and voices.  This year we have chosen Schubert’s ‘Mass in G’ as our principal study work, while we will also be looking at Schubert’s beautiful ‘Stabat Mater’, D.175, and Mendelssohn’s glorious ‘Hear My Prayer’, which includes the famous ‘O for the wings of a dove’.

David Lawrence, a conductor for BBC Television’s Songs of Praise’ and recently nominated for a Gramophone Award, will take the first workshop to be held on Saturday 25th February at Oundle Parish Church. A second workshop is scheduled for Saturday 16th June with guest tutor Ben Parry, a director of the Eton Choral Courses. As in previous years, participation in the workshops will lead to a splendid opportunity to sing in the Festival Chorus concert on Sunday 15th July as part of the Oundle International Festival.

Tickets are £20 for a single full-length day workshop, £35 for both dates and reduced prices are available for under 18s, students and the unwaged.  For full details,  please click here.  Bookings can be made by returning the application form contained in the clickthrough, online or via Oundle Box Office on 01832 274734.

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Groovy youngsters take note! From 11th January 2012 we will be hosting a series of free, after-school workshops for young musicians in partnership with Prince William School and Notivate, an innovative Northampton-based organisation which uses jazz as the key to unlocking and developing musical potential. The jazz improvisation sessions, to be held on Wednesday afternoons, are open to instrumentalists and singers aged 12 and over with proficiency in basic scales and arpeggios.

To note your interest, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the Oundle Music Trust office on 01832 274919. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

The sessions will run from 4pm until 5pm at Prince William School, Herne Road, Oundle, on 11th, 18th, 25th January and 1st, 8th February 2012. The final session will include a chance for participants to record their work.

‘Bring an instrument if you have one,’  says Oundle Music Trust’s Creative Projects Associate Angus Smith ‘or just come as you are!'

Oundle International Festival is pleased to announce the dates of next year’s Festival as 13th to 22nd July 2012. The programme of events is still tightly under wraps, but with a nod to the London 2012 Olympics there will be a distinctly international flavour to the proceedings with a wide range of performances from notable visiting musicians. In addition, the internationally acclaimed Oundle for Organists Summer School will run alongside the Festival from 16th to 22nd July.

Looking closer to home, favourites such as the ever-popular Picnic in the Park event will return to Oundle’s Heron Rogers Field. Last summer’s event featuring tribute act Killer Queen boasted the fastest ever ticket sell out to date, with a phenomenal 5,600 people attending the event. Next year promises to be bigger and better and although the headline act has yet to be confirmed, we can reveal that the event will take place on Saturday 14th July. Get that date in your diary and look out for tickets going on sale in the Spring!