Oundle International Festival 2007

12 - 22 July 2007

Ten days of classical music, jazz, open-air theatre,
celebrity organ recitals, films, exhibitions,
children's events and much much more.

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Some tickets have become available for the
Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain concert on Thursday 19 July.
Please contact the box office on 01832 275109.

Welcome to another Oundle Festival - our 23rd!
We think it's worth celebrating that we have been promoting concerts, courses for young organists - and of course the lovely town of Oundle - for so many years. This year we are also celebrating England and all things English - an appropriate theme for the 150th anniversary year of Sir Edward Elgar just as he disappears from our bank notes: fine young pianist Ashley Wass plays Elgar's much-loved Enigma Variations, and the Heath Quartet, newly emerged from the Royal Northern College of Music, also includes Elgar in its first all-English programme.

And there's an accent on song, with outstanding artists adding their voices to the English theme: the flawless intonation of Emma Kirkby; the twelve young voices of Stile Antico; and to end the week Dame Ann Murray with an octet from the east of England's own orchestra, sinfonia ViVA, in Mahler's moving song-cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.

But back to the beginning: we open with a celebratory flourish from the highly talented Haydn Youth String Orchestra from the Netherlands. Alongside works by Mozart and Shostakovich, they will play the ever popular and romantic Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Weaving its magic throughout the early part of the Festival is Jonathan Dove's enchanting community opera Tobias & the Angel. Whilst writing this introduction, choirs are coming together, sets are under construction, costumes are taking shape, and some of the best professional opera singers in the land have been engaged to take part in this stunning, life-enhancing work. Drop everything and buy a ticket - or maybe give us a call to see if you can still contribute in some way!

Another hot ticket will be The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. It's almost impossible to describe what this amazing band does without making it sound weird and eccentric, thus fitting very neatly into the concept of Englishness. Singing and playing songs from Nirvana to Frank Sinatra, they are the very stuff of entertainment, and very funny.

We have organists from France, the United States and the United Kingdom playing organs from Oundle to Peterborough via Fotheringhay. And one of the Peterborough recitals definitely has that added extra: David Briggs, improviser extraordinaire, accompanies the 1925 silent movie Phantom of the Opera on the Cathedral organ. Don't look over your shoulder….

The lunchtime concert by King's Chamber Orchestra is likely once again to be one of the most popular events of the week, as they dispense their magic music-making and engage children's rapt attention.

So, young or old, here for some serious music or more for the beer (lots of that too, with prize-winning local brewers Digfield Ales in attendance at the Fireworks Concert starring Killer Queen...). Enjoy!

Patricia Ryan