A CLASSICAL music festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary this summer.

The annual Corbridge Chamber Music Festival is held at St Andrew's Church. 

This year's programme begins on July 27 and will run until July 30.

Clarinetist Robert Plane is one of the festival's four joint artistic directors.

He said: "There will be lots of popular classics like Mozart Clarinet Quintet and the Schubert String Quintet, but there's also lots of new things as well like a brand-new commission from the young composer Sarah Jenkins. There's a mix of familiar and less familiar repertoire.

"We've got a fantastic American singer called Katherine Dain and she's singing a really interesting mix of French songs, but also she's singing some American Songbook classics. She's a really versatile singer. We've also got the amazing flute player Adam Walker coming back to the festival," Robert said.

 

Robert's wife Lucy is part of the Gould Piano Trio, which includes Richard Lester and Benjamin Frith.

All three are also joint artistic directors of the festival.

Part of the programme of events includes the Adam Walker Flute Masterclass on July 29, when Adam will work with three young flute players from the North East.

Robert said: "That's an amazing opportunity for them to play to one of the world's best flute players." 

Priority booking for festival Patrons and Friends is open.

For more information and to book tickets, go to the festival's website corbridgefestival.co.uk.

The flute players include:

  • Nina Winstanley
  • Izzie Thorneycroft
  • Tamsin Reed
  • and joint artistic director Benjamin Frith on the piano.