English Music Festival returns to Oxfordshire
 
The third annual English Music Festival takes place in the Oxfordshire countryside, in and around the historic village of Dorchester-on-Thames, over the Bank Holiday Weekend, Friday 22nd to Monday 25th May 2009.
 
The event, which celebrates Britain's unique and diverse musical heritage, features top-quality performances of many "hidden gems" of English music from mediaeval times to the present day. This year's Festival includes unjustly neglected works by great British composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, Benjamin Britten, Edward Elgar, Gerald Finzi, Henry Purcell, and even King Henry VIII - and the world premiere performance of a major work by none other than Frederick Delius.

Performers include the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by David Lloyd-Jones with acclaimed violinist Philippe Graffin, the Cannons Scholars, the City of London Choir and celebrated counter-tenor James Bowman. Works range from the light and jazzy (such as a recital by David Owen Noris of Billy Mayerl's piano music), mysterious (such as Early Music group Joglaresa’s programme entitled 'A Harp of Bones') through to the deeply profound. Concerts and recitals take place at Dorchester Abbey on 22nd, 23rd and 25th May, and in the Chapel and Silk Hall at Radley College on Sunday 24th.

Please visit the EMF website, www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk, for the full programme, or call the Festival Director on 0203 274 1054 for a copy of the programme leaflet. The Box Office is now open and gives you the option to buy advance tickets online, by phone or by post.

EMF Box Office: 0300 030 3003 (Lines open 2pm-7pm Mon-Fri, 2pm-6pm Sat),
www.englishmusicfestival.org.uk