INTERNATIONAL musical talent will be descending on the Cotswolds again this year as Chipping Campden makes preparation for its annual music festival.

The festival runs from May 10 to 23 and is widely acknowledged as one of the finest in the UK attracting visitors from as far afield as the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The concerts take place in the setting of St James' Church, described by Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel as "one of the finest acoustics I encountered in my 60-year career".

Artists taking part this year include: Stile Antico, Steven Osborne, Carolyn Sampson, Joseph Middleton, Tasmin Little, Martin Roscoe, Paul Lewis, Takacs Quartet, Marc Andre Hamelin, Imogen Cooper, Henning Kraggerud, Adrian Brendel, Richard Goode, Jack Liebeck, The English Concert, Sophie Bevan, Susan Tomes and Ruth Rogers.

The festival's president is British classical pianist Paul Lewis and patron of education programme is cellist, composer and music educator Julian Lloyd-Webber.

Mr Lewis said: "This year’s programme, as ever, offers a thrilling and diverse programme of events in the company of some of the world’s most inspiring musicians. The festival would not be what it is without the Chipping Campden Festival Academy Orchestra which will be in residence for three exhilarating performances, galvanised once again under the baton of its ebullient Maestro, Thomas Hull."

Mr Lloyd-Webber added: "Music education is in the news again and not always for the right reasons. A new report from the music exam body, ABRSM, shows that music is still most likely to be pushed aside in the poorer inner city schools – exactly where it could be most beneficial. "Fortunately the Chipping Campden Festival has always put music education at the forefront of its mission. The Academy Orchestra is now in its 8th year and it has rapidly grown to the point where last year it received one hundred and thirty applicants for its twenty student places."

For more details of the concerts and to book go to the Chipping Campden Music Festival website: http://campdenmusicfestival.co.uk/