THE Exon Singers Festival ? from Sunday July 27 to Sunday August 3 ? with its distinctive pattern of music and worship, has had its home in the beautiful market town of Tavistock, on the edge of Dartmoor, since 1973.
As usual the Exon Singers, with festival organist Jeffrey Makinson and musical director Matthew Owens, offer a widely varied programme, including music from the Renaissance through the centuries to the present, with works by Lennox Berkeley and Percy Whitlock whose centenaries fall this year.
The composer in residence this year is David Goodenough, one of the finest organists of his generation, some of whose music may be heard for the first time at Evensong in Exeter Cathedral on Friday August 1.
On Tuesday July 29 David Goodenough will be joined by the Singers? director, Matthew Owens, for a lunchtime recital of organ duets on the fine instrument in Tavistock Parish Church.
Their programme will include works by Tomkins, Wesley, Hesse and Naji Hakim.
Wednesday sees a departure from the usual weekly pattern as the Exon Singers broadcast Choral Vespers live from Buckfast Abbey for BBC Radio 3.
The Wharf in Tavistock is the venue for a concert of lighter music on Thursday.
This will include a piano duet arrangement of Schubert?s popular Fantasia in F minor, Brahms? Leibeslieder waltzes and the entertaining setting of the Wind in the Willows by John Rutter.
?Taverner to Tavener? is the title of the concert in Exeter Cathedral on Friday, August 1. This is a programme of cathedral music and includes works by Byrd, Tallis, Purcell, Stanford, Parry, Mathias and Vaughan Williams.
This concert is to be repeated in Tavistock Parish Church on Saturday.
The Festival ends as it begins with a service in the lovely 14th century parish church in Tavistock on Sunday and, as usual, the Exon Singers are most grateful to the people of the town and parish of Tavistock for their generous support.
Tickets for all concerts are available through the Wharf box office in Tavistock (01822 611166) or at the door. Further information can be obtained on http://www.exonsingers.org.uk">www.exonsingers.org.uk