Cirencester International Organ Festival CIRENCESTER is set to host an international festival entirely devoted to organ music.

This is the third organ festival to take place in the town organised by Cirencester Parish Church, however this time the event has become international.

The programme includes a performance by leading virtuoso organist Olivier Latry who is visiting the festival from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.

Director of music at Cirencester Parish Church, Anthony Hammond, said that the aim of the event was to showcase organ music both to classical music fans and to the wider public, who may not have experienced it before, as well as raise awareness of the stunning organ that resides in the town church.

All three gala performances including Dr Hammond's innovative organ improvisation to silent movie The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, on the Friday of the festival, are aimed at opening people's eyes, or rather ears, to organ music perhaps for the first time.

The Cirencester Organ Festival was founded in 2010 to celebrate the restoration and improvement of the Cirencester Parish Church organ, a world-class Father Willis Organ built in 1895.

The week-long festival, starting on April 20, includes five free week-day lunchtime recitals and three ticket-only performances: an opening night gala performance by Oliver Latry, the silent movie improvisation concert by Anthony Hammond and, back by popular demand, a closing recital by the legendary Nigel Ogden - most famous for his weekly BBC Radio 2 programme 'The Organist Entertains'.

Dr Hammond said the highlight this year will be the recital by Latry - who has won a raft of awards including a 2007 Honorary Fellowship from the Royal College of Organists and the New York City American Guild of Organists Performer of the Year. He has performed all over the world and the organisers of this year's festival are delighted to have secured him as the opening performer.

Tickets are on sale now, available from www.cirencesterorganfestival.co.uk where you can also find out more about the festival and the full programme of events. Tickets are £12 each, or £30 for a passport ticket to all three performances. Tickets will go on sale at The Corner Stone Bookshop, Cirencester, at the end of the month. The festival runs from April 20- 27 at Cirencester Parish Church.