Once again the Bath International Music Festival kicks off mid-week, this time to the sounds of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Strings at Bath Abbey. This is the first festival organised by Alasdair Nicolson who brings to Bath a wide range of different styles of music.
Among the highlights are Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas, featuring Elin Manahan Thomas, in the Roman Baths, the Finnish harmonica quartet Svang, Norma Winstone, one of the great talents of Britsh jazz, and the bizarre Belgian big band Flat Earth Society.
Although the festival officially starts on the Wednesday it is the following Friday night that the city gets fully into festival mode with the now traditional Party in the City.
On that night the city comes alive with some 2,000 local musicians performing in venues all over the city. The music ranges from folk to rock, classical to soul and from jazz to acoustic and swing.
When the music finally finishes there will be a spectacular fireworks display lighting up Bath's sykline.
See next week's Guide for a detailed list of who's playing where and how to get there.
On Wednesday the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Strings under the direction of Alexander Janiczek will perform Stravinsky's Apollon Musagete, Part's Fratres and Tchikovsky's Serenade for Strings.
You can hear the Scottish Chamber Orchestra again on the Thursday at the Forum where they will be playing pieces from Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Mozart's Piano Concerto No 22 the Don Giovanni overture and Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite.
Thursday's coffee concert features soprano Measha Brueggergosman and Justus Zeyen at the Assembly Rooms playing works by Ravel, Britten, Wagner, Pulenc and Turina.
For further information and ticket details visit www.bathfestivals.org.uk.
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