TOP-class musicians from all over the world will converge on Hereford next month for the 2006 Three Choirs Festival.

The event opens on Sunday, August 6, with a performance of Elgar's oratorio The Kingdom at Hereford Cathedral, to mark the centenary of its debut.

The Philharmonia Orchestra and Festival Chorus are joined by soprano Judith Howarth, mezzo-soprano Catherine Wyn-Rogers, tenor Adrian Thompson and baritone Roderick Williams.

Ledbury Parish Church is the venue for a concert of baroque chamber music on Monday, August 7, when John Holloway (violin), Catherine Bott (soprano) and Marieke Spaans (harpsichord) will play works by Handel, Scarlatti and others.

The Brodsky Quartet have strong local connections, having been named after a friend of Elgar, whose own quartet performed at Malvern Concert Club's first event.

The Brodsky will play on Tuesday, August 8, at 2.30pm, at Leominster Priory, when the programme includes works by Mozart, Shostakovich and Schumann.

This year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, and the Corelli Orchestra and the choirs of the three cathedrals will perform his Requiem at Hereford Cathedral on Wednesday, August 9, to mark the occasion.

As well as the main festival programme, there is also a lively fringe, with a programme encompassing classical, folk, jazz and world music, as well as talks, drama, comedy and children's shows.

Among the performers is ten-year-old violin player Hannah Roper from Tarrington, who will play Beethoven's Spring Sonata at a concert on Tuesday, August 8, at the Zimmerman Building in Hereford.

Details of festival events, including times and ticket prices, are on www.3choirs.org. for details of fringe events see www. hereford 3choirsfringe.org.uk.