WORCESTER is home to the annual Three Choirs Festival this year, taking place through August.

The festival is hosted by Worcester, Gloucester and Hereford on alternate years, and this year the Worcester event is made up of three main strands.

To celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of William Walton, no less than eleven of his works will be performed over the five-day event. These include several of his lesser-known works, such as Antiphon and the full orchestral setting of WH Auden's The Twelve. Walton's music also forms a strong influence in Lionel Sainsbury's Violin Concerto, which will receive its first public performance.

The 150th birthday of Charles Villiers Stanford would fall in 2002. Works by him being performed include his 2nd Piano Concerto and the Irish Symphony.

As well as the Golden Jubilee of the Queen, 2002 also marks the centenary of the coronation of Edward VII. These are reflected in Handel's Coronation Anthems, Elgar's Coronation Ode and Walton's Orb and Sceptre march.

For more information, call the box office on 01905 729184 or visit www.3choirs.org.