THE peripatetic Southern Cathedrals Festival comes to Salisbury this year, from Wednesday 16th to Saturday 19th July, with a programme of services and concerts that celebrate the beauty and power of choral and organ music.

The annual festival brings together the choirs of Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals to present choral music at its finest. The 2025 festival features an exciting programme of services, concerts, and special events, including a celebration of the work of two of the greatest early composers, Gibbons and Palestrina, on Friday 18th at 6.30pm.

This evening of sublime choral and instrumental music celebrates the 500th anniversary of the birth of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, the master of Renaissance polyphony, and the 400th anniversary of the death of Orlando Gibbons, one of England’s finest composers.

Another highlight will be a choral workshop and concert with the renowned composer and conductor Sir John Rutter, on Wednesday 16th.. The workshop is now fully booked, but tickets are still available for the evening concert at 7pm, with works by Rutter and Haydn..

On Saturday 19th at 6.30, the combined choristers and Lay Vicars, accompanied by The Hanover Band, will sing Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Vespers.

And on Thursday 17th at 6.30, there will be an organ concert by John Challenger, Salisbury Cathedral’s assistant director of music, performing works by Howells, Holst, Boulanger, Preston, Ravel and Vierne.

There will also be piano recitals and a series of choral services, including Choral Evensong, recorded by the BBC, and the Festival Eucharist, which will be live-streamed for those unable to attend in person.