SHAFTESBURY has a new festival, celebrating the baroque, specifically the glorious music of the 17th and 18th centuries. There are concerts, talks and a screening of a film about one of the greatest stars of the period, from 23rd to 28th January, with most events are at Shaftesbury Arts Centre.

The festival – the latest in a calendar that includes the food, snowdrop and fringe festivals – has been organised by Deborah Jones, who wants to encourage more classical music at the arts centre.

The opening event is a recital by Trio Giocoso at the arts centre on Tuesday 23rd at 2.30. They will be playing music intended for domestic performance, including works by Telemann and Corelli.

On Wednesday 24th at 10.30am, the Danish/British violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova who last year founded the Baroque Academy at the Dorset Rural Music School, will give an introduction to the baroque orchestra.

On Friday 26th, at 2.30pm, the arts centre will screen the brilliant 1994 film, Farinelli, which tells the story of the castrato opera singer Carlo Broschi, who enthralled 18th-century European audiences under his stage name Farinelli. It is a colourful and extravagant tale of rivalry and obsession, set amid the baroque glories of the European courts and opera houses. This production lavishly recreates the musical phenomenon of Farinelli.

The Salisbury Baroque bring this new festival to a close on Sunday 28th at 3pm at St Peter’s Church with a concert entitled Rich and Strange, taking its names from words sung by Ariel in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The programme includes works, either rich or strange or both, by Purcell, Telemann, Biber and CPE Bach.

Pictured are a still from Farinelli, violinist Emma-Marie Kabanova and The Salisbury Baroque.