While we may not be able to meet together this year in real space and time, that will not stop us being in virtual space and time to enjoy the 2020 Oundle International Virtual Festival! This five-day long online event – schedule below – will feature recorded and live material showcasing the range of work we normally present.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous supporter, I have been able to commission some of our performers to record videos especially for the Virtual Festival, while others have generously provided new or existing recordings for us all to enjoy. Every day during the Virtual Festival, we will post new material. The videos are all around 5-10 minutes. After their initial posting they will remain on our website for you to enjoy again and again!

We will also be presenting The Price of a Bed for the Night, a specially commissioned mini-series. Accessed via our website, at 4.30pm every day during the Virtual Festival, storyteller, Jo Blake Cave will present and enchant us with the continuing story with by Rimski & Handkerchief. What is a story worth? When you’re down on your luck and all spent out, a story or a song might be all you have… but it is worth its weight in gold. And, as one traveller finds out, to have no story to tell can lead to a night spent out in the cold! Come join us as we wander into the strange world of folk and fairytale, where, under the light of the moon and in the flicker of the firelight, not everything is as it seems. As you listen, fill your pockets with stories… you never know when you might need one. Each day a new episode of a continuing story, and an activity to try at home! Suitable for family audiences, 5+ and lovers of stories of all ages.

Monday 13 July
Open Gardens – a video montage of photos provided by those who would have opened their gardens during the Oundle on Show weekend accompanied by one of The Orgelbüchlein Project pieces played by organist William Whitehead.
Ayana Shah violin (Oundle Young Musician of the Year 2019) Emily Smith piano
Beethoven Spring Sonata 1st movement
Melvyn Tan piano – specially recorded in The Great Hall at Boughton House
Ständchen Franz Liszt piano transcription after Schubert
4.30pm The Price of a Bed for the Night – Episode 1

Tuesday 14 July
Elizabeth Bass harp (Oundle Young Musician of the Year 2009)
Glinka The Lark transcribed Balakirev
Guy Whatley organ/harpsichord William Byrd A Fancie for my My Ladye Nevell
J S Bach Brandenburg Concerto No 5 1st movement
4.30pm The Price of a Bed for the Night – Episode 2

Wednesday 15 July
Xiaowen Shang piano Beethoven Moonlight Sonata 1st movement
Budapest Café Orchestra
4.30pm The Price of a Bed for the Night – Episode 3
7pm-8pm Music of the Vine
A live Zoom tasting led by Philip Amps, music by Caprice Duo and wines from places you would not expect! From our most local vineyard – only 7 miles from Oundle – Solaris 2015 Lowick Vineyard Northamptonshire, followed by Solara Rose 2019 Viile Timisului Romania actually made by an Englishman!
Zoom entry £25 to include the two bottles of wine, tutored tasting and live music. Wines can be ordered on line from Amps website HERE and collected from Amps Oundle’s store. Delivery can be arranged at £7.50 to cover the courier charge. The event will be hosted via the Zoom app, which is free to download on a phone or computer.

Thursday 16 July
Magnus Donald Walker tenor Frikki Walker piano Three Schubert songs
A Virtual Bach Walk – Anna Chalmers cello plays each movement of Bach’s First Cello Suite in a different local church
4.30pm The Price of a Bed for the Night – Episode 4

Friday 17 July
Kenley Piano Quartet – Mozart G Minor Quartet final movement
Ferris & Milnes – The Kings of West End Cabaret
4.30pm The Price of a Bed for the Night – Episode 5