Charles Wood Festival of Music and Summer School Armagh

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Charles Wood Festival of Music and Summer School Armagh

A cross-community festival of music in worship held annually in Armagh. The Charles Wood Festival of Music and Summer School occurs annually in August.

The week-long cross-community festival features over thirty events, including concerts, recitals, workshops and services, including two BBC broadcasts. The Charles Wood Singers are formed at the beginning of the week to prepare the wide range of music performed under the direction of David Hill and Philip Scriven. The Charles Wood Girls' Choir brings together girl choristers aged 12-18 from across the island of Ireland for a week of intensive and fun training in singing and choral music under the direction of Ian Keatley. Vocal Coach Paul Farrington provides individual singing tuition during the week.

29/10/2026

The Northern Ireland International Organ Competition wishes to appoint an ambitious and creative Artistic Director. The closing date for applications is Monday 16 November 2026 at 12 noon. Full details, including how to apply, are available at www.niioc.com

19/10/2026

Glenarm Festival of Voice on BBC Radio 3

If you missed this year's Glenarm Weekend of Song back in August, now's your chance to hear some of the highlights! Tune in to BBC Radio 3 every day this week at 1pm for specially recorded performances featuring three outstanding artists:

Erika Baikoff (acclaimed soprano and BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist), Fleur Barron (Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano) and Ilker Arcayürek (one of today's leading recital tenors) all accompanied by the fantastic Simon Lepper (Royal College of Music).

A wonderful opportunity to relive some of the musical highlights from this year's festival, or experience them for the first time!

Listen live or catch up on BBC Sounds:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0032tb9

Erika Baikoff Ilker Arcayürek - Tenor Fleur Barron Glenarm Castle BBC Radio 3

12/10/2026

We are delighted that the Ulster Orchestra, alongside the Belfast Philharmonic Choir, are continuing to celebrate the life and legacy of Charles Wood in this very special centenary year.

On Friday 16th October, St Peter’s Cathedral, Belfast, will host Illuminare, a wonderful evening of choral and orchestral music celebrating the 160th anniversary of the Cathedral and marking 100 years since the death of Armagh-born composer Charles Wood.

The programme includes two of Wood’s finest sacred works, On Time and Expectans Expectavi, alongside music by Elaine Hagenberg and Kristina Vasiliauskaitė, conducted by James Grossmith.

It is fantastic to see Wood’s music continuing to be performed and celebrated by some of Northern Ireland’s leading musical organisations, helping to ensure that his remarkable contribution to choral music is recognised and enjoyed by new generations.

Tickets and further information: www.belfastphilharmonic.org.uk

Ulster Orchestra ulsterorchestra belfastphilchoir

01/10/2026

We are delighted to be at the FAP 10 Year Anniversary Event today in Craigavon!

We’re joining organisations from across the combined boroughs to celebrate over a decade of the ABC Community Development Financial Assistance Programme and the fantastic contribution it has made to local communities, organisations and events.

A huge thank you to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council and the Financial Assistance Programme team for all their support for the Charles Wood Festival over the past number of years. Their help has played an important part in enabling us to deliver and develop the Festival, and we look forward to hopefully working together for many more years to come!

abc_council Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council

08/09/2026

BBC Radio 3 – Choral Evensong from the Charles Wood Festival

Wednesday 9 September | 3pm | BBC Radio 3

We are delighted that BBC Radio 3 will broadcast Choral Evensong recorded in St Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral, Armagh, during this year’s Charles Wood Festival.

The Charles Wood Festival Singers, directed by David Hill with Philip Scriven at the organ, present a programme celebrating the music of Charles Wood alongside works by Stanford, Dibble and Duruflé.

The service includes Wood’s O Lord, rebuke me not, his Evening Canticles in E flat No. 2, and It were my soul’s desire, alongside Stanford’s Te Deum in C and Duruflé’s magnificent Fugue sur le thème du Carillon des Heures de la Cathédrale de Soissons.

Recorded in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh on 26 August.

Listen on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Sounds:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0030wdz

BBC Radio 3 St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh - Anglican - COI

30/08/2026

THANK YOU | CHARLES WOOD FESTIVAL AT GLENARM

And with that, our special weekend of music in Glenarm comes to a close.

Following our Centenary Festival in Armagh, it has been a privilege to continue the celebrations on the Antrim coast with three days of outstanding performances in two beautiful and intimate settings.

A huge thank you to Fleur Barron, İlker Arcayürek, Erika Baikoff and, of course, Simon Lepper for their wonderful BBC Radio 3 recordings, and a very special thank you to Carolyn Dobbin and Tristan Russcher for their contribution to a fantastic weekend of music-making.

Our sincere thanks go to all of our artists; to BBC Radio 3 and its production team; to everyone at St Patrick’s Church of Ireland and Glenarm Castle; and to all those who worked behind the scenes to make this weekend possible.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who travelled to Glenarm and joined us. Every concert across the weekend was sold out, and we have been overwhelmed by the response. And if you missed out on tickets, the music doesn’t end here. Our BBC recital performances have been recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3, when audiences far beyond Glenarm will have the opportunity to hear these remarkable performances.

From our Centenary Festival in Armagh to this beautiful weekend on the Antrim coast, August 2026 has been an extraordinary celebration of music and the continuing legacy of Charles Wood.

Thank you for being part of it.

30/08/2026

ERIKA BAIKOFF & SIMON LEPPER | THIS AFTERNOON IN GLENARM

Our special weekend in Glenarm concludes this afternoon as soprano Erika Baikoff joins pianist Simon Lepper for the final of our recital recordings for BBC Radio 3.

At the heart of this afternoon’s programme is Schumann’s extraordinary Liederkreis Op. 39 – twelve songs which transport us into a world of forests, moonlight, mystery, solitude and longing. The programme also includes Barber’s Hermit Songs and songs by Lorit Laitman.

Erika Baikoff | soprano�
Simon Lepper | piano
3.00pm | St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Glenarm

This afternoon’s recital is sold out.

If you missed out on tickets, the performance is being recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Erika Baikoff BBC Radio 3 Glenarm Castle

30/08/2026

GLENARM HIGHLIGHTS | FINAL RECITAL

Another wonderful day of song in Glenarm.

Last night, tenor İlker Arcayürek and pianist Simon Lepper performed to a sold-out St Patrick’s Church of Ireland for the second of our special recital recordings for BBC Radio 3, after Carolyn Dobbin and Tristan Russcher entertained in Glenarm Castle's Coach House. Today, our Glenarm weekend comes to a close with one final recital.

3.00pm | ERIKA BAIKOFF & SIMON LEPPER
St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Glenarm

Acclaimed soprano Erika Baikoff joins Simon Lepper for a programme centred on Schumann’s remarkable Liederkreis Op. 39, alongside Barber’s Hermit Songs and songs by Lorit Laitman.

This afternoon’s recital is sold out.

If you missed out on tickets, the performance is being recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Enjoy some highlights of Day 2 in Glenarm.

29/08/2026

İLKER ARCAYÜREK | TONIGHT IN GLENARM

Tonight, we return to St Patrick’s Church of Ireland for the second of our special Glenarm recital recordings for BBC Radio 3, in Glenarm’s Weekend of Song.

Internationally acclaimed tenor İlker Arcayürek joins pianist Simon Lepper for a programme exploring love in all its forms – devotion, longing, secrecy, memory, separation and farewell. The evening begins with songs by Robert Schumann, including the ecstatic Widmung, before moving through music by Clara Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn.

Songs by Alma Mahler, Korngold, Landon Ronald, Brahms, Tosti and Rachmaninoff lead towards the conclusion of the programme and two extraordinary songs by Richard Strauss.

İlker Arcayürek | tenor
Simon Lepper | piano
8.00pm | St Patrick’s Church of Ireland, Glenarm

Tonight’s recital is sold out.

For those unable to join us in Glenarm, tonight’s performance is being recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

Ilker Arcayürek - Tenor Glenarm Castle

29/08/2026

BEAUTY, WAR, LOVE & BETRAYAL | THE COACH HOUSE, GLENARM CASTLE

This afternoon, the Charles Wood Festival moves to the beautiful surroundings of Glenarm Castle for a special recital from mezzo-soprano Carolyn Dobbin and pianist Tristan Russcher.

Entitled Beauty, War, Love & Betrayal!, the programme takes us through four very different musical worlds, bringing together opera, Irish song and the music of Charles Wood. From Handel’s Ombra mai fu and Wood’s Credhe’s Lament for Cail through music by Donizetti and texts by Walt Whitman, the programme moves from beauty to war, love and betrayal.

Unfortunately, the recital is sold out this afternoon.

Thank you to Carolyn Dobbin and Tristan Russcher, longtime friends of the Festival, and everyone at Glenarm Castle Estate for the opportunity to perform in such a beautiful location.

Glenarm Castle Carolyn Dobbin Mezzo-soprano/contralto Tristan Russcher

Address

Charles Wood Festival Of Music, C/o Palace Demesne
Armagh
BT604EN

Telephone

+447775654895

Website

http://www.charleswoodsummerschool.org/

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