AN INTERNATIONALLY acc-laimed music festival is being held in a church nestled in a picturesque Dorset valley.

Plush Festival features an annual series of classical and contemporary concerts and is now in its 18th year.

The event at the former St John the Baptist Church is located 10 miles from Dorchester and west of Milborne St Andrew, and organised by brother and sister Adrian and Kat Brendel.

Every year Plush presents a solo piano recital with recent performers including Imogen Cooper, Aleksandar Madzar and Paul Lewis.

This year’s concerts take place over five weekends spread over dates between June 21 and September 15. Rising classical stars and world renowned artists will take to the stage from July 5-7 and during the last two weekends in August.

Kat said: “This is a family-run festival and it has evolved into a charity and arts organisation over the past few years thanks to the support from our community of members, friends and volunteers.

“It is a very down-to-earth event and the local community really gets behind us as we receive most of our funding from individual donations.”

Music first began there in 1995 when cellist Adrian and con-ductor William Lacey gave an informal concert for friends. This spontaneous event sparked the creation of Plush Festival, which combines world class concerts of classical, contemporary and jazz music.

The intimate 200-seat venue is now also a recording space. This year the programme will include a solo piano performance by Joanna MacGregor, a song recital featuring Roderick Williams and Christopher Glynn.

The festival is launching a new project in collaboration with schools in Dorchester and Bryanston.

The first Young Musicians Education Workshop will take place on Sunday, June 23 and includes masterclasses from various artists.

Trustee Roger Graef said: “The musicianship is uniformly excellent, but it’s the spirit behind the music that makes Plush exceptional.

“With its idyllic setting and informal warmth it has a sharp contrast to metropolitan concert halls.”