This summer, Hereford Cathedral will once again present a series of 16 lunchtime recitals, which take place at 1.15 pm on Tuesdays between May and September, featuring organists from all over the country.

The series begins on Tuesday, May 2 with the cathedral’s current organ scholar, Laurence John, a former pupil at Hereford Cathedral School, who is hoping to take up the organ scholarship at Queen’s College, Oxford in the autumn.

Laurence’s programme will include music by Kenneth Leighton, J S Bach, Paul Hindemith and Herbert Howells, and will conclude with Choral No 3 by César Franck.

Three former Hereford organ scholars will also be playing this year: William Fox (July 4), Jonny Allsopp (July 25) and Simon Bland (August 29). The season ends on September 26 with the traditional Audience Requests concert given by Peter Dyke, Hereford Cathedral’s assistant director of music.

There are also two gala evening concerts this year, both starting at 7.15 pm. The first will be given on Tuesday, June 13 by James O’Donnell, organist of Westminster Abbey, who will be playing a programme of mainly French music, including Franck’s Choral No 1.

The second will be given by Peter Dyke on Tuesday, July 18, when he will play Franck’s Choral No 2 in a concert that will culminate in Elgar’s great Organ Sonata.

Entrance to the lunchtime concerts is free with a retiring collection. For tickets to the evening concerts, please contact Hereford Cathedral shop: shop@herefordcathedral.org or 01432 374210.