MUSICIANS from all over the world and hundreds of visitors will pack into the 16th-Century church in Chalais in the south of the Charente for the second annual Dimanches Musicaux festival this month.

Performances this year will run on three Sunday afternoons in May at 16.00 in the Eglise Saint-Martial, culminating in a big gala concert at 19.30 on Saturday, June 5.

The string quintets, violin and piano recitals will be interspersed with pre-concert talks and local food and wine tastings. For the final gala concert, the organisers have invited musicians from Australia, Korea, Denmark, Germany, the UK, Croatia and Switzerland to join them to form a chamber orchestra. The festival will be rounded off with a champagne reception.

Viola player Julian Shaw, one of the event’s organisers, said: “By the time we reached the final gala concert last year, people were queuing up to attend and you could hardly breathe, the room was so full.

“It was then we realised just how popular the concerts had been and that we would have to do some serious thinking before next year.”

Mr Shaw and his wife Sarah, a pianist, moved to the Charente from London three years ago after years giving concerts all over the world. Violinist daughter, Nathalie and cellist son, Jacob, now spend their time touring and giving solo concerts throughout Europe and the US.

The idea of the festival was for the family to invite their contacts from the international concert scene to play to audiences in the Charente, while keeping ticket prices at a reasonable level.

Tickets are e15 for the Sunday concerts and €18 for the gala performance. A five-concert pass costs €30 and under-12s go free. For more details, call 05 45 98 57 18 or see www.chalaismusique.com