INTERNATIONAL jazz singer Elaine Delmar, Guildford Opera star Katherine Marriott, and Klezmer musician Stewart Curtis are just some of the top performers on offer at this year’s Mill Hill Music Festival, which launches next Saturday.

The bi-annual event, which was first organised in 1995, brings together a host of local talent and well-known professionals for a week-long celebration of music.

Hadley Wood resident Elaine Delmar kick-starts the festival on Saturday, June 20, at Quench Cafe, alongside the Allan Ganley Jazz Legacy. The evening will celebrate the late Allan Ganley, who regularly performed with Sir John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, as well as with the Mill Hill Jazz Club.

Jazz fans can also enjoy performances from Klezmer crossover artist Stewart Curtis and his K-Groove on Tuesday, June 23, at Quench Cafe, and The Humphrey Lyttelton Band on Thursday, June 25, at Mill Hill School, which will perform a tribute to the late musician and broadcaster, who was also a long-standing patron of the Mill Hill Music Festival.

From the world of classical music, award-winning pianist Maiko Mori performs a selection of Chopin, Bach, Beethoven and Liszt on Sunday, June 21, at Belmont School, while mezzo-soprano Katherine Marriott performs an opera concert at Mill Hill School on Monday, June 22. The recently renovated St Paul’s Church in The Ridgeway is also the venue for a Choral Evensong on Sunday, June 21.

Rounding off the festival on Saturday, June 27, at St Michael and All Angels Church, The Wallace Ensemble, conducted by Benjamin Wolf, will perform string pieces by Bach, Mozart and Boccherini, as well as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.

The 8th Mill Hill Music Festival runs from Saturday, June 20 to Saturday, June 27. Details: Daniel Bleich on 07946 640 799 or www.millhillmusicfest.co.uk