MILTON Abbey School has long held a reputation for excellent music.

This year, for the first time, the school set in fabulous grounds between Dorchester and Blandford is hosting an international music festival and summer school, which starts on July 29 and runs until August 4 with tutorials during the day and 14 services or concerts every evening.

The festival brings together the best emerging talent and combines it with a wealth of professional and international experience. It is unique in its bringing together of different age groups, levels of experience, and combining them all, while still allowing them to maintain their own identity.

The youngest participants will be on the prep school choral course and be aged between seven and 13. There is also an instrumental course for musicians ages between 13 and 18 and who are at Grade 6 standard and above, a choral course for age 14 and over and a festival ensemble made up of members of the other three disciplines.

Each course will give a concert, and the choral courses will alternately sing daily choral evensong. They will also combine to form the Festival Ensemble, and perform Verdi’s Requiem as the climax of the festival, celebrating the bicentenary of the composer’s birth.

The resident ensemble for the festival is renowned a capella group Voces8, who will perform and lead lessons and have already been booked to return next year.

David McKee, who is head of music at Milton Abbey School, said: “There used to be a festival here but this is the first year it has been run in this format. Before it was mainly singing in the abbey with no orchestra or visiting performers, but this year we have a soloist from the Royal Opera House coming for the performance of Verdi’s requiem next Saturday that will involve everyone who has taken part.”

He added: “The festival is all about raising he profile of Milton Abbey and are area nationally and internationally – so far we have people coming from Germany, France, America, Bermuda and Norway.

“We want to bring people here so they can see how beautiful it is and what we can do here.”

The schedule for concerts at this year’s International Music Festival and Summer School is: July 29: Choral Evensong with the Festival Chamber Choir (Milton Abbey, 5.30pm, free) July 30: Choral Evensong with the Festival Choral Course (Milton Abbey, 5.30pm, free); Champagne reception with Dan Baker (£10) July 31: Luke Bond organ recital (Milton Abbey, 2pm, £5); Choral Evensong with the Festival Chamber Choir (Milton Abbey, 5.30pm, free); Voces8 concert (Milton Abbey, 7.30pm, £10) August 1: Lunchtime jazz (lawn or New Barn Theatre, weather depending); Choral Evensong with the Festival Chamber Choir (Milton Abbey, 5.30pm, free); John Rutter Requiem (Milton Abbey, 7.30pm, £10) August 2: Chamber music (New barn Theatre, 2pm, £5); Choral Evensong with the Festival Choral Course (Milton Abbey, 5.30pm, free); Saint-Saens Organ Symphony (Milton Abbey, 7.30pm, £10) August 3: verdi’s Requiem (Milton Abbey, 7.30pm, £10) August 4: Orchestral Eucharist (Milton Abbey, 10.30am, free) To order advance tickets call 01258 881844 and leave your details on the answering service. Alternatively email boxoffice@miltonabbey.co.uk