FROM spiky-haired violin virtuosos to scandalous film scores and the thrills of polar exploration, the annual Cheltenham Music Festival promises a feast this summer.

From July 4-15, it welcomes the likes of Nigel Kennedy, Steven Isserlis, Sarah Connolly and Jean-Efflam Bavouzet.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee is to be marked with a Royal Musical Treasures Concert featuring music by Walton, Parry, Handel and Elgar.

Stirring performances can be expected from the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum, Cheltenham Bach Choir and award-winning Flowers Band.

The 150th anniversary of Debussy's death is another festival highlight.

Violinist Katherine Gowers has devised a series of recitals of works composed by Debussy and his contemporaries, and broadcaster Julia Somerville will read a news bulletin for each.

It's 100 years since Captain Scott's fateful expedition to the South Pole, so it is fitting that exploration is another theme.

Musical explorations take us to Algeria and India with Holst's Beni Mora Suite and his opera Savitri, and to Bolivia with Florilegiumand the Arakaender Bolivia Choir.

Holst isn't the only local link. Ian Burnside's play, A Soldier and a Maker, tells of Gloucestershire poet and composer Ivor Gurney.

The young are well catered for too. The popular Bandwagon is set to roll again with flash-mobs popping up and the free Midsummer Fiesta in Montpellier Gardens on July 7.

New music has always been a feature at Cheltenham, so the Nash Ensemble present the world premiere of Alexander Goehr's Horn Concerto.

There will be lectures and a showing of Salomé, a 1923 silent film that scandalised America.

The final three-part concert looks forward to the Olympics. Former festival director Martyn Brabbins conducts the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in music inspired by London.

Booking opens next month. Visit www.cheltenhamfestivals.com

Roger Jones