Cirencester International Organ Festival 2026

John Challenger plays Cirencester's finest organ

The Cirencester International Organ Festival runs for three weeks every summer, anchored throughout in the Parish Church of St John Baptist — home to an 1895 Father Willis organ that is one of the finest of its type in the country. The Friday evening events are the ticketed headline performances, each bringing a different international recitalist to the console.

On 7 August the recitalist is John Challenger, Assistant Director of Music at Salisbury Cathedral. Challenger has spent over a decade accompanying daily liturgy on Salisbury's own great Father Willis instrument — the same builder as Cirencester's organ — so he knows exactly what a Victorian church organ of this stature can do. His 2015 debut solo recording, Elgar from Salisbury, earned five stars from Choir & Organ Magazine.

Friday 7 August 2026 · Parish Church of St John Baptist, Market Place, Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 2NX · 7:30pm