Oundle International Festival was founded in 1985, with the training of young organists as its core component. The summer schools were to be centred upon a new organ, built by Frobenius of Denmark and installed in Oundle School Chapel. A concurrent festival programme for the general public was also planned as a recurrent feature of the enterprise. Thus, every July OIF has welcomed up to 60 young organists each year, in the age range 14 to 24. An international team of organists is engaged to provide coaching. The Festival and Summer School at inception were part of, and supported by, Oundle School, but since 1995 OIF has been an independent company limited by guarantee, and a registered charity operating under the name Oundle Music Trust. It has a Management Committee of eight, which meets three times a year.
Festival
The festival committee promotes three activities:
Oundle for Organists – a year round training movement, promoting access to the organ, and supporting young organists in their musical development.
Oundle International Festival – a professional music festival held each July in Oundle and the surrounding area, attracting a growing audience from the local community, and further afield. The programme includes jazz, folk and world music alongside classical repertoire, and related programming in other art forms.
Oundle Music Trust Community & Education Programme – programme of concerts, workshops and projects in the Oundle area, which aims to extend access to, and enjoyment of, music through participation.
Since 1994 a fundraising jazz & firework concert has been held on Oundle School playing fields, which has become the highlight of the year in this small market town, attracting an audience of up to 5,000 from all over the Midlands. In 2007 the Festival undertook a community opera for the first time, with three performances of Tobias and the Angel by Jonathan Dove. It was very successful, with three choruses of local people, celebrated professional opera singers and a small orchestra of professional musicians. The performances took place in St Peter's parish church.
Education for young organists
Since July 2002 the Prospective Organ Scholars course has been separated from the main summer school in Oundle and now takes place in Cambridge and Oxford in alternate years. The students are accommodated in an Oxbridge College, and thus are given a real boost prior to their all-important organ scholarship examinations in September. They are required to direct, sing and accompany three Evensongs in different college chapels, with Compline on two evenings. Mornings and late evening are taken up with organ tuition and practice, with full access being given to college organs in Cambridge and Oxford.
