Bells are ringing; 5th year of fest has a world premiere.

Byline: Richard Duckett

A world premiere, a harpsichord fest, a cappella singing, handbell music, chamber music and a "huge" finale are all scheduled to be part of this year's St. Paul's Music Festival 2007 running June 3-10.

This will be the fifth year of the festival, and in that time the event has established itself as a fixture on the Worcester music scene, its founder, Ian Watson, believes.

"I'm thrilled with the way it's developed," said Watson, director of music at St. Paul's Cathedral, 38 High St., Worcester. "It's become an established event for this time of year, which is what we hoped."

In its first year the festival had seven events - several of them small recitals - and drew about 1,000 to 1,200 people. Last year Watson estimates 3,000 people passed through St. Paul's during the course of the various concerts. The 2007 edition of the festival will include 13 concerts in eight days.

"I would say this is definitely the most adventurous so far. There's more of a diversity of events than ever," he said.

Watson is originally from England and has performed and conducted around the world. He came to St. Paul's in 2002 after settling in the U.S. with his American-born wife.

He has said he sees the festival as a way of bringing the community together.

To kick off the festival, Watson has brought in a ringer. Actually, the New England Ringers, performing at 7 p.m. June 3 (admission is $10; $5 for students and children).

Other performers:

The Worcester Chamber Music Society will include Brahms' Piano quartet in C minor and songs by Rossini when it performs at 7 p.m. June 4 (admission is $20 for adults; $15 for seniors; $10 for children).

The Worcester Collegium Strings will perform at 7 p.m. June 5 in a concert featuring works by Elgar, Shostakovich and Dvorak ($10 for adults; $5 for children). The concert will be preceded at 6:15 p.m. with a performance by the newly formed Worcester Collegium Youth Strings.

A "Harpsichord Fest!" at 7 p.m. June 6 will feature three harpsichordists and the Arcadia Players baroque ensemble ($10 for adults; $5 for students and children).

The Dynamics, an a cappella group from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will sing a diverse program at 7 p.m. June 7 ($10 for adults; $5 for students and children).

The Worcester Collegium concert at 7 p.m. June 8 will see the world premiere of an orchestration of the late Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola and Orchestra with Peter Sulski playing the viola.

The Salisbury Singers and the Master Singers of Worcester will combine to present a concert titled "American Traditions - New and Old" at 7 p.m. June 9. ($20; $18 for seniors, students and children). This concert will also include a premiere - composer Gwyneth Walker's new work "New England Journey."

At 4 p.m. June 10, the St. Paul's Cathedral Choir, St. Paul's Festival Orchestra, guest organist Jeffrey Wood, and soloists Monica Hatch (soprano), Paulette Labarre (alto), Raymond Delisle (tenor) and Jonathan Labarre (bass) will combine for Concerto for Organ in G minor by Poulnec and Haydn's "Nelson" Mass (free admission).

There will be free organ recitals at 1 p.m. June 4-8.

Watson said he's found that anticipation and attendance tends to build as the week progresses. "The final concert is going to be a huge event," he said. "And the concert is free."

Altogether, six of the 13 concerts are free while several others cost just $10 to attend, Watson noted. Large discounts to events with an admission charge can be obtained by purchasing a festival season ticket.

"The festival is very, very affordable and designed to be that way. We want to make this concert available to as many people as possible," Watson said.

Looking ahead to the festival's sixth year, Watson said, "I'm thinking of trying to expand the range of events that we do. I'm loath to expand it another week. I think we have a very good formula. I'm pretty happy with the way it is, and I want to keep that interest alive."

For more information and a full festival schedule, visit stpaulsmusicfest-ival.org. Tickets to concerts are available at the door or by calling [phone] or sending e-mail to [e-mail].

ART: PHOTO

CUTLINE; The organ and sanctuary of St. Paul's Cathedral make for a majestic setting.