Charles Wood Festival of Music and Summer School 2023

For information about exact dates and arrangements for this event during the COVID 19 restrictions please visit the website

While primarily a festival for singers, organists and choir directors the packed schedule of performances for this event makes it a real treat for anyone who loves choral music and in particular sacred choral music.

The programme includes lunchtime and evening concerts, services, and teaching and workshop sessions which take place in all the main churches in Armagh, including the city’s two magnificent cathedrals. The standard of performance is very high, with the much celebrated resident Charles Wood Singers joined by visiting choirs, organists and other musicians during the week.

Charles Wood was a renowned musician and composer who was born in Armagh in 1866 and went on to become Professor of Music at both the Royal Academy of Music in London and at Cambridge University. He is best remembered for his legacy of over 250 sacred works and hymns, but also wrote music for Greek plays and some chamber music.

Visitor Information and Map

Many events are free to attend, but the larger concerts require tickets. The two cathedrals, Catholic and Church of Ireland, are both rather confusingly for visitors called St Patrick’s and are marked on the map below, as are other venues.

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