THE dates have been announced for two of the area's undisputed classical music highlights.The annual orchestral and operatic events run by the charitable Yorke Trust in the Stone Hall at Houghton Hall and the glorious St Mary's Church at South Creake bring together a selection of the finest young singers and classical musicians from Britain and the rest of Europe.

THE dates have been announced for two of the area's undisputed classical music highlights.

The annual orchestral and operatic events run by the charitable Yorke Trust in the Stone Hall at Houghton Hall and the glorious St Mary's Church at South Creake bring together a selection of the finest young singers and classical musicians from Britain and the rest of Europe.

Taking a break from their usual studies at universities, colleges and conservatoires, they gather together at Easter and in July and August to master the chosen works within a short space of time. The results are invariably stunning, and at the late-summer operatic occasions there's a mini-Glyndebourne atmosphere as the audiences enjoy picnics before watching the performances.

For Rodney Slatford, of South Creake, who spearheads both projects, the gatherings amount to a mountainous organisational challenge but one that he and his team of helpers relish each year.

The 2009 Holy Week concert will take place at Houghton on Tuesday, April 7 and at South Creake the following evening (both 6.30pm). Highlight will be a performance by The Creakes Student Chorus and Sinfonia of Handel's Israel in Egypt; tickets �18.50 (Houghton) and �16 (South Creake). An optional Handelian buffet will be available at the nearby Old Chapel afterwards.

This year's opera production will take place only at St Mary's, South Creake, on Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1, and will be Jean-Philippe Rameau's Castor et Pollux (7pm). Tickets are �20, and an optional French Baroque buffet will be available in the Old Chapel later.

Tickets for both events are available from the Yorke Trust on 01328 823501, online at www.yorkedition.co.uk and at the White House Book Shop at Burnham Market.

Before then, the tempo and musical style is markedly different as the lively Kinder Youth Choir from Derbyshire provides the entertainment at a Sing For Your Supper! event being held to raise money for the Yorke Trust's summer opera course.

The American-style buffet supper takes place at the Old Chapel, South Creake, on Saturday, March 28 at 6pm. And the choir will perform a medley of music from great Broadway musicals. Tickets are �25 and can be reserved on 01328 823501.