LAKE District Summer Music is without doubt one of the top music festivals in the UK.

This year's glorious gathering features 45 events in 16 venues spread across South Lakeland.

Running from July 30 until August 12, the fortnight-long festival welcomes artists and audiences new and old in its cornucopia of concerts, with many firm favourites, fresh faces and umpteen rising stars.

Chamber music has always been at the heart of the programme, and this year's focus is on string quartets with the Škampa and Chilingirian quartets among the eminent foursomes taking part.

Following the strong audience response to last year's silent film screening, for 2016 LDSM has created a special event as part of its ongoing commemoration of the First World War - a presentation of the 1916 film The Battle of the Somme, the first feature-length war documentary, which will be shown at Kendal Town Hall on Tuesday, August 9 (7.30pm). Composer and percussionist Jan Bradley has been commissioned to improvise a soundtrack live to accompany the screening.

Other elements of the First World War centenary in the festival include actor and radio broadcaster Simon Yaxley, reading Sonnets from the Somme at Ambleside Parish Centre on Saturday, August 6 (noon), accompanied by pianist Gemma Beeson.

A fabulous addition to this year's prestigious LDSM programme is the launch of the Cumbria Festival Chorus, a merger of the Mary Wakefield Festival and Cumbria Choral Initiative.

Under the baton of grand master of all things choral, Ian Jones, CFC opens the festival at Kendal Parish Church on Saturday, July 30 (7.30pm) with Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, also starring the exquisite - and award-winning - voices of Amabile Girls Choir. With the Northern Chamber Orchestra and a fine trio of soloists, what a festival opener that promises to be.

For lovers of opera, LDSM has also put together a specially-devised evening as a showcase for the National Opera Studio with the tantalising title of Royalty, Romans, Rakes and Revenge! staged at Kendal's St Thomas's Church on August 6 (7.30pm). St Thomas's hosts several LDSM events, including the Skampa ensemble on Friday, August 5 (7.30pm), Manchester Piano Trio (Sunday, August 7, 7.30pm), and the distinguished Chilingirian's (August 8, 8pm).

Grange-over-Sands' Victoria Hall is the venue for the Maxwell Quartet performance on Wednesday, August 10 (7.30pm), one of the Zeffirellis (Ambleside) LDSM events is the world music, boundary-stretching evening courtesy of Project Jam Sandwich on August 10 (8pm) and among several Ambleside Parish Church festival concerts is Candlelight Serenade on Friday, August 12 (8pm).

New to LDSM this year is St George's Church, Kendal, hosting a major music-theatre event Breaking the Rules, on Wednesday, August 3 (7.30pm), which tells of the dramatic life of Gesualdo, the Italian composer-prince, marking his 450th anniversary. Music spanning 450 years is also offered by early music rising stars Tabea Debus (recorder) with Duo Seraphim (counter-tenor and lute/theorbo), who include a world première by Laura Bowler alongside works by Monteverdi and Purcell at Ambleside Parish Centre on Monday, August 1 (11am).

Among those making their eagerly-awaited LDSM debut will be rising star of violin, Chloe Hanslip, accompanied by pianist Danny Driver at Ambleside Parish Church on Monday, August 8 (11am).

Having been at the helm for more than three decades of music making, LDSM's esteemed founder and artistic director, Renna Kellaway, has a few surprises up her musical sleeve. "You might think that in our 32nd year we would run out of novelties," Renna points out. "But we've responded to our loyal audience, who warmly welcome the new alongside the familiar. From the 150-plus works in this year's programme, almost two-thirds of the pieces have never been performed here before - and that includes core works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. All told, there's 35 composers this year that we've never featured before, and I'm looking forward to surprising everyone."

Tickets from the box office 01539-742621, online at www.ldsm.org.uk, or from the Festival Office at Stricklandgate House, 92 Stricklandgate, Kendal LA9 4PU.