A FLURRY of top guitar players descend on Dillington House this August for its 20th classical guitar festival.

The event’s reputation has soared since its tentative first outing, with the kind of impressive line-up music fans have come to expect.

The sound of Cheryl Grice’s Spanish guitar opens the festival at 8pm on Sunday, playing ‘classics’ spanning Mozart and Issac Albeniz, and her own original fingerwork.

On Monday, August 4, the Pro Arte Guitar Trio and their guests will strum through 500 years of Spanish guitar music.

Baroque masterpieces for guitar and harpsichord follow on Tuesday, August 5, by Peter Rueffer and Adrian Boynton.

On Wednesday, August 6, it’s Flamenco Con Tres who’ll be charging their instruments for a mesh of tango, bulerias, tarantos, soleares and rumba, in a concert is dedicated to the memory of the late instrumentalist, Paco de Lucia.

The Katona Twins – Peter and Zoltán Katona – will top off the festival with their formidable programme of ‘Virtuoso Music for Two Guitars’ on Thursday, August 7, which includes the Bohemian Rhapsody.

Tickets for individual concerts cost £10 (£5 for under- 18s) or £40 for the full season.

Pre-concert suppers, at £22 a head, are also available. To book, call Dillington House on 01460-258648 or visit www.dillington.com