PERFECT acoustics and picnics in picturesque surroundings should combine to make the second Wyastone Summer Series a treat for music lovers.

Last year around 3,500 people flocked to the concert hall in the heart of the Wye Valley, three miles outside Monmouth, for the inaugural series. Tickets are selling much more quickly this time around.

The event runs through June into July and has as its artistic director William Boughton, who is also artistic director of the Malvern-based English Symphony Orchestra.

Mr Boughton said the 500-seat venue was perfect for music and the setting allowed people to come and admire views down the Wye Valley over a picnic before, after or even during a show - some events have extended 45-minute intervals for that purpose.

June 1 will see the series open with a Jubilee tribute to the Queen by the King's Singers, featuring a programme including works by Edward Elgar, Stanford, Weekes, Parry and Finzi.

Among many top musicians appearing will be British virtuoso pianists Paul Lewis, a World Piano Competition finalist, and Freddy Kempf. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of Ancient Music will be rubbing shoulders with Norman White, who will play 78 rpm recordings through a gigantic (22ft by 7ft) horn gramophone in A Tribute To Caruso.

Other highlights include the Swingle Singers, who will perform music from Mozart to Paul McCartney, and the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra.

The ESO itself will perform on Friday, July 5, and another Malvern favourite, the Bochmann Quartet, appear on June 8.

Information, tickets and brochures are available from 01684 560696 or at www.eso.co.uk.