[1] The festival concerts - principally focussed on chamber music - make use of a variety of venues, including St Mary's Church, Ambleside, and Blackwell.
The Festival used to combine with a summer school programmes: one for emerging professional musicians and another for younger string players, but these have now been replaced by Young Artist masterclasses.
Alumni of the International Summer Music Academy have included Nicola Benedetti, Nikolaj Znaider, Jennifer Pike, Steven Osborne, James Rhodes, the Sacconi and Belcea quartets, as well as The Pether Trio.
[citation needed] During 2001-2008, LDSM extended its work beyond the summer in a series of developments devised by chief officer Andrew Lucas.
4x4 Alumni have included John Habron, Benjamin Wallfisch, Paul Mealor, David Bruce and Phillip Cooke.