Benjamin Britten was born on the feast day of St Cecilia, patron saint of music. If he were still alive, he would have been 99 on November 22. Over the coming year, as his centenary approaches, choirs and orchestras all over the country will be celebrating the work of one of the greatest musicians of the 20h century.

Oxford will be part of this, with a year-long Britten in Oxford festival. Concerts, workshops and study days will feature top British performers and scholars, including people who worked with Britten in his lifetime. Britten in Oxford is the brainchild of Nicholas Cleobury, whose many contributions to music in this country include conducting the Oxford Bach Choir and founding the Britten Sinfonia. Nick’s love of Britten’s music goes back to when he was a boy chorister, and sang at the première of the War Requiem for the opening of Coventry Cathedral. Britten in Oxford is launched on December 1 with a concert by the Oxford Bach Choir and English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Nick, in the Sheldonian Theatre. Anniversaries of great composers often lead to a reappraisal of their legacy, and the concert includes the world premiere of two psalm settings which Britten wrote when he was a student at the Royal College of Music. These early works clearly signal his musical talent and technique, but were unpublished in his lifetime. The concert also features other lesser known Britten pieces, including an arrangement of the second movement of Mahler’s third symphony, and works by Beethoven, Mahler and Poulenc. It will be recorded by BBC Radio 3.

Britten in Oxford continues over the coming year. On March 9 the Oxford Bach Choir performs Britten’s powerful War Requiem in Oxford Town Hall, with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Choristers of Christ Church Cathedral. The Oxford Lieder Festival will feature the complete songs of Britten, starting with performances of the Canticles on February 15 and 16, 2013, by a star team led by Daniel Norman and Christopher Gould. On December 6 this year Consort Iridiana will sing Britten’s Missa Brevis and Ceremony of Carols as part of a St Nicholas’ day Eucharist service at Christ Church Cathedral.

A series of Saturday workshops on Britten’s Voices will use talks and masterclasses with distinguished artists, including James Bowman and Ian Partridge, to investigate his vocal repertoire. In July, a Britten Study Weekend will look at the composer’s life and influences. Writing for Voices, a project run in collaboration with the John Armitage Memorial (JAM), will allow six composers, librettists and choirs to work with experts in their field to produce six new pieces of music. Local choirs and orchestras planning events to mark Britten’s centenary are encouraged to contact Britten in Oxford and advertise their concerts on the website.

For details of Britten in Oxford events, or how to get involved, visit britteninoxford.co.uk