THE Boyan Ensemble of Kiev, Ukraine's number one male voice choir, is about to embark on its ninth UK tour.

Guest soloist is Malvern resident Vassily Savenko, who is best known in this country for his recitals of Russian songs.

His recent second volume in the series Russian Images, for Hyperion Records, was top-rated by Classic CD and got excellent reviews in Gramophone and Radio 3's Record Review.

Mr Savenko and Margarete Rolle, executive producer on the recent CD and Boyan's tour co-ordinator, were guests at Hyperion Records' 20th anniversary party in London last week, attended by some of the top names in classical music.

The Boyan Ensemble will be singing in Malvern Priory at 7.30pm on Wednesday, November 1 as part of 24-date tour that spans the country, including three concerts in Scotland and three in Cornwall.

The choir's main soloists include soprano Valentina Ivanenko, its only female voice, and the amazing male soprano Igor Ishchak. The twin conductors are Yuri and Volodymir Kuratch.

Boyan's new programme includes a mix of Slavonic Byzantine chants and Ukranian folk songs. Although the choir specialises in a capella singing, some of the songs in the folk section are accompanied on the bandura, a 54-stringed Ukranian instrument dating back to the 16th Century, and the tsimbali, a kind of dulcimer.

Tickets for the Malvern concert are available from Lyttelton House Gallery, Malvern (last shop below steps by main Post Office), on 01684 574921.

The choir is also performing in Leigh Church on Sunday, October 29; St Francis Xavier Church in Hereford on Monday, October 30, and Cheltenham College on Monday, November 5.