MALVERN Festival Chorus will be performing Handel's Messiah, one of the best-loved off all classical oratorios, at Great Malvern Priory later this month.

The concert will feature the talents of aspiring young classical singers who have recently been recruited through special auditions to encourage young singers to perform the great choral works with a large choir.

The solos will be performed by the successful youngsters who have also benefited from a masterclass with the choir’s president, James Oxley, internationally-renowned tenor and visiting professor at the Royal College of Music, London.

Malvern Festival Chorus will be performing under the baton of Jonathan Brown, director of music at Malvern College.

He said: “The English choral tradition is the envy of the world, and I wholeheartedly endorse this initiative in cherishing this great tradition and keeping it alive and vibrant. It is so important that the next generation of singers are offered opportunities like this and that they gain the experience that will live with them forever.”

With Easter approaching, the performance will be of Parts Two and Three of Handel’s Messiah, which focus on the Easter story. This gives the choir the opportunity of performing many of the work’s most familiar movements as well as some which are less frequently heard.

The concert is on Saturday, March 24, and more details can be found at malvernfestivalchorus.co.uk.