MALVERN Festival Chorus is entering its 82nd season under the guidance of a new musical director.

Iain Sloan has stepped into the shoes of the choir's former conductor, Rory Boyle, and says he is really looking forward to working with the chorus.

Mr Sloan is already a familiar face among the choir members as not only has he conducted rehearsals in the past, but he has also sung tenor solos in a number of concerts, the last being in March when they sang Handel's Judas Maccabaeus.

Since moving to Malvern in 1992, Mr Sloan, who heads the music department at Malvern College, said he has missed conducting adult singers.

"In Bristol I founded and directed the Brandon Hill Singers, a small chamber choir of 24 voices, as well as conducting the Portishead Choral Society, with whom a highlight was conducting a total of seven choirs in the Verdi!" he said.

"The Malvern chorus seems to be in very good shape, judging by the excellent performance of Verdi's Requiem last June, and it will be an exciting challenge to take the choir forward," he added.

In the past, the choir has tackled bold and modern works but its next season will consist of more traditional works, beginning with Mozart. In fact their November concert is totally dedicated to the Austrian composer with popular, smaller works Ave Verum Corpus and Laudate Dominum, the less well-known Regina Coeli, soprano solo Exultate Jubilate and the Requiem.

For the March concert, they will be tackling Bach's masterpiece, St Matthew Passion, sung in English with opportunities for the audience to join in. They will conclude the season with Mendelssohn's oratorio, Elijah.

For details and bookings, call Malvern Theatres on 01684 892277.

Rehearsals are held on Tuesdays in The Chase school hall at 7.45pm.