Great music sung by a large choir with a fabulous orchestra and world-class soloists is what’s in store when Aberystwyth Choral Society takes the stage for their spring concert.

The choir, regrouping after Covid, has a new lease of life with more members – a significant number of students among them.

The centre-piece of the concert is Puccini’s wonderful Messa di Gloria, written before destiny steered him towards theatre - La Boheme and Madame Butterfly are great works that are among the best-loved operatic masterpieces of all time.

His gift for melody and drama, together with a masterful flair for writing for the human voice are abundantly evident in the Messa. No wonder it is a firm favourite with singers and audiences.

Another favourite in the programme is Fauré’s sublime Cantique de Jean Racine. Fauré was 18 when he completed the Cantique, the same age Schubert was when he set his first Stabat Mater. This little-known gem was a happy discovery for the choir. It is sure to be for the audience, too.

As always, the performance is supported by the orchestra, Sinfonia Cambrensis. Drawing fine players from near and far, it rehearses regularly under the baton of David Russell Hulme, whose conducting engagements have taken him across the world – most recently to Ukraine. The orchestra will display its talents in the concert’s opening work, Haydn Woods exuberant and tuneful, A May-Day Overture.

Tenor Gareth Dafydd Morris, a contracted artist with Welsh National Opera, and bass Sion Goronwy, a soloist at Covent Garden and Glynbourne, have busy schedules but love performing with the choral society. With such wonderful soloists on stage, the chance is not lost to bring them together for the popular operatic showpiece and unforgettable duet from Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers. There will be more well-known Bizet from Gareth, too, as he sings Don Jose’s celebrated ‘Flower Song’ from Carmen. For his solo, Sion offers a darkly brooding contrast in the aria, ‘Il lacerato spirto,’ from Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra.

Watch the performance at Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday, 20 April at 7.30pm.