In a departure from its normal repertoire, Chester Music Society Choir will be bringing the world of grand opera to Chester Cathedral on Saturday (November 23).

With soloists and a 55-strong orchestra - including anvils for the Anvil Chorus - the choir have put together an evening of solos, duets and choruses from some of the best loved operas.

Highlights will include the March of the Toreadors from Bizet’s Carmen, The Grand March from Aida, the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore, the Duet from the Pearl Fishers, excerpts from Mozart’s Magic Flute, and Nessun Dorma.

Three outstanding soloists - soprano Linda Richardson, tenor Nick Hardy and baritone Andrew Heggie - will add sparkle to what promises to be an outstanding evening under the baton of the choir’s musical director Graham Jordan Ellis.

Linda Richardson was born in Cheshire and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she was a Peter Moores Foundation Scholar and winner of the Frederic Cox Award, and then at the National Opera Studio.

An English National Opera company principal between 1997 and 2005, her roles there have included The Coronation of Poppea, Così fan tutte, Carmen, Hansel and Gretel, Rigoletto, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier, La Bohème, The Fairy Queen and La Traviata, among many others.

She performs extensively on the oratorio and concert platform, and is a frequent recitalist, having sung at the Newbury, Three Choirs and Arundel Festivals.

She was a regular soloist with the English Haydn Festival where she sang in world and British premières of Haydn’s unknown works.

Most recent and current plans include Gilda at Opera North, Countess throughout UK and France with Diva Opera, Katya Kabanova with ETO, and she will make her Welsh National Opera debut singing the title role in Anna Bolena followed by Violetta in spring 2014.

Nick Hardy trained at the Royal Academy of Music and, later, with Joan Carlyle.

He has worked as a free-lance chorister with ENO, WNO and Opera North.

For Scottish Opera, Buxton Festival Opera, London Festival Opera, European Chamber Opera, Heritage Opera, Silk Opera, Civit Hills and many others he has worked as both a principal, a cover, and as a freelance chorister.

In October he had a concert tour to Dresden and Berlin, and gave his first performance in the role of Canio in Pagliacci, in a performance staged in Preston Minster.

Future plans include Beethoven's 9th Symphony in the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool.

Andrew Heggie was born in Sydney Australia, of British and Italian descent.

He began singing professionally as a treble with The Australian Opera, with his performances since then spanning opera, oratorio and concert repertoire, popular music and TV and radio jingles.

He has made numerous live performances, professional recordings, and radio broadcasts, both within the UK and internationally.

Andrew studied singing with the Australian baritone Neil Easton, with Peter Wilson at the Royal Northern College of Music and with the American mezzo Mignon Dunn.

He has a Bachelor of Music (Honours) from the University of New South Wales and a Postgraduate Diploma (Performance) from the Royal Northern College of Music.

Born on the Wirral, Graham Jordan Ellis has been associated with the musical life of Merseyside for many years and has achieved a considerable reputation as an experienced conductor of both choral and orchestral music, working with many choral and operatic societies.

In 1990 he founded the Liverpool Sinfonia, an orchestra of freelance professional players which appears with him regularly.

Graham has also worked for BBC radio and television.

Tickets are still available from Chester Visitor Centre: 0845 241 7868 or via the web site: www.chestermusicsociety.org.uk.