Ely Consort says it is going back to its roots for a forthcoming concert which will take place in the city in March.

The event takes place on Saturday, March 9, and the well-respected local chamber choir will be returning to the spot where it all began – St Mary’s Church, in Ely!

Founded in 1988 as St Mary’s Chamber Choir by Aidan Fairlie, the new choir took its name from the church where it rehearsed.

The choir had a number of directors following Aidan and re-established in 1994 as Ely Consort under David Price, then assistant organist at Ely Cathedral.

For more than 20 years, the choir has been led by Matthew Rudd, one of the area’s finest choral directors.

Choir chairman John Simmons is a founder choir member from 1988 and still singing with the group today.

He says: “I’m delighted to see the choir returning to its origins to perform there for the first time in many years.

"We will be taking advantage of the wonderful new layout inside the church which now has greater flexibility for use as a performance space by groups of our size – and is warm and comfortable too.”

The major work in the concert will be Dvorak’s Mass in D, performed in a new orchestration with the Quintessentials wind quintet.

In the first half, the choir will sing a variety of pieces in various configurations for up to three separate choirs.

These include the transcendant Three Latin Motets by the well-known church composer Sir Charles Villers Stanford (in the year marking the centenary of his death) as well as the Jubilate Deo a 12 by the 16th Century master Luca Marenzio and works by contemporary composers Janet Wheeler and Marek Raczynski.

Find out more at the choir’s website at: www.elyconsort.org.uk on Facebook (elyconsort) and X (@elyconsort).

Tickets for March 9 are £15 from: www.ticketsource.co.uk/elyconsort or £18 on the door. Under 18s can come free.

John Simmons - chair@elyconsort.org.u