The University of Essex Choir is to make a return visit to Snape Maltings Concert Hall on Saturday 3 May.

Following acclaimed performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass in 2006 and Mendelssohn’s Elijah in 2007 the choir will be performing the Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar.

The Dream of Gerontius is an oratorio for mezzo-soprano, tenor, bass, choir and orchestra, based on the poem of the same name by Cardinal John Newman. Since the premiere of the work in Birmingham in 1900 it has remained the most popular of all Elgar’s choral works.

The choir will be joined by the Essex Sinfonia and soloists Catherine Hopper, Mezzo-Soprano, Andrew Staples, Tenor and Benjamin Bevan, Bass.

The Choir was founded in 1977 and numbers about 150 singers. Its membership is drawn from staff and students of the University and from the local community, and reflects the international diversity of the Colchester Campus.

The Choir performs two concerts a year and many of its Spring concerts are given at Snape. It has also performed in the cathedrals at Norwich, Bury St. Edmunds and Chelmsford as well as at Canterbury and in Lille. The Choir is conducted by Richard Cooke who also conducts the Royal Choral Society and Canterbury Choral Society.

The University of Essex Choir will be at Snape Maltings on Saturday 3 May at 7pm. Tickets are priced from £10 to £20 (£6 concessions on £10 tickets), and are available from Aldeburgh Productions Box Office, telephone: 01728 687110, e-mail: boxoffice@aldeburgh.co.uk. A selection of tickets will also be available from the University of Essex Arts Office, telephone: 01206 873261, e-mail: arts@essex.ac.uk.