THE Furness Bach Choir enters a new era following the death of its much-loved conductor, Anthony Milledge, earlier this year.

For the next public concert, at Ulverston Parish Church on Saturday June 24, his widow will take over the role.

The Midsummer Night concert will be based around Faure's Requiem, with organist Colin Dean and violinist Pamela Redman - who will also play movements from J.S. Bach’s Partita No.2 in D minor - appearing as guest soloists for the evening.

The first half of this year has been a difficult time for Furness Bach Choir, and chairman Ross Baxter describes it as a ‘watershed’ moment.

He says: “The first concert without Tony at the helm, since he took over in 2007, will feel very strange, so it is wonderful that we will be conducted by his widow, Deborah, in a programme that will highlight the strengths that Tony brought to the choir: fresh approaches and compelling, energetic delivery of great music from different periods.”

Deborah adds: "Faure’s lovely Requiem was a natural choice for the concert. Its calm melodic beauty is shot through with moments of passionate intensity."

Midsummer also marks the Feast of St John the Baptist, and for the other half of the programme Deborah Milledge has chosen polyphonic works for this feast by 16th century composers: Gibbons, Weelkes and Byrd from England, Guerrero and Morales from Spain.

She continues: “Midsummer is a moment of change, and the two halves of this concert reflect the transition that the choir is going through, bidding farewell to a treasured past, and looking forward to the future just breaking over the horizon."

The concert on Saturday June 24 starts at 7.30pm, and tickets are available in advance from Sutton’s Bookshop, in Ulverston, or can be booked by phoning 01229 837680.