CHAPEL Street Music's Spring series begins with a special concert of baroque concertos and arias in Penzance this Sunday (January 18).

Lighting up Chapel Street Methodist Church will be candlelight and a programme of music and song by Handel and Bach. Chapel Street Ensemble, with soloists Katy Rowe and Nat Jones, will be joined by the enormously experienced Robert Farley on trumpet and Cornish soprano Katherine Gregory.

Katherine is this year’s recipient of the Eleanor Margaret Scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music, where she is studying for an MA with Susan Waters, Chris Hopkins and James Baillieu. Katherine is sought after as an oratorio soloist, performing frequently with some of the UK’s top choirs and orchestras.

She made her debut at the Royal Festival Hall singing alongside the Bach Choir and Philharmonia Orchestra at the age of 20, since going on to perform with them a number of times, including performances in Holy Trinity Sloan Square and Kings College Chapel, alongside the Britten Sinfonia.

Robert Farley studied at the Royal College of Music where he won several prizes including the Ernest Hall Memorial Prize. He is now a busy freelance trumpeter working with major UK orchestras. On the baroque trumpet he is principal of The Orchestra of the Sixteen, Orpheus Britannicus and The Hanover Band.

With these groups he has appeared as principal trumpet on numerous critically acclaimed recordings including Bach B Minor Mass Handel’s Messiah, Coronation anthems and Bach’s Orchestral Suites. He has been guest principal and soloist with The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music and Tafel Music, Canada.

Tim Dean, chair of Chapel Street Music said: “If you were ever thinking about inviting a guest to one of our concerts, this might be the one; we aim to bring some much needed cheer to a rather miserable January!”

Advanced bookings at www.chapelstreetmusic.co.uk