FOLLOWING two very successful concerts in the All Saints Church Spring Season of Music at Lunchtime recitals, the church is pleased to welcome two new faces for the next concert on Monday, April 18 at 1pm.

Rachel Moras, mezzo soprano, is a graduate of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama who has won the Pendyrus Male Voice Choir Award and has twice been awarded the Laura Ashley Foundation Scholarship.

Her operatic roles include Sorceress Dido and Aeneas (RWCMD; Benslow Baroque Opera; Musica Rediviva) Madame de la Haltiere Cendrillon (RWCMD) Nursing Sister Suor Angelica, La Frugola Il Tabarro (Co-opera) Huntsman Venus and Adonis, Black Cat/Squirrel L’enfant et les sortilèges (Opera Mint) Anna Maria Stuarda (Operatique).

Oratorio performances include Bach’s St John’s Passion, Haydn’s Harmonie Messe, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle amongst others.

Rachel recently recorded the roles of the Black Cat and the Squirrel in Ravel‘s L’enfant et les sortilèges for a pioneering music educational programme for primary school children. Future engagements include The Mother Amahl and the Night Visitors.

Accompanying Rachel on the piano will be Sian Davies.

Sian studied at Leeds University where she won the accompanist prize. She subsequently studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, specialising in piano accompaniment and won the Friends of RWCMD prize.

In 1993 Sian became the accompanist for the South Wales Male Choir, Cor Meibion De Cymru, and has performed with them at the Sydney Opera House and on tours in Canada, USA, Germany, France, Scandinavia, Hungary, Poland and Spain. She also toured Russia and the Ukraine with the Richard Williams Singers.

She has been the guest accompanist for the Association of Welsh Male Voice Choirs at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Wales Festival of Remembrance at St David's Hall, Cardiff.

Sian has accompanied leading Welsh artists such as Gwyn Hughes Jones, Rebecca Evans, Shan Cothi, Charlotte Church and Rhys Meirion in concert. She has also accompanied Rebecca Evans and Stuart Burrows in recital and accompanied masterclasses given by Stephen Isserlis, Julian Lloyd Webber, Jac von Steen and Emmanuel Siffert.

Sian has arranged several pieces for brass band and male voice choirs. She is presently a member of staff at the Wales International Academy of Voice, accompanying the Saturday academy directed by Patricia ONeill.

All the Music at Lunchtime recitals at All Saints Church, Victoria Square, Penarth are held between 1pm and 2pm on Mondays and entry is free although donations are welcomed towards the church’s organ fund.

All Saints church is completely accessible to disabled people and audiences can choose between sitting downstairs or upstairs on the gallery (there is a lift) where they can have their lunch (bring your own) with teas and coffees provided.

There are another three recitals planned for May and June including a visit by Flautissimo – the Southampton Flute Choir who are performing in South Wales over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Further details regarding music at All Saints church are available on the website at allsaintspenarth.org.uk, on Facebook or via Dafydd G Jones, the Parish administrator on 029 2070 3170 or admin@allsaintspenarth.org.uk