A PENARTH woman is set to appear in a BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales concert at St David’s Hall this weekend.

Catherine Duffy, Wordsworth Avenue, will sing with the BBC National Chorus of Wales on Friday, October 4.

Catherine, 40, will be singing with the choir as it celebrates its 30th Anniversary with a series of concerts at St David’s Hall.

“I’m looking forward to this year’s performance,” she said.

“It’s one of my favourite pieces so I can’t wait to perform it with Thomas Søndergård.”

She added: “I think the highlight of my singing career has been performing with Bryn Terfel at the Eisteddfod in 2008.

“To perform with him was just amazing as he is such a brilliant singer.”

Following two spectacular performances at the BBC Proms in London this summer, Thomas Søndergård returns to Cardiff to conduct the show.

As part of his debut BBC Proms season, Søndergård conducted Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony to great critical acclaim – and he now returns to Cardiff in October to conduct Shostakovich’s Symphony No 8. Also featured will be the BBC National Chorus of Wales in Poulenc’s Gloria, in the first concert where Principal Conductor Thomas Søndergård will lead the Chorus in St David’s Hall.

Poulenc’s Gloria will feature the Orchestra and Chorus, joined by the talented Norwegian soprano Marita Sølberg. This joyful work is full of youthful vitality – inspired by the sight of Benedictine monks playing football, and frescoes of angels with their tongues sticking out.

In his first concert in Cardiff with BBC National Chorus of Wales, Thomas Søndergård is relishing the opportunity to work with the Chorus: “I effectively grew up in an opera house, and vocal music has always meant something very special to me,” he said.

“To work with choirs of the quality that we have here in Wales is something that really makes my heart beat faster.

“Poulenc’s Gloria is one of my favourite pieces, so I’m really looking forward to performing it with the wonderful Marita Solberg”

In the second half of the concert, Søndergård will lead the Orchestra in Shostakovich’s powerful Symphony No 8 – written at the height of Soviet Russian censorship against Soviet artists.

One of Shostakovich’s darkest pieces, which he described himself as his “requiem”, it uses the extended Orchestra to great effect, with its emotional and moving music sure to wow audiences.

Tickets for the Orchestra and Chorus’s concert, on Friday 4 October, 7.30pm, are £10-£29 (discounts available) and are available through the BBC National Orchestra of Wales Audience Line, by calling 0800 052 1812.

Alternatively, tickets are available through the St David’s Hall Box Office on 029 2087 8444, or online at stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk.

For more information about the Orchestra, visit their website at bbc.co.uk/now.