FINAL preparations are underway for the staging of a special concert at Chester Town Hall which will feature one of the UK's best loved Welsh tenors.

Following on from the success of its recent sell out concert "Voices in Harmony", which featured two visiting choirs from the USA, Chester Male Voice Choir is now busy preparing to welcome the renowned and immensely popular Ruthin tenor Rhys Meirion back to Chester for the choir's autumn festival concert, which takes place at Chester Town Hall on Saturday, October 19.

Rhys Meirion originally worked as a primary school headteacher at Ysgol Pentrecelyn before leaving in 1997 to study opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

He is one of the Three Welsh Tenors / Tri Tenor Cymru and his album with Bryn Terfel, 'Benedictus', was nominated for a Classical Brit Award in 2006.

He has sung the part of Rodolfo with Frankfurt Opera, West Australian Opera and at Opera Australia, and the title role in Gounod's Faust at the Hong Kong Opera Society amongst others.

Rhys is a regular presenter on S4C and Radio Cymru.

His series of Deuawdau Rhys Meirion proved to be very popular.

His new series Corau Rhys Meirion was broadcast on S4C during the spring.

Over the summer, Rhys recorded a new CD to celebrate his 20th anniversary as a professional singer, with his mentor Brian Hughes accompanying him on the piano.

Speaking about welcoming Rhys Meirion to Chester once again for the special autumn festival concert, Chester Male Voice Choir chairman John Walsh said: "This will be the second time that Rhys Meirion has sung with the choir.

"It was 11 years ago in October 2008 when he first appeared with us in our festival concert at Chester Cathedral.

"Previous autumn festival concerts staged by the choir have included appearances by several famous names, including Sir Bryn Terfel, Sir Willard White, Maria Friedman, Katherine Jenkins, Vernon and Marietta Midgley and Sir Geraint Evans to name but a few.

"Last year, Rhys approached us with the idea of a joint concert and we quickly responded that we would be delighted to do so.

"Rhys hails from Ruthin, the home town of his friend and one of our favourite composers, Robat Arwyn.

"We will feature some of his wonderful pieces in our programme. We can promise a great evening of musical entertainment and a rare opportunity to see Rhys Meirion in Chester.”

The concert will start at 7.30pm and there will be an interval bar available.

Full details of the event can be found at www.chestermalevoice.com/concerts where tickets can be bought online. Tickets can also be purchased in person from the Visitor Information Centre at Chester Town Hall or reserved by telephone on 07894 509529.