A music society choir is set to launch its latest season with a dramatic performance.

Chester Music Society Choir will open its new concert season with William Walton’s powerful cantata Belshazzar’s Feast, to be performed at Chester Cathedral on Saturday, November 21, at 7.30pm.

The concert will also include Gerald Finzi’s For St. Cecilia and Dies Natalis, as well as Walton’s Suite from Henry V.

Francis Coxhead, chair of Chester Music Society Choir, said: "We are delighted to be bringing the dynamic "Belshazzar's Feast" to Chester Cathedral as part of the first concert of our new season.

"We are looking forward to welcoming soloists Daniel Joy and Andrew Mayor as well as our friends from Liverpool Sinfonia and our renowned Conductor, Graham Jordan Ellis for what promises to be a superb evening of live music."

The choir will be joined by tenor Daniel Joy, baritone Andrew Mayor, and the Liverpool Sinfonia, all under the baton of conductor Graham Jordan Ellis.

Belshazzar’s Feast, commissioned by the BBC in 1929, is one of Walton’s most celebrated works.

It tells the Old Testament story of the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites, the death of their oppressor Belshazzar, and the collapse of the Babylonian kingdom.

The cantata is known for its vivid and sometimes controversial musical effects.

It was considered unsuitable for church performance and was banned from the Three Choirs Festival until 1957.

Conductor Herbert von Karajan described the work as "the best choral music that's been written in the last 50 years."

Finzi’s For St. Cecilia premiered at the Royal Albert Hall in 1947 and uses text by English

war poet Edmund Blunden to praise St Cecilia, the goddess of Music.

Finzi’s Dies Natalis, written between 1938 and 1939, sets mystical texts by 17th-century poet Thomas Traherne.

Walton’s score for Henry V was composed in 1944 for the Laurence Olivier film, and has been adapted several times to be performed as a standalone suite.

Soloists for the evening bring extensive experience to the stage.

Daniel Joy has performed with leading opera companies including Opera North, Glyndebourne Festival, and Scottish Opera.

Andrew Mayor, a Manchester-born baritone and graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, has sung at the Royal Opera House and internationally across the USA, Europe, and Asia.

Full concert details and ticket bookings are available at www.chestermusicsociety.org.uk.

Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Chester Cathedral Box Office.