THE prospect of improved weather has opened the door to open-air classical concerts with events announced at Eastnor Castle and by the Malvern-based English Symphony Orchestra.

A show of glamour and razzmatazz is promised at Eastnor. An American Dream mixes classic American music with fireworks on Friday, June 22, with the audience invited to picnic in the castle grounds.

The concert features the Performing Arts Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Roderick Dunk, and begins with Sousa's Washington Post March, before whipcracking through Copland's Wild West evoking Rodeo Suite and Bernstein's Overture Candide.

Samuel Barber's haunting Adagio for Strings and Gershwin's An American In Paris close the first half of the show, which will re-open with the overture from West Side Story.

A selection of Broadway songs from soloist Mary Carewe gives way to a grand finale, as John Williams' Theme from Star Wars is performed to an accompaniment of a thousand fireworks.

The gates open at 6pm, with the show beginning at 8pm. Tickets start at £17.50, available from the ticket hotline on 0870 90 20 003.

The English Symphony Orchestra's Music in the Park concert is at Hagley Hall on Saturday, July 21. The event is in aid of Sunfield Charities, which raises money to aid children with profound and multiple learning needs.

The orchestra will perform Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf with comedian Jasper Carrott narrating. Also on the program are Vivaldi's Four Seasons with soloist Michael Bochmann and Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, complete with a firework display.

The concert will start at 7.30pm and tickets are £18 in advance, from the box office on 01684 560696.

Prior to that is the ESO indoor concerts at the Malvern Theatres. On Saturday, April 21, the main orchestra and the ESO Youth Orchestra will perform Grieg's New Work, Sibelius' Violin Concerto in D minor with Michael Bochmann and Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2 in E Minor. The concert begins at 7.30pm.

The next day, Sunday, April 22, Adrian Partington conducts the ESO Youth Orchestra in a performance of Mervyn Burtch's The First Dragon and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, with Francesca Kay narrating. The concert begins at 3pm. Tickets for each concert are £6, available from the box office on 01684 892277.