A LIVELY and varied programme of operatic songs by well-loved composers is set to be aired at a special concert in aid of the Worcester Appeal For Music And Light.

The event, at Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, tonight, will feature tenor John Mark Ainsley, with Iain Farrington on piano.

The programme will include Purcell's If Music Be The Food Of Love, Handel's Total Eclipse and Where e'er You Walk, Britten's Winter Words, Howells' The Lady Caroline and An Old Man's Lullaby and Quilter's Shakespeare Songs.

Mr Ainsley is internationally renowned on the operatic and concert stage, while retaining strong links with Worcester-shire. Mr Farrington is an exceptional pianist and arranger.

Mr Ainsley spent his childhood in Worcester, attending the Royal Grammar School before winning a musical scholarship to Maudlin College, Oxford. As a youngster, he performed at St Martin's, London Road, in the Voluntary Choir at Worcester Cathedral and as part of the Worcester Three Choirs Festival.

A highly versatile concert singer, his recent international engagements include performances with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis. Mr Ainsley has sung lead twice at Sydney Opera House.

On the operatic stage, he has performed at the Glynde-bourne, with Opera Australia, the Netherlands Opera, at the Royal Opera House and at Teatro Real, Madrid.

Mr Farrington, meanwhile, read music at St John's College, Cambridge, before studying at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won the Christian Carpenter, Daniel Kelly, Michael Head, Arthur Bliss and Flora Nielsen Prizes.

He has performed at Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Proms 2001, 2004 and 2005 and the Royal Opera House.

The Worcester Appeal for Music And Light aims to raise £5m to secure the future of Worcester Cathedral and enhance its accessibility to a wider range of people.

Concert tickets are priced £17.50, and are available from Huntingdon Hall Box Office, off Deansway, Worcester.