LYME Bay Chorale will perform a spring concert on Sunday May 14 at St Michael's Parish Church, Lyme Regis at 4pm.

The chorale is a choir of about 28 auditioned SATB singers under the direction of Alex Davies, organist at St. Michael's Parish Church in Lyme Regis.

Peter Parshall will be working with Lyme Bay Chorale as their guest conductor for the choir's spring concert on May 14.

Alex said: "It's fantastic to work with Peter, who has already made a huge contribution to the community, namely his work with the Organ School, with local choirs and choral societies.

"I feel it keeps the choir fresh to work with different conductors. I think Peter will put a spring in our step this spring!"'

Organ Scholar of Westminster College, Oxford, between 1990 and 1993, Peter studied the organ with David Saint at the Birmingham Conservatoire. In 1994, he was appointed Director of Music at St Mary Magdalene Church, Oxford, where, in 1997, he was instrumental in the establishment of a professional eight-voice choir, together with the commissioning of a new organ for the church.

Peter was co-ordinator of the Royal School of Church Music in Ireland between 2004 and 2011 with responsibility for the development of the RSCM in that country, together with the implementation of its programmes of education and training.

The concert's centrepiece will be the intensely moving Duruflé's Requiem which dates from the era of the 2nd world war. Commissioned by the Vichy Regime, it was still incomplete when the regime collapsed in 1947.

Stanford's 'Lo I raise up' is a response to the horror at the 1914-18 war and at what he saw as Germany's abandonment of its artistic heritage. It seeks to articulate his hopes for Britain's deliverance through the analogy of the Old Testament prophet Habbakkuk's words.

Britten's 'Rejoice in the Lamb' uses a highly idiosyncratic and ecstatic praise and worship of God by all created creatures, with startling results.

Musical director, Alex Davies, trained at Trinity College of Music and worked at various London churches with professional choirs and as a cathedral organ scholar before moving to back to his hometown, where he combines work in the family business with work as a freelance musician.

*Lyme Bay Chorale Spring Concert, Sunday May 14, St Michael's Parish Church, Lyme Regis. Tickets cost £15 on the door or £13 in advance from Lyme’s Tourist Information Centre, Penny Black’s Tea-room in Lyme and from choir members. Under - 19s are free. Ticket includes LBC’s famous post concert buffet.