The programme for the 2008-09 season for Ryedale Choral (formerly Ryedale Choral Union) starts with a Christmas concert of seasonal songs and readings in Kirkbymoorside Methodist Church on Wednesday 17th December at 7.45pm. This is followed by two concerts in 2009, planned to mark the bicentenary of the death of Haydn and the birth of Mendelssohn as well as the 250th anniversary of the birth of Handel. There will be a special performance of the popular oratorio "The Creation" by Haydn at Thornton -le-Dale parish church on Saturday 24th January at 7.30pm, featuring the voices of soprano Clare Strafford, tenor Paul Dutton and bass Quentin Brown. The season finishes with a concert featuring Cantata 114 "Israel's Departure from Egypt" by Mendelssohn, Faure's "Requiem" and two Coronation anthems, "Zadok the Priest" and "The King Shall Rejoice" in the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering on Saturday 4th April at 7.30pm - soloists to be announced. Tickets are £6.00. Ryedale Choral is a well-established choir attended by singers from all over the area. We rehearse on Friday evenings from September to April in Pickering Methodist Church hall, Potter Hill at 7.30pm and new singers are always made welcome. For further information, please call the above numbers.

Mary Cowton.