Classical Preview: Festival set to resound to the voices of the valleys

More used to entertaining local audiences in the Welsh valleys, The Fron Male Voice Choir found themselves in great demand around the world, their chart-topping discs having sold more than a million albums in the UK alone.

Now with tours around Europe and North America behind them, they bring

their mix of emotive Welsh song, African spirituals and "pop" tunes to

Harrogate's Royal Hall as part of this year's Ripon Festival.

In more serious mode, it is another vocal group, Stile Antico, that you must not miss.

Prizewinners in the Early Music International Network Competition held in York five years ago, the New York Times hailed their American debut as "an ensemble of breathtaking freshness, vitality and balance".

Their programme in Ripon Cathedral contains part of their 2009 Gramophone Award for Early Music album, Song of Songs.

As the centrepiece of the three weeks, the festival's artistic director, Janusz Piotrowicz, conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert that includes Beethoven's joyous Seventh Symphony, part of the complete symphony cycle he gave to much acclaim in London.

The Cathedral concert also includes Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and Mozart's Jupiter Symphony (September 12).

Two living legends from very different backgrounds come together for a feast of guitar music, classical sounds coming from John Williams in an

eclectic mix with John Etheridge's world electric guitars.

The spectacular Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers, exhilarating flamenco from Eclipse and the guitarist, Dimitris Dekavallas, also feature in the festival's 21 events.

Ripon International Festival, September 4-23, 01765 605508.