HEREFORDSHIRE singers took up a royal invitation to sing at the home of the Queen.

Around 100 people from the county joined equal numbers from Gloucester and Worcester to take part in a gala performance in the ballroom of Buckingham Palace at the invitation of Charles, Prince of Wales, the president of the Three Choirs Festival Association.

The concert marked the conclusion of this year’s tercentenary celebrations for the Three Choirs Festival, which is believed to be the oldest continuously running classical music festival in the world .

The massed choir of almost 300 singers – which included the Three Cathedral Choirs of Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester, the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir – gave an hour-long recital for Prince Charles and invited guests, who were welcomed by Dr Timothy Brain, Chairman of the Three Choirs Festival Association.

After the performance, Prince Charles met some of the performers, including cathedral choristers and members of the youth choir and festival chorus.

Geraint Bowen, director of music at Hereford Cathedral and artistic director of this year's 300th anniversary Three Choirs Festival in Hereford, shared the conducting at Buckingham Palace with his Gloucester and Worcester colleagues Adrian Partington and Peter Nardone.

He said: "Our group of singers included Hereford members of the Three Choirs Festival Chorus and Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir, Hereford Cathedral Choir and Hereford Cathedral Voluntary Choir.

“For everyone, especially our cathedral choristers, some as young as nine, this was an unforgettable experience.

"There was very little time to rehearse in the Ballroom – about an hour – and all the performers were amazingly professional and well-prepared so that every available second was used.

"After the concert many of the performers had an opportunity to meet Prince Charles at a reception before boarding coaches for the journey back home. It was a wonderful way to round off this special anniversary year."

The 45-minute programme included choral favourites such as Handel's Zadok the Priest and Parry's I was glad, accompanied on the ballroom's organ by Hereford Cathedral's assistant director of music, Peter Dyke, his two counterparts at Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, and a brass group from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.

Music by Purcell, Vaughan Williams, and the contemporary composer John Rutter was also included in the recital and the event was supported by the Three Choirs Foundation.