MID Wales Opera take up residence in the border town of Presteigne for a week starting on Monday, April 22, that will include rehearsals, two performances of a major work by Purcell and an evening of classical music in the town.

The residency will involve more than 40 professional, amateur and student singers and musicians working with the company’s artistic director Richard Studer and music director Jon Lyness, who are both local to Presteigne.

It will result in two OpenStages performances of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ at 3 and 8pm at St Andrew’s Church on Saturday, April 27.

Before that the company will be taking over the historic Judge’s Lodging museum on Thursday, April 25, for a ‘Haus Musik’ evening at 7pm which they hope will “break all the rules of classical music experience”.

Thursday evening is designed to be an informal and eclectic collection of classical treats.

“People will be able to stroll through the building, drink and canape in hand and discover a treasure trove of musical delights from Bach in the cellars to Offenbach in the courtroom” said Richard Studer.

‘Dido and Aeneas’ will feature Monique Simons as Dido, Kiefer Jones as Aeneas, and Organ Prawang as Belinda.

“It’s a beautiful opera, only 70 minutes long, and will look and sound amazing in St Andrew’s Church,” said Richard who will design and direct the production.

Tickets for ‘Dido and Aeneas’ are £7 for the 3pm performance and £12 for the 8pm show. Under 18s can attend for free and tickets are available from The Workhouse, Presteigne, or from wegottickets.com. More details can be found on MWO’s website at www.midwalesopera.co.uk.