Lauren Roscoe (soprano) and Kelvin Lim (piano) perform Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Liszt’s Tannhäuser Overture piano transcription at St Wilfrid’s Church, Haywards Heath at 7pm on Sunday, February 8, following Evensong (6-6.45pm).

Spokesman Melvyn Walmsley said: “While working on Tristan und Isolde, Wagner set Five Poems for a Female Voice by Mathilde Wesendonck, a patron’s wife. The musical ideas in two of these Wagner developed further in the opera.

“Liszt championed Wagner. Inspired by themes in Tannhäuser (1845) – sacred versus profane love, and love’s redemptive power – he wrote his brilliant Overture Concert Paraphrase.

“New Zealand-British dramatic soprano Lauren Roscoe completed postgraduate opera studies at Trinity Laban as Morag Noble scholar, supported by MusicHelps NZ. She has sung in masterclasses for Susan Bullock, Yvonne Howard and Ubaldo Fabbri. Her solo roles include Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Lady Billows (Albert Herring), Mother (Meno) and Brunnhilde (Die Walküre). She soon plays Helmwige in Opera Forge’s Die Walküre.

“RCM graduate Kelvin Lim, a sought-after vocal coach, especially for Wagner, has worked for Royal Ballet and Opera, ENO, English Touring Opera, Opera Holland Park and Grange Park, and on every Longborough Festival Opera Wagner production, including Ring cycles. He has led opera scenes at Trinity Laban and the Guildhall and is an ROH Chorus auditions panellist and Dartington ChoralFest tutor. A recipient of the Bayreuth Bursary, Kelvin has served as musical director for Mastersingers.

“He has conducted Otello, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Jenůfa, Samson et Dalila, The Turn of the Screw, and Norma. Kevin will soon conduct Turandot for Instant Opera, be assistant conductor of WNO’s Der Fliegende Holländer, and, for Longborough’s Tristan und Isolde, chorus master/assistant conductor.”

Admission is free, with a retiring collection for St Wilfrid’s Choral Scholarship Scheme for 12 to 18 year olds for tuition and singing with the church choir in term time.