Next up in a varied series of events at St Frideswide’s Church in Oxford’s Botley Road is a concert by Oxfordshire a capella male voice vocal ensemble, St James Singers, who will be presenting a special Jubilee Celebration Charity Concert in aid of church funds.

The ten singers who make up SJS come from a variety of musical backgrounds. But, the group tells me, they all share a passion for making music and an infectious enthusiasm for intimate live performance. There are no formal auditions, with the group welcoming approaches from singers looking to expand their horizons, and who “share our ethos of making quality music-making fun”.

St James Singers’ Best of British concert will feature songs with royal connections from the past 600 years. Composers represented during the evening will include Tallis, Morley, Purcell, Sullivan and Vaughan Williams, all presented, the group promises, in its energetic and imaginative style. The music will be interspersed with readings of classic poetry by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Masefield and Sir John Betjeman, whose connection with, and love for, Oxfordshire is exemplified in his poem The Bells Of Magdalen Tower.

“With St James Singers now in their 18th year, we wanted to have our own celebration concert too”, says the group’s musical director Mike Jones, “so we’ll be including a world premiere performance of a piece especially written for us by local composer Judith Ward.” Ward’s O Mistress Mine is a setting of words from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a traditional love song, but with a twist: “We sing it to a tango rhythm,” says Mike, “But that doesn’t mean we’re aiming for an attempt at Strictly Come Dancing!” The concert at St Frideswide’s starts at 7.30pm on May 31 and complimentary refreshments will be served during the interval, when there will be a chance to meet and chat with the artists. Tickets will be available on the door.