Choir that inspired Pavarotti to mark star's 90th birthday

A CHOIR that helped inspire Luciano Pavarotti is set to perform in Italy to mark what would have been the opera legend's 90th birthday.

- STAFF REPORTER

Thirty-six members of the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir will travel to his home city of Modena to sing alongside Pavarotti's old choir, Chorus Rossini. The performance will form part of the Bel Canto Festival on October 12 - the exact date the Italian tenor would have celebrated his milestone birthday.

The Fron Choir, which famously welcomed Pavarotti to the Llangollen International Eisteddfod in 1955 and again in 1995, is being hailed for continuing its unique bond with the late superstar. Pavarotti revealed that his first visit to the festival lit the spark that inspired his glittering international career.

The Modena trip is being made possible thanks to the backing of Mario Kreft MBE and his wife, Gill, through the Pendine Arts and Community Trust, which supports cultural and community initiatives.

The couple are also long-term supporters of the Eisteddfod, and in July accompanied Pavarotti’s widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, when she visited to mark the 70th anniversary of her late husband's first experience at the festival.