Flags at the ready – the Leeds Castle Classical Concert is set to wow thousands in one of the most picturesque settings in Kent this weekend. We profile the top musicians and entertainment and meet host Aled Jones.

With well-known popular classics, top-flight musicians and entertaining acts, all in the perfect surroundings of Leeds Castle – topped off with fireworks and a Spitfire flypast – the concert promises to be the highlight to launch what we all hope will be a long, hot summer.

Field cannons, fireworks, a Spitfire display and plenty of picnics will be part of the evening, set to the soundtrack of much-loved classics such as the 1812 Overture performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Guests can pull up a deckchair and picnic as host, singer and presenter Aled Jones welcomes everyone.

It will be Aled’s first time at the concert, which will be held on Saturday, July 9, although it’s not his first visit to the castle.

“I did Songs of Praise at Leeds Castle some years ago, so I know it – it’s such a perfect setting,” he said.

“I do a few of these summer concerts, but in such a great setting with a Spitfire flying overhead? That’s what makes this one so special. There’s nothing better than Land of Hope and Glory. It’s so incredibly stirring.”

Although Aled won’t be singing in the concert himself, he admitted humming along with everyone else to the music. “Who can’t resist it?”

Now an experienced host at such events, he said he may throw in some ad-libs and did not rule out joining in the dancing if the moment called for it. “I have done Strictly, of course. Nothing fazes me any more, I’ve been doing this so long,” he said.

A household name since the 1980s when he sang Walking in the Air as a boy soprano, he is now busy presenting and singing, working on shows including Escape to the Country and Cash in the Attic for the BBC and co-presenting ITV’s breakfast show Daybreak with Lorraine Kelly.

His album One Voice is the highest-charting classical album for nine years and he recently performed songs from it at Rochester Castle.

Bringing 60s glamour to the stage will be the Definitive Rat Pack, who performed last year.

They will be bringing their nine-piece band and glamorous backing vocalists The Golddiggers with them.

Best known as the original cast members of The Rat Pack: Live from Las Vegas, members Stephen Triffitt, Mark Adams and George Daniel Long are now considered the world’s finest interpreters of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

The evening will also feature field-guns, a breathtaking Spitfire display and a firework finale.

CHOIR WINNERS

Serving up barbershop-style harmonies for a starter will be the Kentones.
Winners of the Top Choir Kent competition this year, they will be opening the entertainment on stage.

Led by music director Peter Kennedy, the Kentones are a chorus of more than 40 singers specialising in unaccompanied four-part harmony, or barbershop.

The Classical Concert will be the largest audience they have played to, although they have played across the country and at the biennial singing festival in Holland.

DANCE CHAMPIONS

Junior England dance champions will be inviting the crowd to dance a waltz with them again this year.

Max and Katie Harrison, from Kingswood near Maidstone, were among the acts taking part in last year’s event, when they joined Strictly couple James and Ola Jordan in leading the audience in a mass waltz. The Jordans also took a selfie with the thousands who joined in.

They will be inviting the crowd to dance a waltz to the classic song Moon River.

The pair are England Amateur Ballroom and Latin 10 dance champions and started dancing together in January 2013 as Juniors. They are currently ranked eighth in the world in the Under 19 Ballroom Championships.

AS SEEN ON TV

You’ve seen them on TV and at the Classical Concert, and now the P&O Ferries Choir return this year.

They formed back in 2013 for the BBC’s The Choir: Sing While You Work, starring Gareth Malone, and now three years later have released their first album, Ship to Shore, from which they will perform tracks on the night.

The members are drawn from a cross-section of staff working on different ships and at shore locations, so it’s a logistical challenge to get them together.

Musical director Hilary Campbell said: “The group has been a roller-coaster ride for its members, many of whom had not previously sung in choirs.”

GOING SOLO

Joining the world-famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on stage will be renowned soloists Anthony Flaum, who performed at last year’s event, and Frances McCafferty.

Since her debut at the Royal Opera in 1997, Frances has sung with Greek National Opera, the English Touring Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Anthony was a member of the 2011 Glyndebourne Festival Chorus and has sung at festivals throughout Europe and made his BBC Proms debut in summer 2015 as Motel Kamzoil in Fiddler on the Roof with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He will debut with the English National Opera this year.

He said: “The walls of the castle are steeped in history and the pieces we’re performing match that sense of drama. There’s nothing I love more than looking out from the stage and seeing audiences forget about their daily lives and just revel in the music - they either sing or sway along or just close their eyes and escape.”

Artistic director John Rigby added: “It’s a joy to be able to welcome back Anthony Flaum – he is emerging as one of the brightest rising stars of his generation and it’s wonderful that we have been able to secure his services for a second year.

“Frances McCafferty was a regular soloist at the concert a number of years ago and I am sure that she will be able to bring the best out of the audience’s contribution to proceedings in her own inimitable style.”

DETAILS

The Leeds Castle Classical Concert is on Saturday, July 9.

The car park opens at 2.30pm, with the concert arena open from 4.30pm. It will end at 10.15pm. Tickets are £43 for picnic-style watching. Seated tickets are sold out. See leedscastleconcert.co.uk