LOCAL conductor Emma Rowland-Elsen will celebrate 25 years of choral conducting with a special Silver Gala Concert at St Mary’s Church, Ross-on-Wye, on Saturday 21 November.

The concert brings together Border Belles Ladies’ Choir, Sing out Strong, the Harmony Singers, and Wye Not Sing? for an evening celebrating music, community, and the people behind the singing.

Alongside her musical career, Emma has made mental health and inclusion central to her work. She leads Border Belles, the Ross-on-Wye women’s mental health choir, who’s recent fifth-birthday Singathon raised vital funds for Herefordshire Mind.

Through her daytime choirs Harmony Singers in Dinedor, Hereford, and Wye Not Sing? in Ross, she creates opportunities for local people to sing, connect, and contribute to their communities.

Emma founded Sing out Strong in 2019, with its lockdown virtual choir going on to reach more than 11,000 singers from 109 countries around the globe.

Her commitment to mental health awareness also saw her carry the Baton of Hope in Hereford in 2025 and be nominated for a BBC Make a Difference Award and John Kyrle Civic Award.

Her specialist work now extends through Choirwise, the organisation she founded to help choirs and choir events become more inclusive and mentally healthy.

Drawing on her conducting experience and mental health training, she develops practical resources and advises leaders on supporting singers, improving access, and looking after their own wellbeing.

At the heart of her approach is a simple belief: “Choirs that feel better sound better – and that starts with the singers.”

The Silver Gala offers audiences an opportunity to celebrate that work alongside a quarter-century of music-making, with performances from all four choirs and special moments reflecting Emma’s conducting journey.

The concert takes place at 7pm on Saturday 21 November 2026, at St Mary’s Church, Ross. Tickets are £12 for adults, with free admission for under 16s via tickettailor.com search ‘singoutstrong’.