Robin Nelson, musical director of the Swindon Choral Society, has had one of his compositions chosen to be performed at the nightly ceremony of remembrance at Ypres' Menin Gate.

Thousands of people attend the close of day ceremony every year. Each night Buglers from the local volunteer Fire Brigade arrive. They stand beneath the eastern entrance of the neoclassical arches of the Menin Gate Memorial to play The Last Post for the laying of a wreath. Guest singers and musicians are invited to perform at this poignant moment of the day, commemorating those who gave the lives in battle.

Kath Danswan from the Swindon society said: "When I started organising the tour I specifically asked if we could perform at the Menin Gate evening ceremony. The demand to sing there is so high that the application has to go in at least a year in advance.You then have to submit three or four pieces for approval of which two are chosen so it was with great delight that we heard that Robin's own piece was approved.''

The singers will perform Agnus Dei from the Missa Brevis that Robin composed for a Mass in Florence.

Robin, who lives in Avebury and is former Head of Music at Marlborough College,

said: "The piece is a liturgical performance, written for the beautiful Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence. The priest's written instructions were very specific as to which movements he required. The appropriate timings of each movement were indeed “brevis” so other mass settings, I had considered, were not going to be to his liking. I therefore set about writing a setting which matched his exact requirements. I am glad to say that the priest was all smiles at the end and kept a copy in the vestry, perhaps with a future performance in mind.''

Forty-eight of the Swindon singers are gearing up for their European tour which takes them to Lille, Ghent and Bruges during the first week in July.

Before jetting off to Europe the singers will be performing Spring Into Summer, a concert held on Saturday, June 24 at St Mark's Church, Church Place, Swindon from 7.30pm. The collection will be for TWIGS community gardens in the Cheney Manor Garden Centre. TWIGS is the gardening charity that helps those suffering from mental health problems.

The concert programme will include the Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis, Stanford Ave Maria, Schubert's The Long Day Closes, Sullivan and Robin's composition. The organist is Simon Bertram and Robin will be conducting the concert.

The choral society has been going since 1985 when the musical director was Nicholas Riddle. The singers have worked with The London Mozart Players (under Jane Glover), the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, the West Forest Sinfonia, the Chameleon Arts Orchestra and, very recently, the Reading Symphony Orchestra. The society has also recorded a CD of their music entitled Lift Up Your Heads.

Tickets to the Spring Into Summer concert are £10 from http://www.swindonchoral.org.uk. - Flicky Harrison