It is hoped Romsey Abbey will resound to the massed voices of its biggest ever chorus at a charity event scheduled for September

Mozart's Requiem in October 2000 filled Romsey Abbey with a choir of over 300 singers. The event raised more than £5,500 for the Romsey Hospital Appeal.

The original organisers, led by Clive Collier, are all set to repeat the exercise and to give all proceeds from the day to Romsey's Jane Scarth House and Wessex Cancer Trust and the date has been set for Saturday, September 27th.

Arthur Robson, Head of Music and Director of Choral Studies at University College, Chichester, has again agreed to be conductor and will have under his baton the City of Southampton Orchestra. Soloists are being approached and rehearsals are in the planning stage. The objective, apart from fund-raising for Jane Scarth House, is to recruit as many singers as possible to fill the Abbey with the biggest classical chorus the famous building has ever seen. John Burgess, prime mover behind the linking of Jane Scarth House with the Wessex Cancer Trust when the local cancer care centre was in danger of closing completely, is delighted with the plans.

"I well remember the electric atmosphere created in the Abbey during the Mozart performance, and the fact that the same team is behind the Brahms' Requiem fills me with confidence, " he said. "I am sure that they will pull together another wonderful day and will exceed the total of singers we had in October, 2000."

Singers will be recruited to sing the Requiem in English and pay an enrolment fee of £10 to join in the rehearsal, starting at 2pm, prior to the performance at 5pm.

Principal organiser Clive Collier is confident the Brahms' Requiem will be a success. "In 2000 we proved that anyone who can sing and has a smattering of musical knowledge can confidently come and join us in this great musical work.

"The structure of the day is such that, with a few hours rehearsal we are confident that, as previously, we will produce a musical evening that will live long in the memory of those who take part and those who are in the audience."Details of registration will be released shortly.