JAE Alexander will be conducting the Proms Spectacular at Castle Howard for an 18th summer on Saturday.

The picnics, the champagne, the north lawn setting, the castle backdrop, the Proms big hitters of Rule Britannia and Land Of Hope And Glory and the firework finale will be familiar to this August occasion, as much as Jae's Union Flag tailcoat, but one new face will be in his eye-line as he leads the English National Orchestra through a musical odyssey of classics, movie themes and arias.

Singer and television and radio presenter Aled Jones MBE will be performing material from his Top Three album, One Voice, the one that finds the 45-year-old Jones performing duets with himself, using recordings made when he was 15 at the height of his Walking In The Air choirboy fame.

"I've done a concert with Aled some years ago with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Southampton; I've known him for some years, and we're both Welsh, of course, but Saturday will be the first we've done this material together," says Jae.

York Press:

Aled Jones

"We'll get a few hours of rehearsal together, and I know we'll be doing some songs from One Voice, the duet All I Ask Of You with Janet Mooney; All Through The Night and Danny Boy. The album is interesting because it's Aled's voice now duetting with his younger self, and in the concert we can 'follow' the original recording, playing live to it."

Jae arrives at Castle Howard this weekend after returning from his musical theatre cruise with his regular troupe plus dancer Wayne Sleep. "What a personality; what a life he's had. I've known Wayne for 25 years, and we always have a great laugh," says the conductor, speaking from Norway as he waited to set sail for Dover.

"We've just been in St Petersburg, the home of Tchaikovsky, as part of the cruise, and we'll be doing Tchaikovsky pieces at Castle Howard. I was last in St Petersburg 14 years ago, doing concerts there and in Moscow, when the temperature was minus 34 and it was so cold, whereas this time it was 26. They're very serious people, but we had a lovely time and St Petersburg is so beautiful, which is why it's known as 'the Venice of the north'."

Now Jae is turning his focus to Castle Howard. "My 18th year! It can't be! That's a long time," he says. "But this year we're in for good weather, I gather. I hope so, after the past two years of rain we've had."

No doubt Jae will be adding his own sense of the spectacular to the Proms Spectacular, when The Great Gate Of Kiev from Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition and Jupiter from Holst's suite The Planets will be among the orchestral highlights. "I've got a new jacket for the second half," he promises. "Put it this way, it lights up well."

Proms Spectacular at Castle Howard, near York, Saturday, with guest soloist Aled Jones, soprano Janet Mooney, conductor Jae Alexander and the English National Orchestra. Gates open at 5pm; the concert ends at 10.30pm.

This outdoor concert is picnic style; bring food, drink, tables, chairs, rugs and clothing for the Yorkshire weather. Hot and cold food and beverages will be available on site, including a bar. For safety reasons, no pets, gazebos, tents, fires, barbecues, cookers, fireworks, sparklers or lawn candles will be permitted in the concert arena.

For tickets, book online at myonlinebooking.co.uk/castlehoward