ORCHESTRA leader Ros Taunton will add a touch of frost to this week’s icy blast when she is the soloist in Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ at a concert in Coleford on Saturday (December 10).

Ros, of Woolaston Common, will be playing the violin concerto from ‘The Four Seasons’ at the Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra’s family concert at Coleford Baptist Church.

A former space scientist turned piano and violin teacher, Ros has led the orchestra since it began nearly 30 years ago.

On Saturday, she will steer players through an imaginative Christmas programme devised by musical director Fiona Crawley.

It will feature festive favourites with excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ‘Nutcracker Suite’, Irvin Berlin’s ‘White Christmas‘ and Leroy Anderson’s ‘Sleigh Ride’, while adding the more unusual in Cheltenham composer Philip Lane’s ‘Overture on French Carols’ and Ottorino Respighi’s ‘Adoration of the Magi’, inspired by the paintings of Botticelli.

Sharing the conductor’s podium will be William Sharma, a Forest-born singer and musical director. He will conduct ‘The Nutcracker’.

The concert starts at 3pm and tickets are available for £5 on the door, while under 18s go free.

The retiring collection will be in aid of the Mustard Tree project, run by Coleford Baptist Church, which provides a warm activity hub for families in the community.

For more information about the concert and the Royal Forest of Dean Orchestra, go to rfdo.org.uk.