Striking a note for women at St Paul's

Choristers belonging to the Aurora Nova choir stand in the stalls at St Paul's Cathedral, London, as they rehearse for three appearances this weekend.

Tomorrow, the singers become the first professional all-female choir to perform at Sunday worship in St Paul's, when they will sing at Sung Eucharist, at 11am, and at Evensong, at 3.15pm. Patrick Craig, an Assistant Vicar Choral at St Paul's, who formed the choir last January, said: "We are delighted to present 18 of the finest female voices ... within the glorious acoustics of the cathedral."

The choir also gives a concert tonight at Hampstead Parish Church, north London, in aid of two charities: the Women's Aid Federation and Breakthrough, which help women who suffer, respectively, from domestic violence and breast cancer.

Next year, Aurora Nova is set to tour the United States.

Photograph: David Rose