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Tickets are now on sale for the full programme of the 2025 Perth Festival of the Arts in May, which promises to be a presence in the Fair City on an even wider scale.

The festival’s opera production of Puccini’s Suor Angelica is in St Ninian’s Cathedral, the cast led by South African soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon (pictured). Opera Bohemia’s Alistair Digges (conducting) and Douglas Nairne (directing) team up with the Glasgow-based Amicus Orchestra for the performances on May 27 and 28.

The more-often-used St John’s Kirk launches the music programme on Thursday May 22 with a rare visit north of the border by the Ora Singers, directed by Suzi Digby. Their programme features the ancient and modern Misereres of Gregorio Allegri and Sir James MacMillan, Renaissance polyphony from Victoria, Lassus and Palestrina and contemporary composition, including a new commission from Isle of Arran-based Electra Perivolaris, setting William Drummond’s A Cypress Grove.

St John’s also has a concert by gypsy jazz group Rose Room on Sunday 25 and a duo of classical accordionists, Melia Simonot and Sofia Ros, on the morning of May 31, as well as a full programme of schools and amateur music-making – and there’s more of that in the mixed arts programme at St Matthew’s Church.

Perth Concert Hall has a visit from the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday May 24, with a concert packed with Classic FM favourites, including Carmen, Swan Lake, The Lark Ascending and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. The Festival week ends in the same venue with brass orchestra Mike Lovatt’s Brass Pack and a music from the movies show with vocalist Anna-Jane Casey.

Perth Theatre has a visit from Children’s Classic Concerts with Peter and the Wolf on the afternoon of May 24 and tenor Jamie MacDougall’s musical biography of Harry Lauder on the afternoon of Sunday May 25.

Traditional musicians, including Ali Hutton and Patsy Reid, are part of the package in a new initiative at Perth Art Gallery, showcasing up and coming poets working in Scotland, curated by Perthshire’s Jim Mackintosh. The free early evening show is on Thursday May 29.