DAME Kiri Te Kanawa appears at a charity gala concert at The Centaur Centre at Cheltenham Racecourse on Saturday, July 2, in aid of the Leukaemia and Intensive Chemotherapy Fund (LINC).

Dame Kiri will be singing with her special guest, American tenor John Matz. The concert follows the very successful one given by Jose Carreras and Bryn Terfel at the Racecourse in July 2003, also in aid of LINC and the Jose Carreras International Leukaemia Foundation.

Dame Kiri's achievements include winning many major vocal prizes, singing at Covent Garden, at HRH the Prince of Wales first wedding and at the Queen's Jubilee gala concert at Buckingham Palace.

Her varied repertoire ranges from classic opera arias to contemporary popular music.

LINC works to improve the care of patients from Gloucestershire, Herfordshire, east Powys and South Worcestershire who are receiving intensive chemotherapy at Cheltenham General Hospital, as well as buying new equipment and offering financial help to families during long hospital stays.

Its current objective is to raise £1m to endow a leukaemia research post and its ultimate aim is to develop a gold star blood cancer unit so that the treatment on offer is second to none.

Tickets for the concert from Cheltenham Town Hall Box Office on 01242 227979 or www.cheltenhamfestivals.co.uk