FANS of the popular opera Carmen can have even more interaction with the music as Watford Philharmonic Society presents an innovative concert performance with audience participation at Watford Colosseum.

Conductor Terry Edwards has a strong background in choral work and has previously had great success with these events at the Royal Opera House (ROH) where he was chorus director for 12 years. Terry will open the concert with an introductory talk to familiarise audiences with the story. He will then lead the audience through three of the most well-known choruses, the Habanera, the Gypsy Song and the Toreador Song and during the performance they will have the opportunity of singing these with the choir. Word sheets will be provided for everybody.

Bizet's story of passion and betrayal is one of our favourite operas but surprisingly, when it was first staged in 1874, it was not an immediate success. Today there are very few people who don't recognise at least some of the music.

The lead role of Carmen will be sung by the noted Irish soprano, Dervla Ramsay, who sings in the ROH chorus. Dervla is pleased to be working with Terry again on this sing-along show.

She says: "People like a more hands-on approach. Terry believes that opera should be for everybody. He ran sing-alongs while he was at the Opera House including performances with children on stage. They were always very successful. Children really love opera - it doesn't matter which one you do - they love the drama, the blood and the gore."

Dervla is keen to be playing the feisty Carmen, which she counts among her favourite operas along with Turandot, Tosca and Madam Butterfly.

In 1993, Dervla won the Ulster Bank Music Foundation Award of £15,000, which enabled her to continue studying in Italy where she sang with many companies including Teatro Communale in Florence and Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.

"The concert performance in Genoa was the highlight of my time in Italy," says Dervla. "I was working with Renata Scotto and I was chosen to do a series of masterclasses with her. We finished the course with a televised performance of opera extracts accompanied by the orchestra, I sang the finale from Rossini's La Cenerentola."

Dervla's passion for singing developed at the age of seven and was nurtured through private singing lessons as well as shows and pantos at school where she made her debut as the good witch of the north in The Wizard of Oz.

The 37-year-old mezzo soprano joined the ROH chorus in 1999 where she later met her husband, the tenor Elliot Goldie, who has been with the company for six years. The couple, who married last year, also sing as a duo and in a quartet with friends.

Dervla will soon be rehearsing for a role in the chorus of Carmen at ROH in a few weeks time and will even be in rehearsal on the day of the concert.

"I'll be living and breathing Carmen for several weeks," she says.

The concert performance is on Saturday, March 15 at 7.30pm at Watford Colosseum. Tickets: 01923 449458 (£11.50-£12.50)