THE voice of soprano sensation Hayley Westenra filled Salisbury Cathedral on Friday at a glittering concert raising money for three armed forces charities.

A Musical Tribute to our Forces, which was a sell out, also starred the all-female string quartet Raven and The Royal Artillery Band and Orchestra conducted by Major Tim Arnold.

It was raising money for the Army Benevolent Fund, Combat Stress and SSAFA Forces Help, with more than £30,000 going to the charities.

As patron of the Army Benevolent Fund and SSAFA Forces Help, The Queen sent a message of support before the event.

“I know that all three charities face a major challenge in answering the call of need in the years to come,” the message said.

“I hope this event will help in this respect and be a real tribute to our servicemen and women wherever they may be serving.”

In addition to operatic favourites such as Ave Maria and popular classical pieces including Jupiter from Holst’s Planet Suite, the programme offered some recent pop hits such as Take That’s Shine and Human by Las Vegas group The Killers.

There was also the Post Horn Gallop, Battle of Britain March and the Thistle before Miss Westenra ended with Amazing Grace to a standing ovation.

Speaking to the Journal before the concert, the 22-year-old New Zealand-born singing star said: “I am thrilled to be at Salisbury Cathedral, the atmosphere here is amazing.

“I was involved with the launch of the Poppy Appeal with Dame Vera Lynn in London and it has been fascinating to learn about the work of these very important service charities.

“They will be very much needed because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and I feel it is important that people of my age understand what they do and support them.”

The concert was organised by Salisbury city councillor Penny Brown who was delighted that the 1,400 tickets sold out, with extra seating being made available in the transepts where people could hear the music and watch on large screens.

“The idea came to me about a year ago to do something really big that could be Wiltshire’s tribute to our armed forces,” she said.

“We wanted to show that the service charities do work together.

“It has been fantastic the get so many great performers here to Salisbury and I’m delighted with the programme.

“We wanted the music to appeal to a wide age group – young and old alike.

“Sometimes people associate these charities with older people but they are just as relevant to the younger generation.

“Our thanks go to our sponsor KBR and everyone who has been part of the concert.”

The Journal’s forces correspondent and organising committee member David Falcke said afterwards: “This was a stupendous concert.

“People have been stopping me in the street to say how marvellous it was. It has done us proud.”