A WORLD-renowned lute player is among classical musicians from across the globe heading to the North York Moors later this month.

Matthew Wadsworth will perform a theorbo concerto written specially for him by Welsh composer Stephen Goss and co-commissioned by the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival with support from Arts Council England. The piece, the first ever concerto written specifically for the theorbo, premiered earlier this year in Hong Kong, and Wadsworth toured it with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in July, when The Scotsman praised ‘Wadsworth’s mellow tones [which] revealed the instrument’s jazzier side’.

From the lute family, a theorbo is a huge instrument, some two metres long. Wadsworth, who is regarded as one of its principal exponents, was the first sightless student to attend the Royal Academy of Music, where he was named as London Student of the Year in 1997 in recognition of his work on the development of Braille lute tablature.

The concert will take place at St Hedda’s Church, Egton Bridge, on Saturday 18 August at 7pm. Also on the programme that evening is music by Elgar, Tippett and Vaughan Williams.

Tickets are £12.50, and free for under-30s. A season ticket for all the concerts costs £115. To book email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com, call 07722 038990, or visit www.northyorkmoorsfestival.com