YOUNG Forest pianist Alexander Kirk will be performing in a fund-raising concert for the Yvonne Walkerdine Bursary on Saturday (July 21) at St Briavels Church.

The concert, starting at 7.30pm, will include a performance of Britten's 'Holiday Diary' as well as works by Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy.

The bursary was set up as a lasting tribute to an outstanding teacher and community musician and is awarded annually to a young person of secondary school age who displays great enthusiasm, energy and commitment to music.

Alex, 18, from Woolaston, who has been praised for his 'strong and masterful' playing, started learning the piano at the age of five. From 2003 he attended the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama but last year moved to The Royal College of Music in London where he is studying under internationally recognised pianist Norma Fisher.

In 2011 he won the Herbert Howells Bursary, was a finalist in the Gloucestershire Young Musician and won the Cheltenham festival's Keith Nutland award for best young musician.

He has recently performed at this year's festival in the Young Musician Showcase. Tickets for the concert are available on the door. For further information about the concert or the bursary contact Fiona Crawley on 01594 563079.