A PERFORMANCE by two of the UK's most highly regarded musicians promises a fabulous finale to Grange-over-Sands and District concert club's successful 2017 season.

Matthew Trusler and Ashley Wass bring their the Life Begins at Forty tour to the seaside town's Victoria Hall on Friday, September 8 (8pm).

Internationally in-demand musicians, one of Matthew and Ashley's best known collaborations was their innovative entertainment to mark the 150th anniversary of the publication of Alice In Wonderland. The Wonderland project was performed across Europe during 2015 and 2016.

The show featured 12 successful composers from the fields of chamber music to film to rock, including Roxanna Panufnik, Stephen Hough, Elvis Costello, Gwilym Simcock and Carl Davis, who each donated a short piece for violin and piano.

The pieces were interspersed by a narrative specially written by Captain Corelli’s Mandolin author, Louis de Bernieres.

Wonderland was released on Orchid Classics in November 2015 with all profits from the cd going towards the Lenny Trusler Children's Foundation, which was set-up by Matthew in memory of his son Lenny, who died of a kidney disease soon after he was born. The trust raises money for desperately ill babies.

Ashley is a trustee of the foundation.

Matthew was set on being a violinist from a young age, and after graduating from Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute in 1998, he was hailed by The Times as ‘an authentic, though British, virtuoso.’

Since, he's developed a reputation as one of the UK's leading violinists, performing with many of the world's leading orchestras, and receiving huge critical acclaim for his diverse recordings. He has founded the record label Orchid Classics in 2005 on which some of the most important artists of today are recording.

He also set-up the Lenny Trusler Children's Foundation in memory of his son Lenny, who died of a kidney disease soon after he was born. The trust raises money for desperately ill babies. He was instrumental in founding the Malmo International String Festival and in 2012 was appointed a director of Delange Artists Management, based in Amsterdam.

Matthew regularly performs in a duo partnership with pianist Ashley Wass, a sought after pairing.

Ashley's been described by Gramophone magazine as "A thoroughbred who possesses the enviable gift to turn almost anything he plays into pure gold."

Ashley's watershed moment came in 1997 when he became the only British winner ever of the London International Piano Competition.

He is a former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist and in 2002 appeared in a gala concert at Buckingham Palace to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee, a performance broadcast to millions of people around the world.

He is Professor of Piano at London's Royal College of Music and artistic director of the Lincolnshire International Chamber Music Festival.

"Since we have each now racked up nearly two decades of playing around the country and the world, including so many wonderful music club experiences, we wanted to create a 40th birthday year tour," explains Matthew.

"We've chosen a handful of the pieces we've most relished over the past 20 years, and which we feel have most excited the audiences we've played for."

The programme for the Grange concert includes Beethoven's Spring Sonata; Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lark Ascending; Prokofiev's Cinderella; Cesar Frank's Sonata.

The guys performance will be preceded by a free talk from 7pm to 7.30pm, in which they will interview each other, give a humorous account of the evening's programme, and take questions from the audience.

Admission at the door.