KENDAL Midday Music Club’s next concert features a premiere performance.

Scottish marimba player and percussionist Calum Huggan plays Kendal Town Hall on Wednesday, January 22, possibly the first time that a marimba has been in the solo spotlight at a KMMC concert.

Marimba is apparently one of the commonest African names for the xylophone.

Calum has been studying music since the age of four. After starting with the piano he moved to percussion in 2001 and subsequently gained a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He graduated with a first-class degree and has since captivated audiences and critics alike with his musicality and personality. He has performed solo recitals in major concert houses across the UK and Germany and shared the stage with orchestras such as the BBC Scottish Symphony, Scottish Ensemble, Scottish Opera and the Mannheim National Theatre Orchestra. In 2010 Calum was invited as a guest student at the renowned Mannheim Musik Hochschule where he undertook an intense programme studying marimba and chamber music. Returning to the UK in 2011 he continued his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (formerly the RSAMD) under the tutorage of the virtuosic marimbist and composer, Eric Sammut. He later became the first British musician to be accepted onto the advanced marimba course at London’s Royal College of Music. Calum’s other passions lie in cross-arts collaboration and teaching and he has also teamed up with another outstanding young musician, Kendalian flautist Jo Ashcroft, now a renowned performer in her own right and based in Scotland.

Together they have put together the creative and quirky duo combination of Flercussion, bringing the repertoire and sound-world of the instruments they are so passionate about into the chamber music scene.

KMMC concerts start at 1pm on alternate Wednesdays.

Snack lunches are available from 11.50pm.