EMMA Johnson and John Lenehan need little introduction: Emma, probably the UK's most popular clarinettist; pianist John acclaimed worldwide for his performances and recordings. Both are in great demand as recitalists, chamber musicians, soloists and recording artists and together have enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration during their exploration of a vast range of musical genre.

Next Wednesday (March 7) they provide the perfect pairing for the penultimate performance in the Kendal Midday Concert Club season.

The Kendal Town Hall concert has a special magical ingredient: young musicians from Old Hutton Primary School and Kirkby Lonsdale's Queen Elizabeth School join clarinettist Emma and John in a performance of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Emma gained national attention at the age of 17 when she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 1984. She has subsequently had a stellar career as a soloist all over the world. Like John, she is a concert club favourite and was very keen to perform an exciting new piece by Jonathan Dove which retells, in a shortened version, Robert Browning’s poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Local schools were offered the opportunity to perform alongside Emma and John and Old Hutton and Queen Elizabeth schools took up the challenge.

So far, the schools have been involved in a couple of workshops with Emma and John as well as working with their own teachers. The 28, class three primary children will sing and play simple recorder music while 12 older students have formed the QES Wind Consort to play more advanced music.

The youngsters will act and mime throughout the work as they embody the rats, the townspeople and the Hamelin children. At the end of the work, they sing as the clarinettist, aka the Pied Piper, dressed in a red and gold jacket, leads them from the stage up into the mountains.

In preparing for the performance the schools have been encouraged to use the theme of the story in their everyday school work. The creative results will be projected throughout the drama. The piece will be performed twice on March 7: in the morning for an audience drawn from Kendal primary schools and at 1pm as part of KMCC's fortnightly concert.

The club's 74th season - another outstanding success - comes to an exceptional end on Wednesday, March 21 with the prizewinning Piatti Quartet, one of the most distinguished foursomes of its generation.

Snack lunches are available from 11.50am.