CONDUCTOR Richard Howarth and the Westmorland Orchestra return to the concert platform this weekend sharing the stage with one of the UK's finest violinists.

World class Jennifer Pike will join the Westmorland performing Dvo?ák’s violin concerto at Kendal Leisure Centre's Westmorland Hall, on Saturday, December 3 (7.30pm).

The beautiful violin concerto is a central part of the violin repertoire and the perfect piece for Jennifer's amazing artistry and dazzling interpretative flair.

Born to British and Polish parents in 1989, the Stockport based virtuoso first gained international recognition in 2002, when, aged 12, she became the youngest ever winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the youngest major prizewinner in the Menuhin International Violin Competition.

At 15 she made celebrated debuts at the BBC Proms and Wigmore Hall, soon after becoming a BBC New Generation Artist, winner of the international London Music Masters Award and the only classical artist ever to win the South Bank Show/Times Breakthrough Award. Passionate about helping young people from all backgrounds enhance their lives through music, Jennifer's an ambassador for the Prince's Trust and Patron of the City Music Foundation.

A prolific recording artist and sought after soloist with top orchestras worldwide, her engaging musicality and technique is regarded as simply spectacular.

Jennifer's recordings on Chandos, Sony and ABC Classics includes the highly acclaimed Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Bergen Philharmonic and Sir Andrew Davis. She recently recorded the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Edward Gardner, and her November release of Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending with the Chamber Orchestra of New York on Naxos will strike a chord with Kendal music lovers - Jennifer performed VW's pastoral and profoundly lyrical piece with the Manchester Camerata for Lakeland Sinfonia Concert Society in December 2015.

Jennifer's also an enthusiastic promoter of new music, with umpteen works written for her, including Hafliði Hallgrímsson's Violin Concerto, which she premièred with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Iceland Symphony Orchestra and Charlotte Bray's Scenes from Wonderland which she premièred with the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall.

As for the Westmorland's programme, Dvo?ák’s concerto will be followed by Tchaikovsky’s symphony no 4, perhaps Tchaikovsky’s best-known symphony. Its powerful opening, haunting and lyrical second movement, playful third movement and dramatic conclusion offer a world of contrasts.

The concert will open with Shostakovich’s Festival overture, composed in a different Russia from Tchaikovsky’s as a propaganda piece to open a celebration of the 37th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution. Despite its propaganda origins, the piece has survived to become a common feature in concert programmes.

The orchestra will be led by Pamela Redman for a concert that has all the hallmarks of being one of the 'wonderful' Westmorland's best.

Tickets are available from orchestra members or Kendal's Brewery Arts Centre box office on 01539-725133.