DARLINGTON Music Society's 2014-15 season starts tomorrow with a plea to classical music lovers.

"It is a strange irony that as the pool of prodigious musical talent gets wider and younger, our audience gets older and smaller," said committee member Mike Chapman. "The dismal end to this for the music society is obvious.

"As part of a wider trend, it is even more alarming and depressing. The pool of talent cannot be sustained by broadcasting and CD sales alone."

It is hoped the plea will prompt armchair listeners to make the effort to attend one or more of the seven concerts planned for the season.

Concerts take place in the Central Hall of the Dolphin Centre. A ticket for the series of seven costs £55. Individual tickets are £11 or £12 and can be bought at the door. Entry is free to those under 26 thanks to Cavatina Trust sponsors.

Tomorrow's concert at 7.30pm is by the Archaeus Quartet playing Mozart's String Quartet No 23 in F major, Barber's String Quartet in B minor and Beethoven's String Quartet No 8 in E minor.

Formed in 1990, the quartet has performed in music clubs and arts centres throughout the UK and at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London.

It has performed the complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets in a series of six concerts three times, and several composers have written works specifically for the group. All five of the quartet's CDs have received critical acclaim.

Next month the society welcomes the Albany Piano Trio to perform Haydn, Debussy and Dvorak. Prizewinning cellist Ariana Kashefi with pianist Timothy End are booked for December to play Janacek, Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Paganini.

January has the leading wind chamber ensemble, Cuillin Sounds, and February sees a return by pianist Olga Stezhko with works by Brahms, Prokofiev, Mozart and others.

Adelia Myslov, violinist and a prizewinning graduate of the RCM, offers Beethoven, Brahms, Respighi and Ravel in March and the season ends in April with the Wu Quartet performing Mendelssohn, Schubert and Beethoven.

For tickets, ring 01325 486555. Brochures and a ticket order form are available from DarlingtonMusic@btinternet.com or ring 01325 467163 or 01325 468737 to leave name and address.