FOR the penultimate recital in Darlington Piano Society’s season, the young British pianist Simon Callaghan takes centre stage. His programme of works by Schubert, Poulenc and Schumann takes place in Central Hall at the Dolphin Centre at 3pm on Sunday, February 23.

Praised for his ‘velvet-gloved pianism of ravishing sensitivity’ (The Strad), Steinway Artist Simon Callaghan performs internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. His recent tours have taken him to Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Canada and throughout Europe, and he has performed at all of the UK’s major concert halls.

Simon is Head of Piano at the Ingenium Academy (Winchester) and Director of Music at Conway Hall, London, where he oversees the longest-running chamber music series in Europe. Simon also recently completed a PhD at the Royal Northern College of Music.

Greg Johnson. Society chairman, said “Simon’s recital continues the season of international pianists we are attracting to Darlington and the season will be crowned by the much anticipated final recital of the season in March”.

The Society’s final concert of the season on March 29, by the internationally acclaimed Steven Osborne performing the final three Beethoven sonatas, has recently been identified by the February edition of the BBC Music Magazine as one of “10 unmissable concerts in 2020” in this the year of the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. In a year when there are a multitude of celebratory performances of Beethoven’s works throughout the UK, this is quite a plaudit for the Society and for Darlington.

Both recitals take place in Central Hall, the Dolphin Centre, Darlington, at 3pm. Tickets are available in advance via the society’s website – www.dpiano.co.uk – from the reception desk at the Dolphin Centre and are always available at the door on the day of the recital, priced £14, under-21s free.