CELLIST Bartholomew LaFollette will give a concert in Bridport as part of the Concerts in the West series.

He will be accompanied by Caroline Palmer on piano at the Bridport Arts Centre tomorrow (7).

An award winning soloist and chamber musician with many noteworthy achievements to his name, Bartholomew studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. His career was launched by the Young Classical Artists Trust and he has performed at many prestigious venues, including Wigmore Hall, Barbican Centre, Bridgewater Hall and Royal Festival Hall.

His outstanding ability was recognised in 2013 when he won first prize at The Arts Club’s and Decca Records’ Classical Music Award. He was also the first person to receive the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s Ardan Award.

Highlights from Bartholomew’s career include performances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, as a soloist with the City of London Sinfonia. He performs frequently with the award winning Doric String Quartet and at just 26 years of age, in 2011, he became principal cello teacher at the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Caroline Palmer studied at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and was a finalist in the Busoni competition. She has played in the USA and in much of Europe and is well known as both a solo pianist and chamber musician. Caroline has recorded for British, Swiss, French, German and Italian radio stations and has made televised appearances in Italy and Bulgaria.Caroline’s latest CDs include the cello sonatas of Saint-Saens, Faure and Busoni and the Brahms violin sonatas with Krzysztof Smietana. She has made numerous recordings as soloist and chamber musician for the BBC. She has been a piano professor at the Guildhall since 1990, where she coaches chamber repertoire as well as teaching individual students.

Catherine Maddocks, founder and director of Concerts in the West is delighted to have secured Bartholomew LaFollette for the April series, saying: “Bartholomew is one of the most exciting young classical talents in Britain and is admired equally for his solo, duo and concerto performances. His duo partner, Caroline Palmer, is a prize winning pianist with an established reputation and together they make a wonderful musical combination.”

*There has been a change in the programme for this concert - Schubert and Britten have been replaced by Beethoven Sonata for piano and cello in G minor, Op 5 No 2 and Poulenc Sonata for cello and piano Op 143.

n Bartholomew LaFollette and Caroline Palmer, Coffee Concert at Bridport Arts Centre, Friday April 7, 11am. Call the box office for tickets.