There's a chance to enjoy some of the highlights from a classical musical festival at an upcoming Concerts in the West (CiW) concert in Bridport.

Music lovers will be able to enjoy the best bits of Bristol's Really Classical Relay at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday, December 1.

These will be the final performances of CiW’s 2017 season.

The concert will feature four brilliant young chamber musicians who played at Really Classical Relay - Jonathan Rees, John Crockatt, Guy Button and James Toll.

They will be bringing to life three superb works, including JS Bach’s Preludes and Fugues, K404a (arr. Mozart), Haydn String Quartet Op. 20 No 2 in C major and Beethoven’s luminous and transcendent late quartet Op.132 in A minor. For added authenticity, all the pieces will be played on historical instruments, so expect gut strings and unusually shaped bows. For added authenticity, the musicians play from early editions and manuscripts.

Jonathan Rees plays cello and viol with a number of different groups and has been a guest principal and viol soloist with the Academy of Ancient Music and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, continuo gambist /bass violinist with ENO in Indian Queen, and has performed with the viol consorts Fretwork and Phantasm. Most notably, he performed Stockhausen's Mittwoch Aus Licht on a swinging perspex platform in a Birmingham Chemical Factory attended by two camels.

He is principal cellist of La Nuova Musica, is a founder member of the new viol consort Newe Vialles and is also principal cellist of the Faust Chamber Orchestra. He plays with fellow cellist Vladimir Waltham in prize-winning Duo Domenico, which has played in the London Baroque Festival, York International Early Music Festival and many venues across Europe. Jonathan is closely involved in music education work and, in addition to giving classes at the Royal Academy of Music, he has also devised and led creative projects with primary schools in London. He is the founder and director of Bristol's Really Classical Relay. John Crockatt is a professional violinist and violist, specialising in music from the baroque and classical eras. He has performed as principal viola with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as principal violin with Solomon’s Knot and has played and recorded with groups including the English Baroque Soloists, the Gabrieli Players and the Early Opera Company. In 2015 he performed as principal violinist in the Globe Theatre’s play Farinelli and the King, starring Mark Rylance and Iestyn Davies. Projects in 2016 included concerts and recordings with Arcangelo, performances in China with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra as well as recitals with harpsichordist Tom Foster in the UK and Spain.

Guy Button violin and viola. Following studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Robinson College, Cambridge, Guy has appeared as chamber musician and soloist at the Wigmore Hall, St. Johns’ Smith Square and many other high profile venues internationally. As well as performing in the Ruisi Quartet, Guy appears regularly with the London Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, European Union Chamber Orchestra, The 12 ensemble and the London Contemporary Orchestra.

James Toll began playing the violin at the age of six and studied at the Purcell School. He has played chamber music at the Wigmore Hall, Cadogan Hall, St John's and The Queen Elizabeth Hall, and once conducted a workshop for two hundred teenagers from South London, which he very much enjoyed. James has a Bachelor's degree from the Royal Northern College of Music and plays with some of the top ensembles in the UK. He is currently trialling as co-principal second violin with the Scottish Ensemble.

Catherine Maddocks, the founder and director of Concerts in the West, said: “We are delighted to welcome back Jonathan Rees who played so beautifully for us with Reveries Musicales in 2012. Jonathan is also the founder and artistic director of Really Classical Relay, which is a terrific classical music micro festival in Bristol, featuring early music written between 1750 and 1830. The performances they are giving for Concerts in the West will give a flavour of the Relay’s wonderful programme, which the musicians play on historical instruments with both skill and tremendous enthusiasm. I cannot think of a better or more joyous way to end our 2017 series than with these remarkable musicians.”

The recital programme features JS Bach Preludes and Fugues, K404a (arr. Mozart), Haydn String Quartet Op. 20 No 2 in C major; Beethoven String Quartet Op.132 in A minor.

*Really Classical, Concerts in the West, Bridport Arts Centre, Friday December 1, 11am to 12pm. Call the box office for tickets.