Guest soloists often come from all over the world to perform with the Scarborough musicians and for this concert the solo trumpeter will be traveling from his home in East Ayton.

The musical achievements of Scarborough-born Richard Wood are more than equal to those of any of his international colleagues.

He was Principal Cornet of Britain’s National Youth Brass Band aged 12 and Junior Cornet (Trumpet) Champion of Britain aged 13 while a pupil at Pindar School.

At 14 he won the Champion Child for Music, receiving his award from the then Princess of Wales at the Savoy in London and this feat was followed by the prestigious Alexander Owen Memorial Scholarship at 15.

At the Royal Northern College of Music he won further scholarships and competitions and was invited to perform with some of the country’s most prestigious brass bands including Black Dyke Mills, Leyland and Fodens.

Outside of brass bands, he established an international career, touring Japan in 1995 performing Richard Rodney Bennett’s brand new Trumpet Concerto.

As a freelance trumpeter, Richard has performed with a number of ensembles including the BBC Philharmonic, Manchester Camerata, Bergen Philharmonic, Welsh National Opera and the Pasadena Roof Orchestra and has appeared on a European Best of Broadway tour as well as the World Jazz Festival in Moscow with the Wigan Jazz Orchestra.

He was also drawn to Scarborough every year to perform with the Scarborough Spa Orchestra for 10 seasons.

Richard said: “It was during my summers with the Scarborough Spa Orchestra that I remembered what a great place Scarborough was to live.

“Now married with young twins, living the life of an international freelancer was becoming a major challenge to family life. It was becoming harder and harder to leave Scarborough every year.

“We decided to make Scarborough our home and we’ve never looked back since.”

A talented artist, his other interest in photography led him to become a sought-after wedding photographer and he continues to manage both sides of his professional life – music and photography – from his home in Scarborough.

Richard will perform Alexander Arutiunian’s popular trumpet concerto in a concert that will also allow musicians from the Scarborough Symphony Orchestra to go wild on some of the most popular works of the classical repertoire, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Spanish Capriccio and Tchaikovsky’s Pathetic Symphony No. 6.

The concert, under the baton of musical director Shaun Matthew, will take place on Saturday, November 26 at Queen’s Street Methodist Hall.

The show starts at 7:15 p.m. Tickets are available on the orchestra’s website: www.scarborough-orchestra.org or from Revolutions Music, Hunterss Row, Scarborough.