A CONCERT to celebrate the birth of Sir Edward Elgar is expected to energise, move and uplift when performed at Malvern Theatres.

The Pavao Quartet team up with pianist John Lill to provide an opportunity to hear the composer’s Piano Quintet, which was written at the very end of his composing life.

The concert, on Sunday, June 3, will start at 1.30 pm with one of Haydn’s last quartets, the quartet in G major Op.77 No.1, which he wrote on his return to Vienna from England in 1799.

The group has been busy building an international reputation for themselves since their formation 14 years ago when they were students at the Royal Academy of Music.

Their return to Malvern is especially pleasing for cellist Bryony James, who has fond memories of the area from a young age as the Reverend Carl Attwood, who is now on the board of the Malvern Hills Conservators, is a close family friend. She said: “I used to sit and look out of their window and think, ‘that’s where Elgar used to cycle’.

“It’s nice to come back and hopefully we will get a chance to go for a walk.

“It’s amazing to hear to hear Elgar in his last really productive period of recording, it’s such a masterpiece and so moving.

“Hopefully the audience will be energised by the first half and moved and uplifted by the second.” The group is completed by violinists Kerenza Peacock and Jenny Sacha and Natália Gomes on viola.

Tickets for the show, which forms part of the Malvern Piano Festival, are £5 or £13. Go to malvern-theatres.co.uk or call the box office on 01684 892277.