Sidmouth will welcome one of the world’s most up and coming pianists as part of this year’s East Devon Music Festival.

Luka Okros will be performing with the Isca Ensemble at Sidmouth Parish Church on Saturday, June 23, with the orchestra directed by Roger Hendy.

The young musician, was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and is now London based and by the age of 26, had performed in more than 25 countries, including making his US debut in New York at Carnegie Hall at 18.

His career started aged eight when he played for leading Russian conductor and violinist Vladimir Spivakov, who immediately offered him a scholarship.

He graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in the same year was awarded a full scholarship for a Master’s degree at the Royal College of Music in London.

Luka’s list of achievements includes numerous awards including recent 1st prizes in both the Hong Kong International Piano Competition and the Valencia Iturbi Prize International Piano Competition.

He has regularly performed all over the world and his highly acclaimed debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Sondergård in September 2017 was broadcast on ClassicFM.

The pianst recently performed Brahms’ Requiem in Exeter Cathedral in May in front of a full audience.

Roger Hendy said: “The Isca Ensemble brings to Sidmouth a fresh programme alongside the popular Rachmaninov concerto consisting of movements from Prokofiev’s magical Romeo and Juliet Suite No 2 as well as a wonderful selection of Slavonic Dances by Dvorak.

“This special concert in Sidmouth is not to be missed.”

Tickets can be obtained online at www.eastdevonmuscifestival.org, Paragon Books, or at the door.

The concert will begin at 7.30pm.