Martin Smith was taught to play by his father and they both played in the local Salvation Army Band. At the age of eighteen Martin gave up playing to pursue sporting interests, his career and later on, his family. After a thirty-five year absence from playing, he returned to playing and is currently Principal Euphonium with one of the leading bands in the South East. As part of his comeback he passed his ATCL and LTCL, both with distinction in one year and recently passed his Fellowship at Trinity College London (FTCL). Having given up playing for so long he is keen to see how far he can take his musical career and he is very encouraged by the new music written for the solo euphonium for recitals and concertos with orchestras. He has an ever-growing number of public recitals and solo appearances in the UK and abroad (see www.martinsmitheuphonium.com) and recently gave a very successful recital to over 350 people at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. His love for the euphonium is very apparent and he takes great encouragement from people telling him that he has inspired them to return to playing a musical instrument!

Chris Coote, started playing the piano at the age of four, and performing from the age of eleven, mainly to captive audiences in old people's homes. He has attended master classes for many years at Morley College under Martino Tirimo and Gwenneth Pryor, and was taught by Jean Anderson and Fiona Cameron, both retired professors from the Royal Academy of Music. Never having taken a piano exam previously, he decided to prove to his three musical children that he could play by gaining a performance LTCL in 2005. Since retiring fully from professional life as an actuary in 2013, a replacement career has opened up, and he now performs regularly as a soloist and collaborative pianist. He has accompanied student degree recitals and vocal masterclasses at Chichester University, is chairman of the Bognor Regis Music Club, treasurer of the Funtington Music Group, and accompanies services at Chichester Baptist Church and other local churches.

The programme will include works by Hummel, Strauss, Einaudi, RimskyKorsakov, Guilmant, Mahler, Sarasate, Hohne, Bruch and the UFO Concerto by Johan de Meij.