Costas FotopoulosInternationally renowned pianist and composer Costas Fotopoulos will perform works by Beethoven, Chopin and Rachmaninov at a recital in Lancaster Cathedral early next month.

London-based Costas works internationally as a composer and arranger for film, the stage and the concert hall, and as a concert, ensemble and jazz pianist. He appears frequently on radio (in 2007 he provided a piano improvisation to sections of Gordon Brown’s latest Budget Speech, in the silent film style, Radio 4) and is highly sought after as an accompanist for silent film screenings.

He has scored numerous short films, including Nape of the Neck (2004, directed by Martin McDonnell), which was selected for the Raindance, Greenwich and Clerkenwell Film Festivals, and has also worked as an assistant to film composer Trevor Jones (In the Name of the Father, Mississippi Burning etc.), preparing synthesizer demos and short scores for orchestration.

His debut piano solo album, featuring works by Rachmaninov as well as his own Toccata, was released in February on the JCL Records label.

The concert programme will also include Two Ghost Rags by William Bolcom and Fotopoulos’ Toccata and Fotopoulos will be performing on the Cathedral’s Bechstein concert grand piano, a recent gift to the Cathedral of Mr Frank Watson.

• Costas Fotopoulos in Concert: Friday 6th November 2009. The concert will begin at 7.30pm and tickets are £10 (concessions £8) and are available from Lancaster Tourist Information (tel: 01524 32878) or the Cathedral Events Co-ordinator (tel: 01524 384820 or email: events@lancastercathedral.org.uk).

• Lancaster Cathedral online: www.lancastercathedral.org.uk