The Chester Philharmonic Orchestra is staging its spring concert at Chester Cathedral on Saturday, March 7 at 7.30pm.

Joining them will be talented pianist Sally Wigan who was born and raised in Chester. She is a graduate of both The Birmingham Conservatoire and The Royal College of Music and has studied under Kalman Drafi at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest.

The Chester Phil have persuaded this young piano virtuoso to perform Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto with them in Chester Cathedral.

Sally has performed across the UK, Switzerland and Hungary in such prestigious venues as Wigmore Hall, Symphony Hall, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Kings Place Concert Hall and the Franz Liszt Concert Hall in Budapest.

She has been selected as a Park Lane Group (PLG) Young Artist for the past three consecutive years and her appearances at the Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall for the PLG’s 2013 and 2014 series won her critical acclaim.

A dedicated exponent of 20th century and contemporary repertoire, Sally has worked with such composers as John McCabe, Judith Weir and Arlene Sierra and has won numerous awards including the runner-up prize in the piano section of the 2008 Performing Australian Music Competition, which led to her performances and keen involvement in the Celebrating Grainger week at Kings Place in 2011.

The concert opens with Beethoven’s Overture Egmont. Composed shortly after Napoleon had declared himself Emperor the overture is a prelude to incidental music he wrote to accompany Goethe’s play about an 18th century nobleman The Count of Egmont who was condemned to death for taking a stand against oppression. Beethoven’s third Symphony, The Eroica completes the programme.

This symphony was written slightly earlier than Egmont and was originally dedicated to Napoleon but the dedication was ‘furiously scratched out’ by the composer when Napoleon declared himself Emperor.

The musical director on this occasion will be the orchestra’s principal conductor and artistic advisor David Chatwin. David, principal bassoon with the BBC Philharmonic, has been associated with the Chester Orchestra as a conductor for the past 24 years.

The programme for Saturday’s concert is Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto and Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 (Eroica). Tickets priced at £16; £12 and £9 with children and students priced at £5 are available from the Cathedral box office on 01244 500959 or at www.chesterphilorchestra.co.uk .