DELIGHTED directors of a professional Kidderminster orchestra are celebrating after securing the services of a renowned musician.

The Kidderminster Festival Orchestra (TKFO) is re-establishing itself following the disappointment of a loss of funding last year and will hold its inaugural concert on November 4.

But it has received a further boost with the announcement that the BBC Symphony Orchestra’s principal trumpet player Alan Thomas has agreed to appear as a soloist at the show.

This follows the appointments of Robert Gibbs, who is leader of Birmingham Royal Ballet Sinfonia and who will lead TKFO, Rebecca Rose who has agreed to be principal cellist and violinists Shulah Oliver and Elizabeth Simons.

Other members of the group will be auditioned from young performance graduates from Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Birmingham City universities.

Artistic director and principal conductor Annette Jackson, who founded TKFO, said the appointment of Mr Thomas was a huge coup for them.

She said: “He is a truly remarkable trumpet performer and the music streams from his instrument with the fluency of a high speed flautist!”

Their concert on November 4 will be held at Kidderminster Town Hall. They are still looking for more new members ahead of the show while seeking sponsorship.

Annette added: “We have had a lot of support already which we are extremely grateful for. Our next important task is to find the £3,000 required to purchase Music Stands and Music Folios which need to be in place before a concert rather than following it.

“The ‘Friends of the TKFO’ will be undertaking various fund raising projects to get the infrastructure of the orchestra onto a secure footing.”

After originally establishing in 2015 and setting up as a charitable company the following year, TKFO was hit with a setback when the Arts Council of Great Britain said it would not be able to provide funding for the project.

Anyone interested in performing with TKFO or who can help with sponsorship can contact Annette on 01562 754217 or via email: annettejacksonmusic@gmail.com.