ONE of the most distinctive cellists of his generation is to perform at Birdsall House this week,

Jamie Walton will play Bach’s Cello Suites 1, 2 and 3 to help raise funds for Burythorpe Church.

The Willoughby family, owners of Birdsall House, along with Jamie have agreed to hold the event to secure funding for the restoration of the West End of Burythorpe Church, which has two bells and is a local landmark visible for miles around.

The church received an interest-free loan from the Diocese of York to help the congregation and village community to repair the bell-cote stonework in 2017 as part of its bell tower appeal and is now raising money to repay the loan.

Noted for his deep, rounded sound with purity of tone and unsentimental style, Jamie has developed an established reputation for his engaging, imaginative performances and uncompromising musicality. A powerfully versatile musician and somewhat of a maverick, Jamie, who plays on a Guarneri 1712 and lives in the North York Moors National Park. combines a career in both chamber and solo capacities, appearing across the world.

Having performed with many of the country’s finest orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia, Jamie has also recorded thirteen concertos: three with the RPO and ten with the Philharmonia which include the Dvorak and Schumann under Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Further to this, Jamie’s discography with Signum Classics extends to much of the sonata repertoire and the complete works for cello by Benjamin Britten, a composer he has always felt a strong affinity with. Jamie collaborated with the director Paul Joyce to make a film about Britten’s solo suites which were released on Signum Vision and premiered on Sky Arts.

Chamber music remains at the heart of Jamie’s musicianship and in 2009 he launched the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival which has sold to capacity audiences ever since and shortlisted for a Royal Philharmonic Society Award within two years, nominated again last year.

This Festival has premiered works by composers such as their former Patron the late Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and through a world premiere recording inspired the Festival to set up its own record label for chamber music - Ayriel Classical..

The concert is at 7pm on Friday, October 12 and tickets costing £20 each are available by phoning 01653 658610.