AS part of the effort to raise £60,000 towards renovating the historic Grade I Listed church in Totnes, the Friends of St Mary’s are staging a series of concerts over the next few weeks.

The first, on Saturday September 3, features award winning student pianist, Ivan Babichev.

Originally from Plymouth, Ivan is currently studying at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester with the acclaimed concert pianist, Murray Mclachlan.

Regularly achieving awards in competitions while at school, Ivan won the 2019 Two Moors Festival Young Musicians Competition in Devon shortly before joining Chetham’s.

His powerful and expressive programme features Schubert’s epic fantasy sonata ‘The Wanderer,’ widely hailed as one of the greatest works in the piano repertoire.

Ivan will also be playing one of Beethoven’s landmark early sonatas.

The hour-long concert starts at 11am with the doors opening at 10.30am.

Tickets are £5 via the church website at www.stmarysandstjohnstotnes.org or £8 on the door.

Coffee and delicious home-made cakes will be available before or after the event for £2.00 per head.