Be prepared for music that will “blow your mind” says the conductor of Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra about the ensemble’s next offering at Huddersfield Town Hall.

The concert, on Saturday, April 18, features a programme of lyrical, dramatic and melodic music from the folk traditions of Eastern Europe, with works by Dvorak, Szymanowski and Bartok.

SPO’s musical director Benjamin Ellin describes the selection as “a celebration of all that is wonderful about music from this part of Europe.”

“It’s all infused in folk traditions,” he added, “the soaring and beautiful melodies of Dvorak combined with the strongly rhythmic DNA of the Bartok in particular will provide a gripping night of music making.”

The concert will open with Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance No 8 and his famous Cello Concerto; continuing with Szymanowski’s Symphonie Concertante for Piano and Orchestra and ending with Bartok’s ballet music The Miraculous Mandarin.

Benjamin is particularly excited to be leading the orchestra through the challenging Bartok piece, which he says “will really blow your mind.”

He explained: “The piece is nearly a century old and yet the drama, intensity and, at times, brutal nature of the music makes it more like the Rite of Spring than the pantomime it is subtitled as.

Pianist Edyta Lajdorf, apearing with Slaithwaite Philharmonic Orchestra

If you like film music of recent times then most of it will have been influenced by scores like this. The story is thrilling and so is the music.”

Soloists for the evening will be Marsden-based Jessica Burroughs, principal cellist of Opera North, who will join the orchestra for Dvorak’s Cello Concerto; while Polish-born and London-based Edyta Lajdorf will accompany the Szymanowski piece.

Jessica combines her work with Opera North with performances as guest principal for many leading orchestras, such as the BBC Philharmonic, English National Opera and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. She has performed at the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and is also cellist in the Moricosta String Trio.

Edyta is currently studying piano performance and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music in London and has won a number of high-profile music competitions for her virtuoso playing.

The SPO concert starts at 7.30pm but Benjamin will lead a discussion about the music at 6.30pm in the main concert hall. Tickets are £9 to £18 from 01484 223200 or www.kirklees.gov.uk/townhalls