MOZART, Stravinsky and Brahms will be on the menu at Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra’s next concert on April 25.

At Huddersfield Town Hall, the orchestra will perform Mozart’s Flute Concerto, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Symphony No 2 by Brahms.

Opening the show with a solo from Mozart will be James Squire, who is usually on principal flute with the Huddersfield orchestra.

Despite being with the Phil for 10 years, this is his first concerto performance with an orchestra.

He trained in flute and saxophone at City University in London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

For most of his career, he has been a creative workshop leader, including work for the BBC Philharmonic, Opera North, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the Northern Ballet Theatre.

He is currently the community musician for Wakefield Cathedral’s chorister outreach programme.

Performance-wise, he has toured worldwide with the RJC Dance and JazzXchange Music and Dance companies.

Leading the orchestra through the programme will be Venezuelan conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa.

She is currently principal conductor of the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra, musical director of the Haffner Orchestra in Lancaster and the Hallam Sinfonia in Sheffield.

She began her musical studies at the age of 15, playing oboe at the world-famous Orquesta Juvenil de Venezuela.

She read music at the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Musicales, where she became musical director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Falcón.

Natalia went on to complete her studies at the Royal College of Music in London and held the junior fellowship in opera conducting there for two years.

She won the second prize at the Maazel-Vilar Conductor’s Competition in New York in 2002 and, since then, has worked worldwide with Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Orquesta Filarmónica Nacional, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Bombay Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Oman Symphony Orchestra.

In August 2008, she appeared on BBC2 reality show Maestro, as a mentor to Starsky and Hutch legend David Soul.

Natalia, who has a masters from Huddersfield University, was more recently awarded the Elgar Society Prize for conducting Elgar’s Second Symphony with the Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tickets for the town hall show, which starts at 7.30pm, can be bought from Kirklees ticket outlets on 01484 223200.