THE award-winning musical nephews of a Worcester woman who died of ovarian cancer are performing in a special concert on Sunday to raise money for research into the disease.

Alison Scaiff, pictured, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in February 2001 and died 19 months later, aged 57.

Her husband Peter, of Cromwell Crescent, Redhill, has set up a fund in her name to raise money for vital research into the disease, which is difficult to detect and which affects more than 6,800 women every year.

And her nephews, cellist Guy Johnston, who won the Young Musician of the Year competition in 2000, and violinist Magnus, who was a finalist in the same competition in 1998, will perform at Huntingdon Hall to kick-start Alison's Fund.

The mother-of-two, who worked as a librarian at King's School, underwent surgery to remove the cancer from her ovaries but doctors were unable to get rid of all of it.

She was treated at Worcestershire Royal Hospital initially before attending treatment sessions at Christie Hospital in Manchester, under the care of her former brother-in-law, Prof Nic Thatcher.

Mr Scaiff, aged 58, said his wife, who played the organ for several Worcester churches and piano for Worcester Male Voice Choir and WODYS, had stage three ovarian cancer when she was diagnosed.

This meant that it had already spread outside the pelvis into the abdominal cavity.

"Ovarian cancer is often fatal, unless it is caught very early, and treatment is more a matter of slowing the disease down," he said.

"It was a very hard time for everybody, but we had a lot of support from some very good friends," he added.

He also praised both Worcestershire Royal Hospital and the Christie Hospital for the care they gave his wife.

Mr Scaiff, a solicitor, hopes to raise around £50,000 in total to fund research into the disease, which is being conducted at Christie Hospital, the largest single-site cancer research and treatment centre in Europe.

Mrs Scaiff's nephews will be performing works by Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Faure, with pianist Tom Poster, at the concert on Sunday, June 8, at 7.30pm.

Tickets, priced £10, are available from Huntingdon Hall box office on 01905 611427.