TWO of the most charismatic performers on today's concert scene are returning to Malvern next week.

Ilya Gringolts and Ashley Wass are performing together at the Forum as guests of Malvern Concert Club.

Gringolts, a Russian violinist, was one of the great successes of the 2004 Elgar Festival, when, for the very first time, he played Elgar's Violin Concerto with the English Symphony Orchestra.

His engagement with the concert club centres on the performance of Elgar's other major work for the instrument, the Violin Sonata written in 1918.

He is a major recording artist and performs worldwide with leading orchestras and at prestigious festivals.

His partner in the concert will be young British pianist Ashley Wass, who delighted the club with a virtuoso solo recital in November 2004.

His career in performance and recording, like Ilya's, is developing fast.

He is appearing at this concert in place of the originally-announced pianist Evgeny Sudbin.

Ilya and Ashley were fellow participants in the BBC's New Generation scheme, and so have a wide understanding of each others' work.

The Malvern programme also pays tribute to Mozart's 250th anniversary year with one of his late duo sonatas, and features work by Shostakovitch and Szymanowski.

The concert is at the Forum next Thursday, March 30, at 7.30pm. Tickets (£14, concessions £13, students £5) are available from the theatre.