DISTINGUISHED South African piano duo Tessa Uys and Ben Schoeman will be performing in Melrose Parish Church later this month.

Also taking the stage will be the Roxburgh Singers for the concert on Saturday, May 25.

Both Tessa and Ben are established concert pianists in their own right, performing all over the world.

In 2008, Ben became the first South African to win the the first grand prize in the 11th UNISA Vodacom International Piano Competition in Pretoria.

He has won several other prizes, including the contemporary music prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition, USA in 2013.

In the year 2000, to mark the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, Tessa recorded the Goldberg Variations released as a double CD for GSE Claremont records.

She has also enjoyed the distinction of working with the director John Schlesinger on his film ‘Madame Sousatzka’, starring Shirley MacLaine.

Tessa and Ben have recently performed five of Beethoven’s Symphonies, arranged for piano duet by Franz Xaver Scharwenka, and hope to record all nine of them in the autumn.

The concert in Melrose opens with Ben as soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia with a small instrumental group arranged by Tony Kime.

Ben is joined by Tessa in the second half in Brahms’ own arrangement of ‘A German Requiem’ for piano duet.

The Roxburgh Singers are joined by local soprano Jessica Leary and Andrew McTaggart (Baritone), who will also sing two duets - ‘My love is like a red, red rose’ and ‘One hand, one heart’, by Bernstein, both of these arranged for the instrumental group by Tony Kime.

The Melrose Parish Church concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets £10 at the door.