A RENOWNED musician is preparing to journey to a Malvern church to play his heart out at a service marking the return of its beloved organ.

City of Birmingham organist Thomas Trotter will be taking to the organ stool at Great Malvern Priory on Saturday, October 16 for the first major concert following a £380,000 refurbishment of the instrument.

Malvern company Nicholson & Co, of Leigh Sinton Road, began rebuilding the organ last September and work was complete in July.

Mr Trotter has a world-wide reputation and is also organist at St Margaret's Church, near Westminster Abbey.

He was recitalist at the opening concert of the refurbished Royal Albert Hall organ in June and consultant for the new organs in Symphony Hall, Birmingham and Bridgewater Hall, Manchester.

He has also given recitals all over the world and won the Royal Philharmonic Society award in 2001 for best instrumentalist.

The Malvern recital follows a service of dedication last Sunday evening by the Bishop of Worcester the Rt Rev Dr Peter Selby.

More than 350 people attended the service, which involved Worcester Cathedral and Malvern Priory choirs.

Geoff Fearnehough, a member of the organ fund-raising committee, said tickets were already selling well - with 90 per cent having gone already.

"Sunday's event was a wonderful occasion because we had two choirs so there were about 100 choristers and that was really the end of the fund-raising and the organ rebuilding as such," he said.

"The final part is this inaugural concert which is certainly going to be very interesting.

"His recitals always combine a wide range of music which will interest a lot of people - it's certainly going to be a major musical event in Malvern."

The recital will include works by Bach, Flagler, Locklair, Widor, Mathias, Wagner - and Worcestershire's famous son Elgar - who drew inspiration for some of his works from the Malvern Hills.

There will also be a large screen video link in the church, enabling the audience to see the organist at work.

Tickets for the concert are £5 to £15 and are available from Malvern Priory office on 01684 561020.