Music fans in Royston will have the rare opportunity to hear internationally-acclaimed musicians perform contemporary songs arranged for classical instruments this summer.

Creative Royston and Royston MusicFest have come together to put on a special one-off concert, Guitars & Strings, which aims to be the best in Royston in 2018.

Jeremy Harmer and the Ad Hoc Strings will perform arrangements of Jeremy’s songs at the event. Jeremy and Ad Hoc Strings conductor Steve Bingham met when they were both a part of the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra, and with two others they formed the Bingham Quartet.

Steve also conducts the Ad Hoc Orchestra, the Ely Sinfonia and the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra.

Schródinger’s Strings will perform some of their own songs alongside covers of everything from Pachelbel’s Canon in D to Guns ‘n’ Roses. Finally, local favourites Thursday’s Band will be performing original songs.

The secretary for Creative Royston and organiser of MusicFest, Carl Filby, said: “Concerts don’t get any more eclectic than this, with violins, violas, cello and harps, reinforced by the ubiquitous guitar playing the work of excellent modern songwriters.

“We look forward to sharing this fantastic event with you.”

The concert takes place on Sunday, July 8 at the Old Bull Inn. Tickets are £10 in advance or £12 on the door. Doors open at 7pm.

Creative Royston is a voluntary arts organisers led by a team of local residents. It delivers a range of activities and events throughout the year including a creative writing competition, which entries are open for.

Organisers are looking for inspiring original writing for Royston Arts Festival. In fewer than 500 words, entrants should write a fiction or non-fiction story with the theme ‘voyages of discovery’. For the first time entries this year will be open to both adults and children.

There will be a prize of a £50 gift voucher for David’s Bookshop in Letchworth for winners. The deadline for the competition is Monday, July 16, for those entering thorough their schools, and Monday, July 30 for direct entries.

This year’s Royston Arts Festival will take place from September 28 to 30.

For more details and tickets to the upcoming concert go to creativeroyston.orgor www.roystonmusicfest.uk.