THE Williamson Art Gallery in Oxton is the setting for a special concert this evening (Friday, March 1) featuring music composed to reflect paintings within the venue.

Taking place at the Slatey Road, Heswall Concert Band's Pictures at an Exhibition performance is part of the Gallery’s Friday Might Music events and starts at 6.30pm.

The work has been arranged by its musical director Greg Williams.

The concert will also include recent works written by members of the band which had their premiere at the Lady Lever Art Gallery in January this year.

Explaining the concert's origins, Greg told the Globe: "The project came out of us rehearsing three movements of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.

"I wanted to extend the scope but couldn’t find an arrangement of the other movements, so I set about arranging them myself’.

"I wanted to play this work in the appropriate place, so we approached the Lady Lever Gallery who enthusiastically agreed and now more recently the Williamson Art Gallery.

"For the Lady Lever concert I suggested that our band members might write music responding to art works in the gallery and perform these world premieres in that space.

"We've had a great and really creative response and it is pleasing to play these pieces again in a different art gallery."

Ed Williams plays trombone in the band and has written a piece based on The Scapegoat painting. It is described by Greg as "a minimalistic piece with rich textures".

Mike Wood plays clarinet / bass clarinet and his piece is based on 'The Kelpie' painting. It is described by Greg as 'an atmospheric experimental work using some non-instrumental sounds'.

Margaret on tenor sax and her son Archie on alto sax came up with a piece based on The Falls of Clyde painting. The work is described as "a lyrical piece with a strong rhythmic and melodic emphasis".

Kathy Young plays percussion. She had an idea of basing something around ’Bubbles’ the young child in the Lever Bros. Port Sunlight Soap advertising. The work features the xylophone.

John Brice on clarinet wrote a melody based on the ‘Ballet’ painting. Greg Williams completed it with two variations using the full range of the clarinet.

The concert at the Williamson Art Gallery will also include a brand-new piece by the band’s percussionist Maggie Brownlow based on a painting called The Black Brunswicker.

To celebrate St David’s day the band will perform the premiere of an arrangement by Greg for concert band of ‘Welsh Folk Song Suite’ by (his father) Bryn Williams.

The orchestral version of which was written for the first performance of the Wrexham Symphony Orchestra.