INTERNATIONAL piano music will take centre stage in Melrose next week.

Pianists Macha Hulin from Russia and Simon Adda-Reyss from France will perform together on the Melrose Music Society’s Czech Petrov piano to the delight Borders music enthusiasts.

And part of their piano duo repertoire is music by Dukas, Schubert, Bizet and Rachmaninov.

Macha’s love of the piano began when she was five, later pursuing her dream at the Moscow Conservatory and the Alfred Schittke Music College before achieving a Master in Classical Piano at the prestigious Gnessin Russian Academy of Music.

She went on to study in Geneva with the Russian pianist Alexis Golovin, and now lives in Leysin, Switzerland, where she is celebrated as both a soloist and accompanist.

Simon studied piano and organ at the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris, winning the Ermend-Bonnal Prize for organ in 1993.

The following year he entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique and is now assistant professor in the same establishment, performing regularly in Paris as well as in the French provinces and elsewhere in Europe.

The Duo’s concert commences with Dukas’ well-known Sorcerer’s Apprentice arranged for piano duet.

A symphonic piece based on a poem by Goethe, the music became immortalised in Disney’s animated Fantasia in which Mickey Mouse plays the apprentice.

This is followed by Schubert’s poignant Fantasie in F Minor, written in the composer’s last year of life and considered to be on of his greatest works.

Next, excerpts from Bizet’s Children’s Games, Opus 22, short musical interpretations of children’s toys and games.

The programme concludes with Rachmaninov’s magnificent Six Pieces for piano duet written in 1894 by the budding 21-year-old Russian composer.

Macha and Simon will perform in Melrose Parish Church Hall on Saturday, October 19 at 7.30pm.

Tickets, priced at £15 and free for school-age children if accompanied by an adult, are available at the door.