UNDETERRED by a cancellation due to snow earlier this spring, the Devon Youth Jazz Orchestra (DYJO), a talented and keen group of young performers, will at last play for Crediton’s jazz lovers when it presents a concert at Crediton Congregational Church on Friday, April 27.

All are invited to attend and enjoy an evening of excellent music, performed by young musicians (aged from 11 to 18 years) from across Devon.

Formed in 1975, DYJO provides expert tuition and performance opportunities for young musicians across a wide variety of jazz styles.

The orchestra is a registered charity, run by a committee of parents and supporters.

It plays frequently to audiences in Devon, including at Teignmouth Jazz Festival, Dart Music Festival, Budleigh Jazz Festival and Salcombe Festival.

Further afield, the orchestra has performed at the Royal Albert Hall’s Youth Prom, at the Montreux Jazz Festival, and at the House of Commons.

Its concerts have featured appearances by jazz stars, including Dave O’Higgins, Gordon Campbell, Bruce Adams, John Etheridge.

DYJO has won national awards for its performances and educational programme, which includes intensive monthly rehearsals from September to March, as well as a three-day residential (in October half-term).

DYJO’s Crediton gig will be a fundraiser for Second Sight, a zero-overheads charity which is working steadily towards eradicating reversible blindness in Bihar.

Due to poverty and a lack of affordable eye care, a backlog of blindness has built up in this very poor state of India.

Second Sight aims to clear this backlog of blindness by the end of 2020, so that its partner hospitals can focus on the prevention (rather than the treatment) of blindness. More information on the charity can be viewed on the website: www.secondsight.org.uk .

The Congregational Church in Crediton has shown great commitment to fundraising for Second Sight as well as putting on musical events.

The April 27 concert, which will begin at 7.30pm, aptly combines these two strands.

Tickets will be available on the door: £10 for adults, £5 for 18 and under. There will be complimentary tea/coffee and cake on offer during the interval, to reward those attending for their generous donations.