THE Devon Youth Jazz Orchestra (DYJO), a talented and keen group of young performers, will again play for Crediton’s jazz lovers.

Everyone is invited to go along this Saturday (February 29), for the 7.30pm concert at Crediton Congregational Church, to enjoy an evening of excellent music, performed by young musicians (aged 11 to 18) 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. DYJO 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 (North-East India).

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, so that its partner hospitals can focus on the prevention (rather than the treatment) of blindness. More info can be found on the website: www.secondsight.org.uk .

Thanks has been extended to Crediton Congregational Church, which has made its space available free-of-charge for this fundraising concert for Second Sight.

Tickets will be available on the door: £10, for adults, £5 for 18 and under. Tea/coffee and cake will be on offer during the interval, donations will be very much appreciated. Every £20 cures a blind person in Bihar and not a penny will go on overheads.

For more info about the concert or about Second Sight, please get in touch with Francisca van Holthoon, by email at: [email protected] or telephone 01363 85394.