Fifteen-year-old Hywel Brown will step into the spotlight as soloist in Tartini's Clarinet Concertino when the Saltus Concert Society stages its Baroque Concert this Saturday.

It will be the first time he has performed as a featured soloist and, more importantly, the first time he has played to the accompaniment of an orchestra, composed of fourteen professional players from around the Island.

"Yes, it's great fun -- a wonderful feeling to be playing with a proper orchestra,'' he enthuses.

The piece chosen for his concert stage debut is the four-movement Concertino composed by Italian composer Giuseppe Tartini, whose life straddled the late 17th and early 18th century. Originally written for the violin, the Concertino has been transcribed for the clarinet by Gordon Jacobs.

Playing the clarinet since he was nine, Hywel recently passed the Royal Schools of Music Grade 8 examination with honours. His musical achievements do not end there, however. He started out playing the piano and violin when he was only four years old: "I've passed Grade 7 piano and will soon be doing Grade 8. I study Suzuki violin, and there are no exams in that method.'' His clarinet teacher is Lisa Wyatt at Saltus Grammar School, he studies piano with Graham Garton, director of the Dunbarton School of Music, and goes to Charles Li (also of Dunbarton, and the leader of the orchestra for Hywel's Concertino), and Jean Stewart of the Suzuki Academy for his violin lessons.

Insisting that he likes all three instruments "equally, no particular favourite,'' Hywel has been playing the violin as a member of the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra. This autumn, he plans to return, but this time around will be playing first clarinet.

So far, Hywel has not decided whether or not he wants to make music his career. After GCSE's this summer, he will go to Deerfield School in Massachusetts, where there is a strong music programme.

With Norman and Ann Brown as parents (Mrs. Brown was the founder and is still a trustee of the Dunbarton School), it is hardly surprising that music has always played an important role in his life. His great passion, though, is sports. With a handicap of 13 for golf, he also loves to play tennis and badminton.

"Interest-wise, sports is number one!'' he insists.

Saturday's programme offers a rich variety of baroque music. Violinist Suzanne Dunkerley is joined by Susan and Adrian Hall on recorders and the orchestra in Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4.

There will also be a rare op portunity of hearing the solo bassoon, when Saltus Junior School music teacher, Mary Palmer, performs the Galliard Sonata.

This has been transcribed for bassoon and orchestra by her husband, musician Jonathan Palmer.

The orchestra will perform 18th century English composer William Boyce's Symphony No. 1 and the ever-popular brass ensemble, The Furness Line, will also be playing a selection of baroque music.

The Baroque Concert takes place on Saturday, April 30 at St. John's Church, Pembroke, at 8.p.m. Tickets at $15 (half price for students and seniors) are available at the door.

MUSICIAN OF NOTE -- Fifteen-year-old Hywel Brown will be playing solo clarinet in the Tartini Concertino at the Saltus Concert Society's Baroque Concert on Saturday.