As part of the Orchestra of the Swan’s residency at The Courtyard, Nicholas Daniel plays Strauss and Ravel on Friday, May 17.

City of Birmingham’s associate conductor Michael Seal conducts a concert which illustrates the differing ways in which two 20th-century composers (Strauss and Ravel) approached and portrayed death.

Nicholas Daniel has long been acknowledged as one of the world’s great oboe players, and is one of Britain’s best known musicians. In a distinguished career that began more than four decades ago he has become an important ambassador in many different musical fields, and has significantly enlarged the repertoire for his instrument with the commissioning of hundreds of new works.

Having sung in the choir of Salisbury Cathedral as a boy, Nicholas was put directly into the spotlight at the age of 18 when he won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition.

Nicholas Daniel’s performance with Orchestra of the Swan will include Ravel’s Pavane pour une infant défunte and Le Tombeau de Couperin and Oboe Concerto, TrV 292 and Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss.

Audiences can add some fizz to their evening by upgrading their tickets for £7.95 to enjoy prosecco and sweet canapés during the interval.

Nicholas Daniel plays Strauss will be in The Courtyard’s Main House on Friday, May 17. To book, call the box office on 01432 340555 or visit courtyard.org.uk