A MUSICIAN who has performed with orchestras all over Europe is bringing music to children with impaired hearing.

Harpist Anita Aslin, 32, from Stokesley, teaches the harp and piano privately and provides music support in three Marton primary schools, including with deaf and hearing impaired children at Sunnyside Primary School.

She has learned sign language and is continuing her studies on a course in Thirsk.

She explained: "A lot of it is visual, because you can see beats, and a lot if it they can feel. The only complication is pitch, but you can show them how pitch varies in things like smaller and larger chimes.

"I find this work fascinating and it is what I want to venture into more."

Miss Aslin also plays at weddings and corporate events at weekends, and does freelance orchestral work when required.

Shoppers at Strike's Nursery, in Stokesley, were treated to a taste of Miss Aslin's musical skills on Thursday of last week, when she performed in the Christmas display area.

She started playing the harp aged nine, commuting to Harrogate for weekly lessons, and made her BBC debut in 1982 at the age of ten.

She was Young Musician of Teesside in 1986, joined the Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra and later the Cleveland Youth Orchestra, touring Europe with them.

She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and while there played with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

She performs in a duo with her singing sister Charlotte and has her own web site www.harping-on.co.uk.

Copies of her CD, also called Harping On, are available at Stokesley Town Hall tomorrow from 10am-1pm.