HAPPY birthday, Steve Crowther, artistic director of the York Late Music Concert Series.

To mark the occasion, Ian Pace will give a piano recital at the Unitarian Chapel, in St Saviourgate, tomorrow at 7.30pm, when he will play two pieces written for him by Steve: Political Prayer and the first complete performance of Morris Dances.

“The programme and performer were originally chosen by me as a 50th birthday gift, but typically the concert was delayed and I’m 51 now!” admits Steve.

In his remit as artistic director, he focuses on living composers in his programming for the Late Music series, a policy encapsulated in tomorrow’s other pieces: Michael Finnissy’s First Political Agenda and a rare chance to hear Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated.

“This 50-minute masterpiece is a wonderfully engaging set of variations on the anthem for Chilean resistance to the Pinochet regime, El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido, and will transform this concert into an event,” says Steve.

Earlier in the day, at 1pm, The Vertigo Project will perform a Late Music programme of Benjamin Gait’s Four Settings of Li Po, Guus Jansen’s splendidly titled Hu Hu Baley, John Tavener’s Akhmatova Poetry, Alessia Mankovskaya’s No Estar and the world premiere of a new Chris Leedham work.

Tickets for Ian Pace cost £8, concessions £6; the Vertigo Project, £5/£3, on 01904 658338.