A west Norfolk church will be celebrating its Christmas concert in the company of one of the top brass bands in the country.

Norfolk Brass will performing its diverse repertoire of music at St Nicholas' Church in Dersingham in December.

Led by musical director David Stowell, the ensemble has become East Anglia's leading brass band, coming third in the UK National Brass Band Championship in 2010.

The band performs a varied selection of light classical, operatic and film, and, for the December concert, some traditional Christmas tunes.

The concert has been organised by the Friends of St Nicholas who have invited the band to perform at their annual December event for the past six years.

Nigel Sisson, a Friends of St Nicholas committee member, said: 'It is a good, long evening; most of the tickets sell well in advance.

'People come from a wide range of places, they are not all local, they come from all parts of Norfolk.

'Norfolk Brass is now established as one of the leading brass ensembles in the country.

'They are a very versatile band and most of them play more than one instrument.

'David Stowell is an excellent musical director and we have persuaded him to have a microphone so he introduces each piece with a story. It has become quite a personal thing.

'This is the fifth concert like this. The church is a wonderful place for this type of music, the roof is high and there is a lot of space. The acoustics sound amazing.

'People also come because the church is fully decorated with Christmas trees as part of the Christmas tree festival.

'The whole thing is wonderfully festive with mince pies and mulled wine served in the interval.'

The evening will help raise funds for the Friends of St Nicholas which will be used to help maintain the church building.

The December concert has been timed to coincide with the annual Christmas tree festival at the church.

Like many brass bands, Norfolk Brass has its origins in a working village community in Reepham, near Norwich.

Over the years, this town band grew in strength and stature, becoming Norfolk Brass in 2009.

Under the professional direction of Mr Stowell, who has also worked with the Grimethorpe Colliery and the Black Dyke Colliery Bands, Norfolk Brass rose up the national rankings.

Mr Stowell is currently working on the score for a BBC production and has composed music for many different television shows.

The concert takes place at St Nicholas' Church on Saturday, December 7, at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £7.50 in advance or £8.50 on the door and can be purchased by calling Neil Sisson on 01485 540081.