AS an aspiring musician Neil Smith would practise the guitar in a Horwich schoolroom . . .

In October he returns to the church next door to the schoolroom as one of the world's greatest classical guitarists.

Neil is officially rated in the top seven list of best guitarists in the world, and yet this will be his first concert back in his home town for more than 10 years -- even though he still lives in Horwich.

The Homecoming Concert takes place on Friday, October 12, at St Mary's Church, Horwich.

Amid the decorations marking the end of the Harvest, he will play on a stage specially built for him, surrounded by candlelight.

However, anyone who has yet to buy a ticket will be disappointed. The concert sold out within just seven days.

Neil's first band was The Sundowners, and then later, Michael and The Huntsman which became a popular group across the North-west in the early 1960s. At that time Neil played electric guitar. He decided to go into music full time and quit his engineering job at British Aerospace to work with Mecca at the Bolton Palais and the Ritz, Manchester.

It was then that he switched to classical guitar, eventually studying with Diaz, Segovia's deputy, and Brouwer in Canada.

Stars

On his return he began making his first of many television and radio broadcasts working with a wealth of stars including Anna Ford, Edward Fox, Lionel Blair, Tony Robinson, Patty Boulaye, George Melly, Robert Hardy, Jim Bowen, Ken Dodd and Lisa Stansfield.

He forged ahead with his solo work and toured Europe in 1980. He released three albums as he moved into classical music, working in the festivals and halls with the top orchestras along with some of the best known conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Alexander Gibson, Marcus Dods and Antony Hopkins. His concerts were hosted by various international sponsors and many ambassadors have attended his concerts.

In Dubai, His Highness General Sheikh Maktoum promoted a recital for him in 1999 and on August 5 last year, he was chosen to play in the centenary concert for the Queen Mother's birthday at Glamis Castle in Scotland for almost 6,000 people.

His success has also taken him across America and Canada, as well as the Soviet Union. In total he has played in 40 countries and hopes to conquer new territory in Brazil and Syria this coming season.

His travel stories have been set down in his book Have Guitar Will Travel, which will be on sale at the Horwich concert. He also has four CDs on recent release.

The Horwich concert will open featuring Spanish music including the same Spanish Romance that he played for film star Elizabeth Taylor as she filmed Cleopatra. The second half of the show will include Italian and Latin American music.