BATH — Violinist Ben Powell performs on Saturday, Dec. 1, at Chocolate Church Arts Center, 804 Washington St., at 7:30 p.m.

Powell is joined by Maxim Lubarsky on piano, Bob Nieske on bass, Bob Tamagni on drums. The program will include a tribute to Grappelli as well as Powell’s music for quartet.

A news release describes Powell as follows:

Born and raised in Cheltenham, a small but cosmopolitan city in southwest England, Powell grew up surrounded by classical music. His mother is a Suzuki violin teacher and his father is a classical cellist. When he discovered Grappelli in his early teens, Powell started aurally dictating jazz onto the violin and joined various ensembles to share his love of jazz with others. At the same time, he continued to pursue his classical studies intensively.

During his final three years of high school, Powell was selected to perform with the UK’s highly competitive National Youth Orchestra. In his senior year, Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart was serving as guest conductor with the orchestra when he overheard Powell improvising.

Lockhart suggested Berklee College of Music to Powell as a place of study, and upon his return to Boston connected Berklee with his discovery. Within a year Powell was on his way to Berklee with a scholarship.

Fascinated by arranging and composing, Powell majored in jazz composition, taking every class he could while honing his own stringcentric approach to writing. Regularly performing with a multitude of student groups, he was a frequent member of student ensembles led by saxophonist Joe Lovano, and was awarded The Most Valuable String Player Award during his first year at the college.

Amazingly, he kept one foot firmly planted in the classical world, performing regularly with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra under Benjamin Zander. It wasn’t unusual for him to spend an afternoon playing in Lovano’s ensemble and an evening rehearsing Brahms or Mahler with the Boston Phil.

Tickets are $15, $12 in advance. For more information, call 442-8455 or visit www.chocolatechurch.com.