The Newport Ship and its journey is the inspiration for "a new life line" in the career of a Monmouthshire pianist hit by arthritis.

Thanks to £23,000 of Welsh Arts Council funding, Mark Latimer is about to embark on a 12 month project focusing on the music which could have been played on the ship, discovered in the banks of the River Usk in 2003.

Mr Latimer performed all over the world as a classicial and jazz pianist, but describes the last year as "very traumatic", because of severe athritis.

The condition affected joints in his fingers and by the start of this year it had become so bad, he had to cancel performances.

The discovery of the ship, which is thought to have docked in Newport in 1468 for repairs, fascinated Mr Latimer.

He said the crew would have been a "social melting pot" of mariners and traders from Wales, the Balkans, Britanny and Spain.

Mr Latimer, who lives with wife Heulwen, was further fascinated by the ship because of his love of composers Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt. They used traditional Slovakian dance forms, melodies and rhythms in their music.

In the 15th century, this type of music saw an explosion in popularity and could have been played on the Newport ship,with the guitar in its modern form first seen in this century and a six string keyboard called a tamburitza.

The funding will allow Mr Latimer to compose a musical performance similar to those heard at the time.

He will visit Slovakia, Slovenia and Italy- countries the ship could have visited- in composing the piece, which will be performed by musicians. His involvement in playing will be limited because of athritis.

It will be played at the Wales Millennium Centre, Riverfront Theatre, Newport and three venues in Slovakia next year.