Impromptu conducting duo raises more than £2K for autism at the Royal Albert Hall

July 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Carmen Zgouras and Jonathon Welch were total strangers from opposite sides of the world until they met on Sunday 8 July, sharing the conductor’s podium at the Royal Albert Hall.  The event was a concert by The Really Big Chorus (the UK’s largest choral society), and the total raised on the day for the National Autistic Society through a variety of fundraising activities, including the auction, is expected to reach over £9,000.

In a bizarre bidding war, the two audience members were both equally determined to conduct the English Festival Orchestra in Eric Coates’ Knightsbridge March, and finally agreed to donate £1200 each to the NAS if they could share the rostrum.

For Carmen, a charity fundraiser, this was a completely new experience having never previously held a baton. Jonathon, however, is an experienced conductor from Australia and this was his first visit to the Royal Albert Hall. The pair struck an immediate rapport with each other and the orchestra, giving a spirited and entertaining performance with a friendly rivalry, drawing laughter from the audience who joined in the fun by clapping in time to the music. By the end of the piece, the audience was on its feet cheering!

Both maestros took away a permanent CD memento of their performance, thanks to a private live recording made of the concert by Abbey Road Live Here Now.

The concert also featured the world première of Karl Jenkins’ Gods of Olympus alongside his most celebrated work The Armed Man.

Autism affects thousands of families but is still poorly understood, and the NAS aims to educate and inform as well as to raise funds. TRBC is proud to be associated with the Society during its 50th anniversary.

ENDS


Notes for editors

1.   The concert took place on Sunday 8 July at the Royal Albert Hall.

2.   The Really Big Chorus is the UK‘s largest choral society with around 12,000 singing members. It began life in 1974 when Canadian Don Monro, a student at Imperial College, got together with fellow scientists to hire the Royal Albert Hall and fill it with amateur singers for the very first Messiah from Scratch®:  no rehearsal at all for the chorus, just an electrifying, adrenaline-filled performance. Our other RAH concerts in May and July (‘the last night before the Proms ‘) have rehearsals on the day, and TRBC also organises singing breaks to prestige overseas venues, and relaxing choral cruises.

3.   As well as his voice being known to tens of thousands of music-lovers through his many presentations for BBC radio, Brian Kay is conductor of Vaughan Williams ‘ Leith Hill Musical Festival in Surrey, and of the Burford Singers near to his home in the Cotswolds. He was previously chorusmaster of the Huddersfield Choral Society, and conductor of the Cheltenham Bach Choir, and he frequently guest-conducts choirs and orchestras in many parts of the country. Further afield, in New Zealand he has conducted the Orpheus Choir of Wellington and the Auckland Choral Society, and in Sheffield, Massachusetts, the Berkshire Choral Festival. He is a Vice President of the Association of British Choral Directors and of the Royal School of Church Music.

4.   The National Autistic Society is the UK‘s leading charity for people with autism and their families.  Founded in 1962, it continues to spearhead national and international initiatives and provide a strong voice for all people with autism. The NAS provides a wide range of services to help people with autism and Asperger syndrome live their lives with as much independence as possible.

5.   The concert was awarded the Inspire Mark. The Inspire programme is run by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.  It is an opportunity for everyone to be a part of the London 2012 Games—a broad participation programme spanning sport education, sustainability, volunteering, and business opportunities and culture. New opportunities are being created to inspire young people and the whole of the UK to join in. The Inspire programme has awarded the Inspire Mark to over 1,400 different projects.