Yesterday, as I stood on the stage of the Royal Albert Hall, I couldn’t help thinking of the Victorian air, “I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marbled Halls”, for here was a pinch-me please dream moment. In the ten years I have been illustrating music at classical concerts, many people have (half jokingly) said “Oh, you should be at the Royal Albert Hall!”. Of course I scoffed at their words. I never, for a moment, believed such an opportunity would ever arise.
But yesterday… that dream came true.
I was there as a (tiny) part of an extraordinarily spectacular event arranged by the wonderful Hertfordshire Music Service, as a showcase for children in the county to display their talents. There were two performances, each with a different 1,400 primary school children singing in the choir, accompanied by the Hertfordshire Schools’ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Rufus Frowde led the day, assisted by Ben Gernon. Another Ben, young actor Ben Boskovic, commandingly led the performance with captivating words by Rachel Barnett.
Fable and Fantasy was the title, and I had designed, in advance, a simple motif that fitted several of the pieces being played. So to arrive at the Royal Albert Hall and see the image on a huge screen, and subsequently on thousands (and I mean thousands!) of T shirts, was really quite something.
There was dancing, drums, costumes, solo singers, lighting, dry ice… and tucked away to one side, there was me with my easel. With so much talent to show, I only painted to four pieces: The folk songs John Barleycorn and The Red Knight first of all, in wonderful versions for full orchestra and chorus.
Here’s the ghostly knight with his red cloak…
Then the biggest challenge: the World Premiere of a specially commissioned piece by Richard Sisson, The Wicked Lady, based on the old Hertfordshire legend of Kate Ferrers, the Highwaywoman. It combined narrator, orchestra and chorus… and artist in this instance!
I wanted to show the development from elegant womanhood…
to wicked lady…
Lastly came Rick Wakeman’s King Arthur – the scene of the Sword in the Stone, which is very clear in my memory having recently retold and illustrated the story for Orion (for publication in the autumn).
The concert also included, amongst others, Phantom of the Opera, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Vaughan-Williams’ Shakespeare songs, and Prokofiev’s Capulets and Montagues and the earth-shaking Geronimo!
I am full of admiration for all those who worked behind the scenes to allow this to happen. What a wonderful, dedicated and generous team they are! And how many lives they touched, how many children they inspired (adults too!). And what a wonderful celebration of the talent in Hertfordshire, and the brilliantly supportive education of the teachers in Hertfordshire schools. This is what education should be: creative, motivational, inspirational and ambitious. The results speak for themselves. Those children will never forget the experience, and neither will I.
An amazing, incredible, beautiful day.
THANK YOU everyone! And now… am I allowed to continue the dream? Imagine illustrating Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade there. Or Stravinsky’s Firebird… just saying…
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