The Leigh Orpheus has a strong tradition of arranging impromptu concerts in support of national and international emergencies.
This concert was another example, following the news that Russia had taken military action against Ukraine and many in Ukraine were suffering.
All impromptu, arranged at short notice, concerts are a challenge. This one even more so as the Concert Manager was over 200 miles away and with very restricted internet access.
Nevertheless, especially with the friendly cooperation of our printers, flyers and posters were produced and distributed and promotion was underway. A free concert with no tickets is always a bit if a gamble. Will anyone turn up? Will too many people turn up? If it’s a free concert will the audience be free-loaders or will they give generous donations as they leave?
Well, as it turned out audience numbers were good, as were donations made at the end of the concert.
Maybe a one-hour concert with no interval is easier for audience members to fit into their TV-watching schedule on a Saturday evening?
Twelve well-known pieces from the Leigh Orpheus with the audience experience being enhanced (and heart strings plucked) by an excellent video which backed ‘You Raise Me Up’. And appropriately an angel watched over the Leigh Orpheus as they sang ‘Angels Watching Over Me’.
