A TALENTED young conductor from Wrexham who rejected a teacher’s advice to become a dentist is making his West End debut with singing star Lucy Thomas.
Robert Guy, 36, the artistic director of NEW Sinfonia which is the resident orchestra at the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph, will conduct a 30-piece London orchestra at Lucy’s concert on October 22 at Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London.
Singer Lucy Thomas, from Wigan, was catapulted to global fame after appearing on the ITV show, The Voice Kids UK, at the age of 14 in 2018, finishing as a semi-finalist.
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The 20-year-old has since released five highly acclaimed studio albums and boasts a rapidly rising worldwide following with close to one million subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.5 billion views of videos featuring her recordings.
Robert, who overcame childhood deafness to forge a successful career in music as a conductor, educator and entrepreneur, said the opportunity to conduct at her concert had arrived as a “bolt out the blue” and would see him fulfil one of his lifelong dreams - much earlier than he expected.
He has also been appointed as the new principal conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and said: “It came out of nowhere! It’s the first time I’ll be heading to the West End and it’s really exciting – surreal, in fact.
“Chris was looking for the right person to work in the West End, someone who’d worked with orchestras and would be at ease with the experience. I’m pleased to say that my name had been recommended by someone at a local recording studio.
“It’s a pretty big deal for me. You kind of say you want these things to happen but when they do it’s completely surreal.
“A lot of people look from the outside in and think that if you have talent, you get lucky breaks but that’s only 10 per cent of the story. 90 per cent is hard work, and people don’t always see that.
“You spend a lot of hard work behind the scenes making sure you’re prepared for any opportunities that come along.
“I feel completely ready for this and I’m confident I’m the right person for this. It’s really exciting when you’re given an opportunity to perform on a huge stage with an incredible artist and be part of someone else’s journey too.”
The concert will feature special guest West End star Will Callan and iconic songs from musicals such as Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Evita and Cats.
In the second half, Lucy will showcase a selection of songs from the forthcoming musical Rosie, which has been written by Chris.
Accompaniment will be provided by pianist James Breckon while the orchestra will be made up of London-based session musicians.
“It feels really good to be building on the momentum of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra role,” said Robert, who was scouted for the youth orchestra role by his musical hero, Sir Simon Rattle, honorary patron and former player/conductor with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.
“I sense a kind of momentum going on with my career.
“When I was approached by Chris two weeks ago, my reaction was that this is great but also surprising as I’m not from London; I’m from Wrexham, and Lucy’s from Wigan. It’s a very exciting opportunity for both of us.
“Just 10 years ago, I felt like I was always battling to prove myself. Growing up, I had been told by a teacher there was no money in music and that I should become a dentist.
“I did work experience for a day in a dentist practice and I knew I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t do music as a hobby, it’s my life.”
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