The Amber Trust celebrated its 25th Anniversary on Sunday 27 September with a live stream of our very first online concert. The concert was originally planned to be held in May at St Paul’s School in Barnes, West London, but sadly, due to the pandemic, we had to cancel it so we decided to take it online instead.
The programme included a diverse repertoire of classical music from eight talented young musicians we support, including a specially commissioned anniversary waltz composed and performed by pianist Ethan Loch. Everyone played beautifully and our online audience were captivated and delighted. It was a wonderful tribute to the charity’s quarter-of-a-century milestone.
We have received so many lovely comments and emails since the concert was aired, congratulating Amber on it’s 25th birthday and the young musicians who are brimming with talent and clearly love playing. One long-standing Amber supporter wrote,
“I really enjoyed watching the Amber Trust’s very special 25th Anniversary Concert. What a brilliant idea to make it freely accessible to anyone from anywhere, and give a strong message of togetherness in these difficult times. Because the event was live streamed on YouTube, my whole family was able to enjoy it together. We were also able to post comments live, which made us feel closer to the performers. We all admired the performers’ brilliance – at some point the only word uttered by everyone in our house was “WOW”!
Dr Leda Kamenopoulou, Senior Lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education at Roehampton University
What struck me the most was how central music clearly seemed to be in these young performers’ lives, and as well as the significance of The Amber Trust’s support. I hope that this support continues to be accessible to more and more children and young people out there so we can continue enjoying your great events!”
We would like to thank everyone who tuned in for the live stream and who has watched it on YouTube since, and, of course, to everyone who made a donation. But most importantly of all, a huge thanks to the performers and their families whose enthusiasm and dedication are so inspiring and without whom the concert would not have been possible at all. We will be announcing the total raised very soon, so stay tuned!