AYM Ambassador concert raises over £1,000


In January 2019, AYM Awardee, Willard Carter (cello) and AYM Alumnus, Julian Trevelyan (piano) staged a concert in support of AYM at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford.  The event raised in excess of £1,000! Here’s Willard on the experience:

Julian and I had agreed for more than a year that we wanted to put on a concert in support of AYM before we finally arranged a date. I had been submerged by GCSEs and plans to move to Madrid, and Julian had been moving from living and studying in Paris to studying at Oxford.

We agreed on the Holywell Music Room in Oxford as a venue, drawn to it not just because of Julian being in the Oxford Music department, but also as it is the oldest purpose built concert hall in Europe.

AYM have always felt like the structure behind my development as a musician, and they have been with me, supporting me and encouraging me since I was 8 years old.

I feel passionately about all the work that AYM does throughout the UK and the different projects they have built. I have always wanted a way to acknowledge this, and to say thank you properly. 

Fundraising from a concert is challenging, not least because of the costs that impact on how much you can raise. Also, putting on a concert yourself probably means that you need to build the audience. AYM have been very clear that raising awareness of the charity through concerts and events is as valuable as the profit from the event. Julian and I both felt equally about wanting to give back to AYM in appreciation of all the help and endorsement they have offered us. Julian and I were once again living in different countries when we booked the venue in October for our concert in January. Julian was travelling to Paris in December in preparation for concerts in Russia just before Christmas, just as I was returning to the UK for the Christmas break. This meant realistically, that although we had intended the concert to be all chamber music, we needed to rely on some of the repertoire that we had already performed together, alongside wonderful chamber music repertoire such as Brahms Sonata in E minor. Our rehearsals together in January were really helped by Catherine Manson who gave us feedback and direction in a lesson. She also did this without charge, in support of AYM.

Every part of the concert was a pleasure for me, holding AYM in mind, playing with Julian, performing in the Holywell Music Room and sharing with a great audience music, and our journey.

For more information about our fundraisers and how you could get involved visit our fundraising page.

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