Last week I joined about 30 other strings players who took part in a concert to celebrate several things, all of them Nigel Brown.
Nigel's instrument schemes have been running for 25 years now, which is ample reason in itself for a celebration. Added to this, however, is the fact he has recently become High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire, and since he offered to wear the full official regalia for the evening, I certainly wasn't going to miss it. Finally, the concert raised a huge amount of money for motor neuron desease which is a brilliant cause to support. Pretty much everyone who has ever benefitted from Nigel's help was there, which meant a lot of very well known people.
The event was a black tie affair, for the audience and all but the most rebellious few musicians. Half of us didn't own anything resembling black tie, but we all did our best to cobble something together. I had been told that if I wore anything else I'd be the only person in the hall wearing an individual outfit, although I felt sure that honour would be going to Nigel himself, as it would be an extraordinary coincidence if someone else turned up wearing tights, a sword and a hat.
Altogether the evening was a splendid success, and we are all in Nigel's debt for his 25 years of hard, hard work helping musicians get what they most need- an instrument to play on.
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