By Colin Grant
GLASGOW’S Royal Concert Hall has never seen such a magical night.
 A capacity audience of 1800 sat enthralled last Sunday as a procession of the most talented youngsters in Scotland produced one awe-inspiring performance after another.
And, when it was all over, the hall erupted into an eight-minute standing ovation, prompting manager Phil Smith to observe, “In the five years I’ve been here, we’ve had some of the biggest acts in the world.
“None of them was rewarded with such an amazing audience reaction.”
The Spirit of Youth concert was sold out a fortnight before Sally Magnusson emerged on stage to introduce eight of the country’s best young music and dance acts.
Around 150 highly-talented and dedicated singers, dancers and musicians gave their all to benefit children less fortunate than themselves.
And by the end of an action-packed, emotionally-charged evening The Sunday Post’s campaign to raise money for a new children’s hospice had benefited by at least £30,000. It brings the total raised by our appeal to an astonishing
£162,883.34 in just 13 weeks.
Sunday’s show was the brainchild of David Cunningham, Charlie Cameron, Sandy Murrison and Alex Young, who together make up Friends of CHAS. They not only brought all the acts together, but also worked tirelessly backstage to ensure the stars entered and left the stage with military precision.
They were aided by stage director Chris Bryant, who’d travelled up from Yorkshire.
The show was recorded by BBC Scotland under the direction of James Hunter, one of Scotland’s most distinguished TV producers. An hour-long programme will be screened within the next two months, although a date hasn’t yet been set.
The West Lothian Schools Brass Band — whose enthusiastic young drummer is assured of stardom — started proceedings. The current European Champions remained on stage throughout and were the backbone of the show.
They were joined at various times by the Dance School of Scotland, the RSNO Junior Chorus, the Lothian Schools Reel & Strathspey Society, Tara, the MacNaughton Vale of Atholl Junior Pipes and Drums, the East Stirlingshire Royal Scottish Country Dancers and last, but certainly not least, the incredible Dunblane Cathedral Handbell Ringers.
Everyone associated with the show gave their services free of charge, including six employees of Abbey National plc, who volunteered to sell programmes and carry out a collection in the hall. Their hard work added more than £2750 to the cause and this sum was matched by Abbey National so their contribution was in excess of £5500.
The whole night was pulled together by Jack Zimmer and Sam Forrest and their colleagues in the Variety Club of Scotland, in association with The Sunday Post.
It was a truly memorable occasion for those fortunate enough to be there, and a wonderful boost for the children who will need such specialised care and treatment when the new hospice is built on the shores of Loch Lomond.
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Above
— Wide smiles from the East Stirlingshire Royal Scottish Country Dancers.
The RSNO junior chorus put their
hearts into a song.
Daniel Davidson soars above his fellow pupils of The Dance School of Scotland, from left, Louise Dooey, Duncan MacKintosh, Ami Tollin, Jamie Bivard and Catriona Beattie.
Caroline Munro, of the West Lothian
Schools Brass Band, blows up a storm.
Claire Lynas had little time to reflect
on her piping performance.
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