Help Down for the Count preserve British musical heritage!

Published: 04 Apr 2021   |   Written by: Mike Paul-Smith

Down for the Count have been invited to participate in an incredibly exciting new project - and we'd love your support to make it happen.

Donate to the Kickstarter today

Rose Hinton is one of the fabulously talented string players we've been lucky to work with recently, and she is the granddaughter of British violinist and composer Cyril Hellier who, with his brother Clifford, wrote music that was recorded and performed by Henry Hall's BBC Dance Orchestra in the 1930s. Cyril even played for Frank Sinatra on Frank's UK appearances!

Tragically there are no known surviving copies of the recordings; and Rose would love to recreate them, preserving the musical legacy of two British composers. She has approached Down for the Count to record the songs in the studio, with our musical director Mike Paul-Smith producing and conducting the 26-piece orchestra and Rose re-creating her grandfathers violin solos.

Here are Rose and Mike performing one of the pieces, Blue Strings, with Rose telling you more information about the project:

 

The project is incredibly exciting and also incredibly ambitious. Rose has therefore launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £3000 towards the cost of the project, which will go a long way towards paying the self-employed musicians, sound engineers, videographers and other creatives who will be vital to make the project happen.

We're absolutely thrilled to be asked to be involved in this project - and would love your help to make it happen. It's not every day you get the opportunity to play music which was performed by the BBC Dance Orchestra (which became the world-famous BBC Big Band) and it would be a joy to keep the music alive.

Find out more about the project on Rose's Kickstarter, and just get in touch if you have any questions.

Find out more

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