The Concert that nearly wasn’t
by Lord John Cope
Iyad Sughayer’s PalMusic Concert on Sunday has had a long gestation. It was supposed to be held in April 2020, but got run over by COVID-19 like so much else. It was planned well before then by Heba Zephiriou-Zarifi, then Chair of PalMusic, at the suggestion of Dr John Manley, who was then a trustee of St George’s Hall, Bristol and soon to start a year as Bristol’s High Sheriff. John Manley is an expert in things like Cloud Computing (way beyond me), a former director of Hewlett Packard and high in Bristol University circles. St George’s is a Georgian former Church now converted into a lovely concert hall – those who know St John’s Smith Square will get the idea, but the wartime bomb which hit St George’s failed to go off!
When Covid struck we reluctantly had to cancel the concert. John’s year as High Sheriff was knocked into virtual reality. At about the same time PalMusic got a new Chair in Caroline Montagu and new paid support and I had open heart surgery. New dates were suggested but were successively overtaken. Meanwhile Iyad’s star has continued to shine ever brighter, fuelled by sparkling recordings of Khachaturian’s works. Fortunately his commitment to PalMusic’s aims remains and he was able to resurrect the engagement. We are most grateful to him and keenly looking forward to the concert at last. Sara Apps and Georgie Brooks have had to work hard to pick up the pieces and now we can all enjoy it.
We hope you can join us at Iyad’s Sughayer’s Sunday concert in Bristol
And enjoy a sample of Iyad’s playing that you will hear on the night: