Blind conductor to go on UK tour

6th August 2010

A blind conductor from Bacup is preparing to take his scout band on a tour of the UK, performing at shows such as Proms in the Park in Taunton by way of celebrating the group's centenary.

Local authority youth worker Graham Helm, 35, has been experiencing sight difficulties since he was a child but it was not until this year that he was rendered completely blind - and therefore unable to read conductor's instructions.

However, he is not letting this stop him from taking the 2nd Rossendale Scout Group Band on a nine-day, 13-concert trip around the country.

"The specialists have said that there is really nothing that can be done now with my sight, but it will not stop me conducting the band," he was quoted by the Manchester Evening News as saying.

Some may think it impossible for a disabled person to be involved with music but, of course, Beethoven - one of the most impressive composers the world has ever seen - was experiencing profound deafness by the time he composed his ninth symphony, while blues artist Ray Charles was blind from childhood.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn