On Sunday March 27, Ronnie
   Corbett presented a brilliant
   BBC Radio 4 Appeal on behalf
   of The AMBER Trust.

  

   You can listen to this by clicking
   on BBC Radio 4 Appeal.

   Ronnie first became aware of
   AMBER's vital work through his
   friendship with Derek Paravicini,
   the blind and autistic jazz pianist.
   The charity was set up because of
   Derek, and other children like him,
   when he first showed signs of his
   exceptional musical talent.

 

Through Ronnie's important message, AMBER has received many generous donations, which will go towards The AMBER Music Awards, helping us to continue our work of bringing music, hope and fulfillment into the lives of blind and partially sighted children and young people from all over the UK.

It has also raised awareness of the huge impact music has on each and every child that AMBER supports, many of whom have other complex needs and often live in relative poverty, but who all have a talent and love of music. For them, learning to play an instrument or to sing – or simply being able to join in with other children – can add immeasurably to their lives, helping them to reach out to others in a dark and confusing world.

Music for AMBER's children is not just a pastime, it is a lifeline.

   A Unique Musical Event

   On Wednesday 30 March 2011,
   Miller Philanthropy in partnership
   with the Zetland Foundation hosted
   an evening of music at Cadogan Hall,
   Chelsea. AMBER was very fortunate
   to be one of the charities that   
   benefitted from this inspirational event.

   Brilliant jazz pianist, Derek Paravicini,
   around whom The AMBER Trust was
   first set up, performed, along with
   the amazingly talented singer and
   actress, Heather Peace.   

The AMBER Centre was initiated at Roehampton University late in 2009 to fulfil one of AMBER's key strategic objectives – to promote research in the area of music and children and young people with visual impairment (many of whom have additional disabilities including autism).

To date, the research has included exploring the Musicality of Children and Young People with Retinopathy of Prematurity – an eye disease that affects prematurely born babies, which in serious cases, often lead to blindness.

AMBER is extremely proud of one of their remarkably talented children, Frank St. John, whose membership of the National Youth Orchestra we sponsored earlier this year. Following his attendance at the course this Easter, Frank was selected to perform at the Proms at the Albert Hall on August 5th, 2011.

The choir joined the sensational Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela to perform Mahler's Resurrection Symphony and were described as 'magnificent'.

The National Youth Choir also identified Frank as a singer who has made "amazing progress" and asked for permission to use him as a case study in their annual report to Youth Music.

Well done, Frank.

Thanks to the many donations we have
received from our supporters and friends,
The AMBER Trust now brings music into
the lives of over 150 blind and partially
sighted children like nine-year-old Luke.

Since starting music therapy sessions,
Luke, who is registered blind, has
Aspergers syndrome and suffers from
seizures, is now much more talkative,
socially confident and outward looking.
The therapy also helps him to relax,
and to manage the stress, anger and
worries he experiences in his day-to-day
life. It also helps him to tell people of his
needs and to cope in social situations.

Luke loves to play the clarinet. At first,
due to his poor eyesight and lack of
co-ordination, he found this difficult,
but when he started using music
enlarged by Sibelius computer software,
his clarinet playing improved significantly.
Luke can now produce the right sounds
more consistently and easily.

He writes his own music and give his pieces creative titles. He called one piece ‘Hot Air Balloon’ because the music started on a low note, rose to a high note and then descended again. His teacher felt this was unusually imaginative for a child of Luke’s age.

Derek Paravicini, the blind and autistic musical genius around whom The AMBER Trust was created, stunned the music world when he performed his own piano concerto at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, South Bank on September 28th. The concerto, which was inspired by Derek's favourite composer, George Gershwin, was written specially for him by Matthew King and took a year to compose. John Lubbock conducted the orchestra of St Johns.

Derek made history on the night, as it is the first time a concerto has been written for someone with such profound learning difficulties. Derek had to memorise the entire piece by ear – he didn't just learn his part but that of every other instrument so that he knew when to play. On the night, Derek delivered a truly extraordinary performance.

AMBER is incredibly proud of Derek's achievement.