Page 733 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Singer Lucy Thomas was catapulted to global fame after appearing on the
ITV show, The Voice Kids UK, at the age of 14 in 2018, finishing as a semi-
finalist.

The 20-year-old has since released five highly acclaimed studio albums
and boasts a rapidly rising worldwide following with close to one million
subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.5 billion views of videos featuring
her recordings.

Deafness

Robert, who overcame childhood deafness to forge a successful career in
music as a conductor, educator and entrepreneur, said the opportunity to
conduct at her concert had arrived as a ‘bolt out the blue’ and would see
him fulfil one of his lifelong dreams – much earlier than he expected.

The dad-of-two was handpicked for the concert by composer and music
producer Chris Broom who is managing director of Cavendish Records
and co-produced and composed several songs for Lucy Thomas’s first
three albums ‘Premiere’, ‘Encore’ and ‘Timeless’.

But the opportunity might never have happened if he’d listened to the
career advice of a teacher who said there was no money in music and that
he should train to be a dentist instead.

Robert, who hails from Wrexham and now lives in Stockport, said: “It came
out of nowhere! It’s the first time I’ll be heading to the West End and it’s
really exciting – surreal, in fact.

“Chris was looking for the right person to work in the West End, someone
who’d worked with orchestras and would be at ease with the experience.
I’m pleased to say that my name had been recommended by someone at
a local recording studio.

“It’s a pretty big deal for me. You kind of say you want these things to
happen but when they do it’s completely surreal. A lot of people look from
the outside in and think that if you have talent, you get lucky breaks but
that’s only 10 per cent of the story. Ninety percent is hard work, and people
don’t always see that.

“You spend a lot of hard work behind the scenes making sure you’re
prepared for any opportunities that come along. I feel completely ready for
this and I’m confident I’m the right person for this. It’s really exciting when
you’re given an opportunity to perform on a huge stage with an incredible
artist and be part of someone else’s journey too.”

Les Misérables