The 300th Recital Celebration
On 18th March 2026, to celebrate 3 years and 300 recitals of the Friends Music Project, the Friends invited a special group to play and sing in the Main Foyer of the hospital. The President introduced the recital by saying that the Friends are very grateful to the hundreds of volunteer musicians and singers who have participated in the Project. They have come from our staff, our students, local people, choirs, music academies and from schools. They hearten us, and we believe they have enjoyed the experience.
Normally the recitals are just for patients and staff, but this special recital was to allow the Friends to thank a particularly important group of talented people. These people helped start the project with the inaugural recital in March 2023, and they have provided many more since. They are our very own medical, dental and Queen Mary students. In his preliminary remarks Professor Beedham introduced two special guests; Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, the Vice Principal for Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, and Professor Ian Jacobs, the Chair of Barts Health NHS Trust. He said we were very fortunate to have them as our leaders; not just because of their backgrounds, which provided them with a deep understanding of the health needs of the population, but because of their unique insights in to the training requirements of those who support our patients.
The pictures below show the sequence of the contributors to the Celebration Recital. First, Sir Mark is being introduced at the start of the event. He recalled that Professor Jacobs and he had trained together at the then ‘London Hospital’ in the early 1980s. Since then, he had always felt there was something rather magical about the Royal London, and now the Barts Health NHS Trust. He recognised the mutual value of having students from the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and QMUL, involved in the Friends Project. He observed that even in the hurley burly of a complex local and specialist hospital, it is important to take a moment to listen to suitable music, as music can help us solve so many things in life.
The students responded magnificently to the occasion. The order of the photographs below matches the sequence of their recitals. The musicians were; String Quartet - Alice Agostinelli, Emily Ashley, Tae Choi & Abi Cavanagh - "Viva La Vida"; Piano solo - Elena Lee - "Falling like stars"; Piano and vocal - Tommy Japes - "It's all about you"; Flute Trio - Ruhkia Johnston, Madhura Sivakumar & Constance Ding - "Studio Ghibli Medley"; Solo vocal - Emily Ashley - "Think of me"; Piano and vocal - Luca Cheung 「任我行 (Eason Chan) - "Let me go"; Piano solo - Matt Grundy - "Bridge over troubled water" self-arrangement; Piano solo - James Tai - ‘Improvisation’; Piano and vocal - Trevor Dao - ‘One Moment in Time’ - Whitney Houston; Brass Quintet - Tabitha Harris, Meetraa Kunduzi, Brandon Wong, Jonas Leong-Smith & Keegan Green - "What was I made for" (Billie Eilish). They were a real credit to the school. The final picture is me relaxing with the Trio afterwards. The session was recorded by Richard Gardner on his phone and is at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SrVjm1jipE
Professor Jacobs then spoke to close the recital. He too pointed to the especial value of having live music for those using or working in the hospital. He congratulated the students who had played, & he thanked the hundreds of others who had contributed over the last 3 years. He emphasized the importance of the fruitful partnership between Barts Health and Queen Mary. Then he thanked the Friends and all those involved in the Music Project. He concluded ‘long may these recitals continue’.
The President thanked; Professor Jacobs and Sir Mark for attending and for their kind words; Dr Neil Ashman our CEO and the Board for approving the Project, and Mr Kenny Hanlon the Director of Estates for his continuing help. He said the Friends would also like to thank the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, QMUL and the Barts & London Music Society for their enthusiastic participation. He was also very grateful for financial and other support; from the Marie Celeste Samaritan Society, from Elior the hospital Caterers who provide snacks for schools, and from individual donors like Jordan at the fruit and vegetable stall.
Finally, he applauded the students. Over the last 3 years they have regularly cheered everyone with their music and their singing and he hoped they would continue to do so. The Celebration Recital was the Friends tribute to them. As a mark of the Friends’ gratitude, each of them was given an Award and a modest gift.
Prof. Trevor Beedham. March 2026