Cobweb baton debut for Adoo

May 28 2007 By Tamzin Lewis, The Journal

"Cobweb isn't really a proper orchestra," conductor Andy Jackson explains to the audience, "for a start, the string section speak to the wind section." Although an amateur orchestra, Cobweb is a wonderful opportunity for excellent musicians from across the North-East to just turn up to rehearsals and have fun.

The idea is that Cobweb accommodates whoever has taken the trouble to come, so on Saturday evening as part of the orchestra; there were seven flautists, a trombone standing in for a bassoon, a tuba and a saxophone.

Cobweb's performance marked musician Clarence Adoo's debut as conductor using a specially designed headset with baton. Formerly a professional trumpeter with the Northern Sinfonia, Clarence was paralysed from the neck down in a car crash, but he has returned to the stage as a musician and now fulfilled a long-held ambition to conduct.

He chose Beethoven's glorious Overture to the Coriolan and Symphony No.2, neither of them a cinch to conduct, and controlled the orchestra precisely and with flair. Clarence's programme was mixed with two pieces by Fauré, Dolly Suite, which gave Listen with Mother its theme, and Fantaisie op.79 for flute and strings, featuring a lovely performance by Mike Cave on flute.