ST JOHN'S - Key Persons
Andrea Angel Bocelli (born 22 September 1958) is an Italian opera singer and songwiter. Celine Dion has said that "if God would have a singing voice, he must sound a lot like Andrea Bocelli,"
Bocelli loved music as a young boy. He started piano lessons at age 6 and later learned to play the flute, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, and drums.
When he was 1, he had a football accident and lost his sight. He was hit in the eye playing goalkeeper during a match and suffered a brain haemorrhage.
In 1992, Italian rock star Zucchero held auditions for tenors to make a recording of his song "Miserere", to send to the famous Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti. When he heard the tape, Pavarotti told Zucchero to use Bocelli instead of him. Zucchero eventually persuaded Pavarotti to record the song with Bocelli, and it became a hit throughout Europe.
Since 1982, Bocelli sold over 90 million records worldwide. He has been successful at using pop and classical music together so that classical music often has a place in the pop music charts.
Sir Edward William Elgar, (2 June 1857 - 23 February 1934) was thought of as one of the most famous English composers of his time. He composed the 'Enigma Variations'. An enigma is a puzzle. The piece is a puzzle as he wrote a main tune, and then a series of variations on the tune. Each variation describes one of his friends, but he did not say which friends they were: he only put their initials or nickname at the top of each variation. This is why the piece is an enigma (a "puzzle" or "secret"). http://www.elgar.org/3enigma.htm
Pomp and Circumstance: Has the tune which is sung to the words "Land of Hope and Glory" and the audience always join in singing it at the Last night of the proms. His cello concerto is one of Mrs Hedges' favourite pieces. It is played here by Sheku Kanneh-Mason. He won the Young Musician of the year when he was 17 years old.
Job Titles:
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William Martin Joel (born May 9, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. He is given the nickname of the "Piano man" after his 1973 song. Joel has had a successful music career as a solo artist since the 1970s.