Concert Director

Concert director Dick Passmore openly admits that whilst he enjoys music, he cannot read a note and plays no instrument! Nevertheless, since his teens he has enjoyed listening to various types of music, but light classical is probably at the top of his list. His love of music encouraged him to stage two popular Christmas concerts for FORCE in 2004 and 2006, and together they raised in excess of £3,000.

Born in Exeter , Dick supports the FORCE cancer charity for a very good reason – he has been a cancer patient and is well aware of the excellent work Meriel Fishwick and her team do for patients and their families who are going through the trauma of the illness.

Classics Galore! is an ambition he has worked on for almost two years, and it will be one of Exeter 's biggest ever assembly of musicians and singers on stage at the same time. There may have been concerts staged in Exeter with more singers, larger orchestras and bigger bands – but seldom, if ever, has the city seen an orchestra, a band and two choruses combine at one concert – a total of around two hundred musicians and singers!

Dick's idea stems from several visits he and his wife, Rosemary, have made to London 's Royal Albert Hall to see the annual Classical Spectacular presented by Raymond Gubbay. Classics Galore! may not be as big, or as spectacular, as the London show – but it will be a feast of musical entertainment.

Classics Galore! has been aimed at offering the public an evening of popular classical music where everyone will recognise the music, even if not the title, or the composer.

The logistics of organising such a concert is quite complex, and has been in the planning stages for over twelve months, and the audience will witness the culmination of that planning by Dick, Rosemary, and a team of representatives from each of the participating groups . Hopefully, the fruits of those labours will be seen in what is hoped will be the first of an annual event.