A talented young conductor from Stockport is making his West End debut.

Robert Guy, 36, was recently appointed as the new principal conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He will conduct a 30-piece London orchestra at a concert on October 22 at Andrew Lloyd Webber's Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London.

He will perform alongside Lucy Thomas, a singing star from Wigan who appeared on The Voice Kids UK, at the age of 14 in 2018, finishing as a semi-finalist.

Years prior, one of Robert's teachers said that there was no money in music and told him to become a dentist - instead, he opted for a career in music and has never looked back.

He said the opportunity to conduct a had arrived as a 'bolt out the blue' and would see him fulfil one of his lifelong dreams - much earlier than he expected.

"It came out of nowhere!", Robert said. "It's the first time I'll be heading to the West End and it's really exciting – surreal, in fact. [...]

"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."

The concert will feature songs from musicals such as Les Misérables, Beauty and the Beast, Evita and Cats. In the second half, singer Lucy will showcase a selection of songs from the forthcoming musical Rosie, which has been written by Chris Broom, the composer and producer.

It was Chris who picked Robert specifically for this role.

Robert will perform alongside the talented singer Lucy Thomas (Image supplied)

Chris said: "We were extremely impressed with Roberts's work and, in particular, his expertise in guiding young, less experienced performers at the beginning of their careers. We greatly look forward to working with Robert on this exciting project."

The opportunity comes on the back of a series of career successes for Robert, who received the prestigious Hilary Tann Award for his outstanding contribution to Welsh classical music when royal composer Paul Mealor described him as one of the UK's "finest young conductors"

Robert is continuing his roles as Director of Conducting and Director of Orchestras at The University of Manchester alongside his new responsibilities with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra.

He's also the co-founder with his composer brother Jonathan of NEW Sinfonia, the resident orchestra at the North Wales International Music Festival in St Asaph which also has close links with Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Tickets for the concert are available at: https://lwtheatres.co.uk/whats-on/lucy-thomas/

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