A talented young musician has created an extraordinary reworking of a famous piece of classical music in memory of his mother who died of brain cancer.
Alfie Beston, a church organist, saxophonist and aspiring composer from Orpington, South East London, collaborated with more than 40 musicians as part of an ambitious project to reimagine Bach's famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor.
After writing a new arrangement of the piece, the 17-year-old embarked on a two-year project to get each of the sections recorded, filmed and arranged into an incredible video he has now released to raise funds for Brain Tumour Research.
Alfie, who got a music scholarship to Sevenoaks School in Kent and directs music at St John the Evangelist Church in Bromley, said: “I started with the rhythm section, the bass, drums, guitar, then the lead players and all the rest of the sections. I ended up with more than 150 audio tracks for this.”
TV and film composer Lester Barnes (pictured above with Alfie), who has been nominated for Oscar, BAFTA and EMMY awards, also helped Alfie with the audio for Toccata.
The teen’s video has already raised more than £2,900 since being released on YouTube on 22nd February.
Alfie’s support of our charity comes following the death of his mum, Sarah, to a highly aggressive glioblastoma (GBM) in July 2021.
The former teacher had experienced a tingling sensation in her right hand before an MRI revealed the tumour. Sarah (pictured below with Alfie and his sister Esme) underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and passed away 27 months after diagnosis, aged 48.
Alfie said: “Losing someone you love to brain cancer is awful and I know the key to improving the outcome for others in the future is research, which is why I support Brain Tumour Research. To have raised so much already is really exciting.”
To support Alfie’s fundraising visit www.justgiving.com/page/alfie-beston-1708848212731 and to watch his video go to www.alfiebeston.com
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