Donations to celebrate Graham Johns

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Donations to celebrate Graham Johns

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Donations to celebrate Graham Johns

Donations to celebrate Graham Johns

On 8 July 2023, Graham Johns retired from his role as Percussion Section Leader in the Orchestra, after 40 years of dedicated service.

Everyone who knows Graham will have heard about his 'Forever Bells' project at Liverpool Philharmonic: the largest collection of church bells of any orchestra in the UK. Graham's ambition was always to add an A-flat bell to the collection, used in Mahler's 8th Symphony, Puccini’s Tosca, Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, amongst others. We knew there would be nothing that would make Graham happier than to cast a 'Forever Bell' in his honour.

With support from over one hundred donors, we were able to cast Graham's A-flat bell and presented it to him on stage at the end of his final concert.

Graham has truly put Liverpool on the map in the percussion world, and we’re sure you’ll agree that he has been a tremendous force for good in our industry. We already miss him enormously.

We are aware that some people didn’t get chance to contribute towards the fund, and the beautiful book which we presented to Graham, which included well-wishes and memories from world-class conductors, musicians from around the world and passionate audience members.

We are always investing in instruments for our percussion section, future-proofing these wonderful instruments for the next generation of musicians. 

If you would like to make a gift in celebration of Graham's retirement, please click the button below, and email your message for Graham to fundraising@liverpoolphil.com after you make your donation. We will collate all the messages and reproduce another copy of the book for Graham in September.

Make a donation

If you would like a copy of the book, please make a donation of £50 or more and we will send you a special edition. If you live outside of the UK, please contact fundraising@liverpoolphil.com to confirm postage costs before making a donation. Thank you for your generosity.