3 minute read
Leaving a Legacy
Chris Christodoulou has photographed some of the most historic moments in British music. He shares his memories from behind the camera, and tells us why he’s leaving a very special gift to the Royal College of Music.
‘My memory is photographic but it doesn’t have the same-day delivery that it used to have,’ says Chris Christodoulou. ‘It’s slightly delayed now.’ Nevertheless, the photographer can still recall the exact date he first got behind the camera for the RCM: 30 January 1983.
Chris was freelancing for the Royal Albert Hall at the time, and the General Manager asked if he would step in to photograph an event that weekend. ‘He said, “We’re having a little concert on Sunday, there’ll be music students doing this and that.” I arrived at the Hall to find out it was the RCM Centenary Gala Concert. The Prince of Wales, Princess of Wales, Duke of Kent… It was kind of extraordinary, a who’s who of classical music.’
It was at this concert – his very first RCM engagement – that Chris snapped one of his favourite images of all time: a young Prince of Wales kneeling down to talk to cellist Jacqueline du Pré, then in a wheelchair. ‘When I got up my knee clicked and I hobbled into the corner of the room,’ he remembers. ‘The Prince of Wales came over and joked, “That’s the only time you’ll ever get on your knee for a Prince.”’
Chris went on to capture the Centenary of the Charter Concert in May 1983, and soon become a regular photographer for the College.
Chris Christodoulou
John Millar
‘I was also invited to photograph the Prince of Wales surveying the site of what is today the Britten Theatre,’ he says. ‘Back then, it was a cricket pitch and sadly, we did break a few windows.’
Before it became his career, photography was first a hobby. Chris has an HND in Electronics and worked for ten years at the BBC ELectronic Designs Department. He grew up in Twickenham, near the Royal Military School of Music at Kneller Hall, where his dad was a hairdresser who counted several directors of music and bandsmen of the Coldstream Guards among his clients.
Through this connection, Chris got access to many high profile events, and he took his camera along with him. ‘There I was at the age of 10, 12, 13, photographing the Queen at Trooping the Colour,’ he recalls.
He began freelancing for the Royal Albert Hall in 1979, and photographed his first BBC Prom two years later. ‘We didn’t photograph very many Proms in the early days,’ he says. ‘We chose about a dozen – a visiting orchestra, the Last Night, maybe a Glyndebourne opera. But on a couple of occasions I did a grand slam, photographing all 75 Proms.’
Chris and his camera have been a regular fixture at the Proms for 38 years now, but some of his earlier gigs were of a different genre. ‘I remember photographing Peter, Paul and Mary in 1981. There I was, a yard away from the stage, 5,000 people singing Puff the Magic Dragon, and I think I’ve made it in pop music. That was the highlight of my career at the time.’
By his own admittance, though, Chris is not musical himself. ‘The only instrument I play is the Nikon,’ he says, while confessing to still being tormented by ‘visions of the recorder at school dipped in the bowl of Dettol’.
Once, the College sent a clarinet to his studio to photograph. ‘I opened the case, looked at it, and it looked at me, and I thought, I’ve got to put this together. Half an hour later, the keys are the wrong way round, the mouthpiece has fallen off. I rang up Albert’s Music Shop in Twickenham, and Albert came round to have a look. He walked in to my studio, shook his head and said, “You fool, there’s two instruments here.”’
Chris’ musical knowledge has grown somewhat since then, as has his admiration for those in the industry. ‘Working with RCM students, you can see first-hand what’s involved – the relentless practice. When I see RCM musicians walk out onto the Royal Albert Hall stage for the Proms, I lose buttons off my shirt with pride.’
‘Musical talent is a gift,’ he continues, ‘and that gift doesn’t just come, it needs support.’ Which is why, in 2013, Chris decided to pledge a legacy to the rCM, leaving a gift of his own, and one that will support generations of musicians to come. ‘When you see what can be achieved with some help – and when you see how important it is, especially now, with the state of music education – there was certainly no question about it,’ he explains.
Chris’ close working relationship with the College has also allowed him to witness firsthand how legacy donations are spent. And to his surprise, he’s found that his pledge is something he himself can enjoy right now. ‘In the last year or two, knowing the pledge that I’ve made and watching the students go through their normal routine at the College, I’m thinking right, they’re doing it – quite possibly – with someone’s help 10 or 15 years ago, and they’ll be doing it in the future with my help. And that’s a very special feeling.’
