Welsh conductor who overcame deafness in global spotlight

A CONDUCTOR who defied the odds after being born with severe hearing loss will take centre stage in Asia this autumn leading one of the continent's most acclaimed orchestras.

- STAFF REPORTER

Robert Guy, a trailblazing conductor from Wrexham, has been invited to guest-conduct the renowned City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong.

He will be taking up the baton at a glittering two-night showcase called A Night at the Musicals on October 26 and 27.

The star-studded event will feature Crisel Consunji, the award-winning Filipina-Hong-Kong film and stage actress, singer and star of global cinema hit Still Human.

During the eight-day visit, Guy will also deliver a prestigious lecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Entitled From Silence to Symphony, the lecture will explore his personal journey from childhood hearing loss to conducting on world stages.

Though he has been based in Manchester for more than a decade, Guy was born in Wrexham, where his interest in music began when his grandmother started teaching him piano at the age of three despite the fact he was almost completely deaf.

"I couldn't hear a single note," he recalled.

Guy's early years were shaped by near-silence until medical operations to widen his ear canals gradually restored his hearing.

By the age of 15, he had made a full recovery, and a life in music beckoned.

He took up the viola and went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he realised his real passion was for conducting.

Today, he leads one of the largest university music-conducting programmes in the UK, at the University of Manchester.