Known to fans as ‘the OlymPianist,’ Anthony Hewitt is out to change the world. The musician and athlete has combined his talents into a unique fundraiser for music and children’s charities.
He will cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats, performing 26 scheduled concerts along they way. This week he was in Edinburgh marking day 15 of his 21 day tour and the start of his final week. Hewitt has kept a blog about his journey which can be found here. Each entry tells of the triumphs, trials and tribulations of traveling across the country on a bike, with his piano in a van trailing behind.
Hewitt says he has “a passion for the piano, sport, and travel.” Having given piano performances worldwide for more than twenty years and using some of his spare time to cycle, Hewitt came up with a way to combine his passions and raise money for specially chosen charities. “It was during a long training session with my brother when I wondered how I could combine the physical challenges of endurance sport with some of the philosophical and mental challenges of performing on a concert tour. Thus came the idea to cycle from Land’s End to John O’Groats and play a recital at the end of each day. The concert tour of all concert tours!”
His first Scottish concert was at St John’s Church in Dumfries, but this afternoon he lit up the Mound Precinct in Edinburgh where he played an hour-long concert in the glorious sunshine.
Throughout the tour concerts have been performed in various venues including arts centres and churches. This venture has raised more than £6000 for Anthony Hewitt’s selected charities but he hopes to reach an impressive goal of £20,000 by the end of his journey.
Find out more on his website
A glimpse of the performance:
