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Stratford musician reunited with viola after 40 years




BEETHOVEN and Napoleon were alive and shaping the world when a viola was made in 1741 which proved to be the instrument that helped shape the career of a highly acclaimed Stratford musician.

Marion Fleetwood was loaned the viola when she was a teenager and played it for three years from 1985 to 1988 before heading off to university but, in a curious twist of fate, Marion was reunited with the instrument by a music student she now teaches.

Marion Fleetwood.
Marion Fleetwood.

“When my student, Elisabeth, brought the viola to a lesson I looked at it and saw the scratches and dents and it looked familiar. When I put my fingers in the right places I felt it was the viola I learnt to play music on but when Elisabeth started playing it, I knew it was the same one I used 40 years ago,” said Marion.

Marion is a professional session musician who works with some of the biggest music stars in the business. She regularly features at the Cropredy Festival and has released her own albums over the past ten years.

When she was loaned the viola by the Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund little did she realise that one day she would again hold the very same instrument she had from the age of 15 to 18.

The Denne Gilkes Memorial Fund was established in 1972 in honour of Denne Gilkes, a former voice coach for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and Marion believes the viola actually belonged to her.






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