This year we are shining a spotlight on some of the wonderful ACO staff working behind the scenes to help bring you the music you love and keep the Orchestra touring. This time we catch up with Head of Major Gifts & Bequests, Lillian Armitage.
Which part of your role at the ACO do you find the most exciting or rewarding?
Apart from working with my truly terrific colleagues, some of my most rewarding experiences are speaking to our patrons and subscribers and hearing how much music and the ACO in particular, means to them and their lives. It’s totally heartwarming. And one of the most exciting things, of course, is being able to attend so many performances and to see how the scope of what the ACO does, both on and off the stage, has grown and continues to grow.
Can you tell us about a little “only at the ACO” moment you’ve experienced?
It was seeing all of the members of the audience rise to their feet to sway, sing and clap along with the extraordinary performances by the ACO with guest director Abel Selacoe during last year. I don’t know if this sort of thing only happens at the ACO, but I think it says a lot about our audiences and their readiness to embrace and occasionally, be challenged by, what the ACO has to offer them.
Many years ago, a former colleague and I passed each other in the aisle at the City Recital Hall at the end of a concert and she said to me, “Don’t they make you feel so proud?”
Yes!ACO Head of Major Gifts & Bequests, Lillian Armitage
What is your favourite ACO performance to date (and why)?
This is a hard one – there have been so many wonderful and memorable performances! Not only have I attended concerts and events by working at the ACO, but I’ve been a subscriber for over 20 years.
I still think that one standout for me was the first time I heard the ACO perform a Beethoven symphony – it was Beethoven’s 5th. It was so exciting and so dynamic. I can honestly say that no one plays Beethoven like the ACO! Being a small orchestra, you can hear every part so clearly and the way the ACO performs Beethoven is breathtaking! It’s wonderful.
If you could invite supporters to experience one ACO performance or project, what would it be?
This is another difficult question! Having said what I just said about the ACO playing Beethoven and thinking about what’s coming up in the near future, I’d have to say it would be our Beethoven’s Pastoral concert tour in November with its Beethoven triple bill. But, there’s another triple bill before then – Mozart’s Last Symphonies – in September which is not to be missed! No one plays Mozart like the ACO either.
