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This is a special moment: the first live excerpt from my symphony, performed beautifully on piano by Alex Jefferies (an ex-student of mine). I composed this symphony as part of my recovery journey after a stroke in 2021. It’s a deeply personal work dedicated to stroke survivors and anyone who’s faced adversity. Now, I have an amazing opportunity to record the full symphony professionally at Park Road Post (yes, the same place used for The Lord of the Rings!), but I need your help to make it happen. 🌟 Support the crowdfunding campaign here: 👉 https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/andrew-stopps-symphony Even if you can’t donate, sharing this video means the world to me. Thank you for being part of this journey.
The Weight of Sorrow - Live!
Hi everyone! I’ve got some amazing updates to share with you about my symphony recording project. First, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated to the Symphony Recording Fund. So far, there’s over $1,000 on the Givealittle page, and I’ve also received a direct donation of $5,000. That means whatever amount you see on the page, you can add another five grand to that total! Thanks to this generosity, I now have enough funding to record either the woodwinds and piano or the brass and percussion. I honestly couldn’t be more excited, it’s a big step forward. Here’s the link: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/andrew-stopps-symphony
Exciting Updates About the Symphony
A talk with Jo Lambert from Stroke Aotearoa and an audience of stroke survivors and people affected by stroke. Auckland, March 22, 2025
My Journey from Stroke to Symphony
Join me in creating a professional recording of my stroke recovery symphony. This world first musical project transforms personal adversity into inspiration for others facing life's challenges. ## My Journey In November 2021 I had two strokes, and I lost the ability to play my instruments, a devastating blow that took away my primary form of musical expression. Despite this heartbreaking challenge, I discovered a new path through composition, pouring my emotions into a six movement symphonic memoir that captures the raw, transformative journey of recovery. ## Why Your Support Matters Your contribution breathes life into this unique vision. The music took me two years to compose because of the way the stroke affected my brain. This music represents not only my journey of blood, sweat and many tears, but anyone who has been affected by stroke or adversity. ## How Funds Will Be Used * Professional musicians and conductor fees * Post production costs * Creating a polished, inspiring final product Every dollar brings this symphony closer to reality. Your support doesn't just fund a recording, it helps share a powerful message of perseverance and healing through music that could change lives. Be part of creating a musical legacy that will inspire for generations to come! Thank you for joining this symphonic journey of hope! https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/andrew-stopps-symphony
Can You Help Me?
This was the first movement I composed after my stroke, and it started as an assignment for a composing paper at NZSM. It was inspired by the death of my mother in early 2023. The four bar motif came from a song my sister Paula and I were writing before she died of cancer in 2021, and in fact, the piano part accompanying the motif is an exact transcription of her playing. I have tried to write a beautiful piece around that motif that reflects sadness and longing for the past, with the heavy wave of grief and loss after stroke interspersed.
III. The Weight of Sorrow
This was the second-to-last movement I composed, and emotionally the most difficult. It directly describes the events of my strokes, and it is the only movement where I have chronologically represented the events of that day as they happened. It is a piece of program music in its own right. Going back to that time and sitting in the emotions was to relive it again and again, and if I'm honest, that was really hard. I have to say, though, I am now remembering the events without so much strident emotion, and that's a good thing.
I. The Gentle Assassin
It is important to me to end this Symphonic Memoir with a message of hope. Lying in my hospital bed immediately after my stroke, my thoughts weren't about what I had lost, but what I could do. I knew almost immediately I wanted to write my story. Composing this music to accompany the book, came much later, but it allows me to express exactly how I was feeling when it happened. "Sky's the Limit" is about finding the smallest seed of hope in the darkest place and nurturing it to grow into something new and unexpected.
IV. Sky's the Limit
The Prelude tells the story of the day before everything changed, the day before my stroke. It depicts an ordinary day: routine, familiar, nothing out of the ordinary. I was unaware of what was happening in my body, or perhaps I was in denial of it.
Prelude
When all is said and done, stop, be aware and just breathe.
Epilogue. Just Breathe.
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