Addicts' Symphony

12 August 2014

The highly respectable world of classical musicians is rarely linked to addictive behaviour. In this uplifting one-off documentary, the composer and musician James McConnel examines music’s extraordinary transformative power, as he unites ten classical musicians whose lives have all been blighted by addiction, in an orchestra for a spectacular one-off performance with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Each musician is trying to break free from addiction: some have been sober for years, some for only a few months. As a musician, composer and recovering alcoholic himself, James has found that music became a huge part of his recovery and he wants to share this with others in a similar position.

James beat his own addiction as a young man. But twenty years after he stopped drinking his teenage son Freddy became addicted to drugs. Tragically, Freddy died of a heroin overdose aged just 18 years old. His death is the catalyst for James’s commitment to the project:

“Before he died, Freddy said: ‘Dad will you look into the idea of music being an aid to recovery?’ If he hadn’t taken a dodgy dose of heroin, he might have got to that point. Music can give you the same feeling that drugs can, only better. I cannot see why it couldn’t work for other people. “

The programme looks at the stories of some of the musicians who make up the Addict’s orchestra.

Before anxiety took over, Joolz was an exceptional violinist, winning the highest mark in the country for her Grade 8 violin. Fearing that she couldn’t live up to the accolade, Joolz began to drink to excess, looking to alcohol to find the confidence she so lacked.

As a teenager Marco was a star violinist but he hasn’t played the violin for more than 30 years. When he stopped playing at the age of 22, his drinking continued. He suffered a major relapse only last year.

Joolz like Marco was nearly killed by addiction, suffering near multiple organ failure. She got sober and started a family but has not tackled classical music since her addiction took over.

Rachael works as session musician for pop bands. But she is terrified of performing the orchestral music she loves. Ever since she was little, her dream was always to play cello in an orchestra. She became a star of the National Youth Orchestra. Then at the age of 14 she began to suffer crippling panic attacks on stage which only stopped when she discovered drinking. At her lowest ebb, Rachael was drinking a litre and a half of vodka a day.

“The feeling that you get playing in an orchestra you can’t really recreate it in any other genre of music and somewhere along the line, the fear and the anxiety about doing it just overtook. I just couldn’t do it anymore, and I regret it hugely.”

Paul Rissmann and members of the London Symphony Orchestra (Belinda McFarlane and Matthew Gibson) work intensively with the group, alongside James to rehearse and compose a new piece to be premiered as part of the final performance.

They have only 8 weeks to overcome their musical demons. Can they conquer the fear of performing that for many was the cause of their addiction, to pull off a performance alongside some of the world leading musicians?