“When the conductor Grant Llewellyn had a stroke last summer, it was not a sudden attack … but the impact was no less dramatic” writes Nelli Bird in Friday’s (6/11) BBC News (U.K.). “The 60-year-old, who lives in Dinas Powys, Vale of Glamorgan [in Wales], went to hospital. It took three days for his symptoms to stop getting worse and many scans to confirm he had had a stroke…. After a month in the stroke unit in nearby Llandough Hospital, Grant returned home. The six months that followed were a ‘severe learning curve’ in managing his expectations of recovery. ‘The physiotherapists were concerned that I wouldn’t hurt myself—not that I would ever conduct again,’ he said…. Since March, Grant has been back working with his orchestra in France, L’Orchestre National de Bretagne…. He recently conducted an hour and a half concert…. ‘I can conduct Beethoven symphonies, but I can’t get out of bed. I can’t tie my shoelaces.’ … Grant said he knew his recovery would ‘not be 100%.’ But … Grant is focusing on what he can do and the joy of making music again.” Llewelyn was music director of the North Carolina Symphony from 2004 to 2020.
Change font size
