Jason, a year 11 student from Manchester, sits tall with a cello resting in the space between his knees. Sunlight spills through the window of the practice room, pooling on the amber wood of the instrument. If you look closely, you might notice the faint scars of a crack that once left this 114-year-old cello nearly silent. Jason lifts his bow, straightens his shoulders. The first notes come tentatively, a whisper of horse hair on string, before growing into a clear, steady sound that fills the room.
Not long ago, Jason’s afternoons disappeared behind a bedroom door, the blue glow of a computer screen his only stage. Now, his weekends are spent performing classical pieces with fellow young musicians.
The cello – now his cello – came to him through a local charity, the Olympias Music Foundation. It has become an anchor, something to hold on to. “If it wasn’t for Olympias, I probably wouldn’t have been exposed to a lot of opportunities like I have,” he says. Rescued from disrepair, restored with care, the instrument has been given a new life – and in return, it’s helped Jason find his own.
