On the show, she played her own composition, “Dreams,” which was written in memory of her late husband, Phil, to whom she was married for 63 years. Phil was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015 and passed away six years later. 

The finale of The Piano took place in Gateshead, where Newell performed “Dreams” in front of a live audience of 1,600, with almost 3 million watching at home.  

In October, she performed “Dreams” with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mark Wigglesworth as part of Classic FM Live at 25 at the Royal Albert Hall. 

This performance, her Royal Albert Hall debut, can be viewed below!

“I first started sitting on the organ bench with my teacher when I was four years old and I just kept going ever since,” Newell said in an interview. “Piano has been with me all my life. It’s music, isn’t it? It’s music you can make for yourself. It’s opened the door for me for so many things.”

“I went into the RAF because there was a band, and I wanted to do music,” she explained. “I had to do an audition and that opened the door for me to carry on with music. My instrument there was a tenor horn though. I met my husband in the RAF … And sometimes we’d end up on the same engagements. I always used to say that he marched to my tune!”

“Because of arthritis in my hands, I cannot play what I used to — Chopin and Beethoven and Grieg. My husband Phil’s favourite piece of music was the Moonlight Sonata, but I have to adapt it to my hands now and it’s not really satisfactory. When he passed away, I went to the piano, because the piano has always been my best friend. I went to play, just to improvise, on the piano.”

“I was used to playing with a lot of people listening, as an organist, and then as piano accompaniment to different groups of singers,” she said on appearing on The Piano. “So it didn’t hit me until we were taken on to the stage in the auditorium, just with a grand piano sitting there, and I was thinking ‘That’s going to be me on there!’ The hosts were absolutely amazing though and made us all feel at ease. I never thought I’d win. I was so shocked!”

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Reportedly, nearly 40% of those living in Chocó experience extreme poverty, and only one in three people can read. Women and girls are particularly affected by these conditions: Chocó has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the country, and domestic and sexual violence are widespread.

The donations will be used to fund the expansion of the Casa Hogar Niña María boarding school, which teaches disadvantaged girls from rural areas. Indigenous and Afro-Colombian girls are offered scholarships to receive an education, as well as a safe place to live.

At present, the school can only teach and house 15 girls, but with the donations, the capacity will be increased to 48 girls in the future.

"This concert impressively demonstrated what music can achieve: it touches, connects and inspires people to spread hope," said Dr Theodor Rüber, founder and 1st chairman of Casa Hogar Deutschland e.V. "I am extremely grateful that this special concert by the Gürzenich Orchestra with Casa Hogar cultural ambassador Anna Lucia Richter and other fantastic soloists has also resulted in a record amount of donations."

"I would like to thank our audience for attending the concert and making donations, which will enable us to support a special social project," said Stefan Englert, director of the Gürzenich Orchestra. "The Gürzenich Orchestra sees it as its duty to bring music to all people and to move them with sound. Music connects people, regardless of social and personal status, regardless of the culture and place that shapes our lives. We want to reach out to those who are not on the sunny side of life with the power of music and enrich their lives."

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At the center of the project is a concerto composed specially for Newman by Lucas Richman. The work aims to translate the stories of unsheltered individuals into music and reflects on the community’s moral responsibility to those individuals.

Both the concerto and the project can be easily adapted to different locations, allowing Newman to cater to the needs of homeless communities in each city he performs in. Each iteration of the project is conceived like a residency, with several scheduled events culminating in a performance of the concerto.

Most recently, the project has been in Bemidji, Minnesota, where Richman collaborated with the Bemidji Symphony Orchestra to put on performances for local provider organizations. These were held at Community Table, Bemidji High School Auditorium, and the New Day Center.

Alongside the performances, the orchestra also collected winter hats, scarves, and mittens to distribute to those in need in the Bemidji area.

You can learn more about the project by watching the trailer below and by visiting the Paths to Dignity website.

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At the time of his accident, Raine was using a circular saw when it abruptly kicked back from the wood he was cutting and landed on his right hand, severing his index, middle and ring fingers, and completely severing the little finger.

In the hospital, he underwent more than eight hours of plastic replantation surgery to his fingers, but within days, the blood supply to his little finger began to fail. Subsequently, doctors were forced to amputate it in what was described as a huge psychological blow to Raine, SurreyLive reported. 

Following years of therapy, multiple surgeries, and relearning how to play piano with four fingers on his injured hand, he has now successfully returned to playing, almost two years after the accident.

“As I’d lost my little finger, I had to learn new finger patterns for the pieces I’d chosen, but I never thought I’d be able to play so freely and as well again and certainly not such as ambitious repertoire,” Raine said. “The accident was traumatic at the time, but I feel very lucky since then.

“From my neighbour’s back door being open on the day it happened so I could call for help, doctors saving my index finger when it looked like I might lose that as well, then becoming one of Gaby’s patients just as she’d heard about this amazing technique to help me. My recovery has been better than I could ever have hoped for.”

“Stephen initially had three casts that he wore consecutively for a total of nine to 10 weeks,” said Gaby Willis, an occupational therapist who helped Raine’s recovery. “By September 2023, he had remarkable gains in his index finger and middle finger … [following another surgery in December] with perseverance and regular exercises, he was able to achieve an extraordinary outcome and regained finger flexibility required to play to the high standard he had been used to.

“He had to remap playing technique to omit the little finger and we worked on specific exercises with the remaining fingers, including the little finger stump, to maximise the span and stretch between the fingers and the thumb and ring finger in order to achieve octaves. I personally worked with Stephen in hand therapy for about 15 months. Throughout his whole journey he has always tried to remain positive and has used his experience to help and to motivate others.”

“Recovery showed me that resilience isn’t a grand trait, it’s a daily practice, small victories, small decisions to keep going,” Raine shared. “That consistency, even in imperfect form reminded me that momentum can restart from the smallest place, and that creativity can endure and even flourish through adversity. I’ve learned that setbacks don’t erase your path; they rewrite it. 

“At first my injury felt like a huge loss, but over time, I realised it was an invitation to grow in a direction I wouldn’t have chosen,” he added. “I thought recovery meant getting back to where I was before. But I’ve learned it’s not about going back at all. It’s about how we create something new from what’s left. We don’t choose what breaks us, but we do choose what we create from the pieces.”

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Made up of violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen, pianist Nikolaj Busk, and accordion player Ale Carr, Dreamers' Circus draws inspiration from the deep traditions of Nordic folk music and reshapes it for the modern audience.

Concurrently, Sørensen also plays in the GRAMMY®-nominated Danish String Quartet, whose interpretations of classical canon repertoire has garnered them awards such as the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and Carl Nielsen Prize.

We were curious to gain some insight into the positive effects of playing multiple genres and the projects Sørensen is working on...

How have you combined both folk and classical music in your career?

It has always been natural to have folk and classical music in my musical backpack. I started listening to traditional music when growing up in Roskilde, which is quite close to Copenhagen in Denmark. Soon after, I got my first violin and a Suzuki teacher. My parents would help me practice 10 minutes a day and bring me to traditional music and dance evenings in the local community house most weekends.

I never really intended to create a career as such. Meeting my friends in the Danish String Quartet at the beginning of the millennium and Dreamers’ Circus some years later, in many ways defined my life path, and I haven’t looked back since.

Are there differences, especially technical, in your approach to classical repertoire vs. folk music? 

I wouldn’t say there are any differences in my approach. Some classical pieces can be quite technically demanding and maybe need some more personal practice, but since the music of Dreamers’ Circus is concert music (as opposed to the traditional “use" of folk music), I try to treat it the same way as when I play classical pieces.

In terms of storytelling, colors, emotions, etc., it’s all just music.

 

How important do you think it is for young musicians to explore different genres? What can they gain from stepping outside their comfort zones?

I think it’s the most important thing you can do as a young musician. Of course, it’s important to practice your scales and etudes, but I think that learning from other genres and other art forms is crucial in order to find your own identity as an artist. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be frightening at times, but also represents a space where you can develop the most.

Where did the name of the ensemble Dreamer’s circus come from? How was the group founded?

The three of us met in a jam session in 2008. There was an instant spark of musical and personal chemistry and from that moment we knew that we would play together for many years.

The name Dreamers’ Circus is based on associations. Think of the vivid colors we associate with childhood memories of the Circus. Remember the magic of entering the tent as a child — the way our senses were engaged. The excitement and slight trepidation came from daylight into darkness.

In our music, we always strive to invoke a place of freedom, somewhere for our imagination to play in and a space for dreaming.

What is your connection to Danish folk music? Why is it so important for you to keep it alive and share it with the world?

Basically, because we love it. But also because music is a universal language and can provide an insight into other cultures. With the ever-growing polarization — east/west, red/blue, etc., it’s more important than ever to communicate and understand each other. Here, music can play a pivotal role.

Your award-winning folk trio has recently released a music book titled “Handed On,” including 58 original melodies inspired by traditional songs and accompanying videos. What was the process like in creating something like this? 

The project began during lockdown in 2020 and has grown in size and ambition until the release event on Sep 10th. We started with a writing day in Nikolajs apartment and since then, we have managed to compose around 70 tunes. After that, we had a long selection process with testing and feedback from peers. Many tunes were sacked, new tunes were written and in this process, a more educational profile of the project emerged.

Taking inspiration from the Suzuki method, the tunes from Handed On are divided into four levels of difficulty so that everyone, from beginners to more experienced players, can participate.

Then came the notation process, writing little background texts for every tune, creating the artwork, setting up layout, proofreading, recording and filming music videos for all tunes in four different locations, and planning the release event with 40 guest musicians. All in all, a very time-consuming but rewarding process.

Check out this video previewing the book:

What are your next projects with Dreamers’ Circus?

Next big projects for us include four Christmas shows with Danish National Girls Choir, concerts with Zürich Chamber Orchestra, various commitments as town musicians of Roskilde among other things and we’ll continue to play our own trio gigs also in Denmark, Europe, and Asia. We love it.

The last stop on the Dreamers' Circus U.S. tour is on Wednesday, October 5, at 7:30 pm in Provo, Utah's Harris Fine Arts Center. For tickets, click here. They return to U.S. audiences in late February, stay tuned!

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