I'm Malcolm Lewis, and I have been a volunteer presenter for Cirencester Radio since 2020. Growing up in the West Midlands, over 70 years ago, I became very interested in music and remember in 1953 going to see the D'Oyly Carte Opera company for the first time, as well as classical music concerts at Birmingham Town Hall.
This ignited my interest in both classical and older popular music, and in 1961, I joined the local Operatic Society. After I moved to Cirencester in 1975, I joined the Cirencester Operatic Society - where I undertook principal parts, including some in their Gilbert & Sullivan productions.
When COVID hit in 2020, and we were all stuck indoors, I looked around for things to do that were related to music, and an article in Ciren Scene, about our local radio station, invited budding presenters to get in touch.
I now make 2 one-hour shows for Cirencester Radio; one covering classical music - Classics for Pleasure; and the other, an eclectic mix of nostalgic music, called Limelight, named after the great film music that Charlie Chaplin wrote for his 1952 film of the same name. All of the music played is from my own CD collection.
I must here pay a great deal of thanks to my fellow presenter, Alex Nisbet, who records and edits both of my shows.
Whilst Classics for Pleasure consists of many well-known pieces, it also features many forgotten but very tuneful pieces of classical music.
Limelight, meanwhile, includes music from the Great American Songbook, music from theatrical and Hollywood musicals, songs from the first half of the last century, as well as a style of music that was once very popular but is hardly heard today - Light Music, or Salon Music if you want to go all continental.
My recent shows can be accessed via the Listen Again tab on the www.CirencesterRadio.co.uk website.
If you would like to be part of your local community radio station, we always love hearing from you.
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