Eyes on the Stars - Rob Wiffin

Eyes on the Stars was commissioned by the Surrey Police Band in 2022 in memory of George Rowland.  George was a remarkable character.  He was born in Vienna but spent his early days in Tuscany, coming to England with his family at the start of WW2, where he went on to be one of the pioneers of cancer research. He was an avid skier, tennis player and extremely keen musician. Wherever he went he joined a community band so when he and his family settled in Surrey he joined the Surrey Police Band. To them he was George who played bass clarinet, a polite chap with a lovely deep Surrey accent! In trying to fulfil the terms of a commission for a five-minute work I attempted to embrace the verve and aspirational nature of George and his overwhelmingly positive nature, hence the title ‘Eyes on the Stars’.  First performed by the Surrey Police Band on 18 March 2023 at Emmanuel Church in Stoughton.