Sam Sweeney's fiddle Made In The Great War at Britten Theatre RCM London

Six years ago, Sam bought a violin in Oxford. It had all the appearance of a new instrument but the label inside gave the date 1915 and the name Richard S. Howard. Research revealed that the violin had been made, but never finished, by a luthier and some-time music hall performer from Leeds called Richard Spencer Howard. He had joined the army in 1916 at the age of thirty-five and less than two years later fought and was killed at the Battle of Messines in West Flanders, Belgium. His violin had been left unfinished in his workshop. Discovering the history behind Richard and the fiddle inspired Sam to create a multi-media performance telling the incredible story of the fiddle which took nearly 100 years to complete, finally being finished by luthier Roger Claridge in 2007. Sam performs the show with the actual fiddle.