British tenor Luke Price, who has been a member of the Royal Opera Chorus since 2000, swapped the boards of The Royal Opera House for Tunbridge Wells Hospital this week to give an exclusive performance to NHS staff.

The dad of two, from Hildenborough, sang ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ and ‘Nessun dorma’ which was used as the theme song of BBC television’s coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, when he took centre stage in front of the hospital’s Emergency Department, at 4pm on Tuesday 2 June 2020.

Luke agreed to perform and help lift the spirits of staff members during this challenging time after he was approached by his cousin Dr Emma Townsend who works for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

He said: “I’ve been singing to my street, at the request of my neighbours, for the last two weeks to mark the ‘Clap for Carers’ event which has been held at 8pm every Thursday night during the pandemic. My partner Minette Greyling videoed it and put it on social media and after seeing the footage my cousin Emma contacted me and asked if I would sing at the hospital to which I said ‘yes’.”

Members of staff turned out during their break or downtime to watch Luke’s performance whilst observing the social distancing rule of standing two metres apart.

The 49 year old added: “My family has strong links to the NHS so I was only too happy to perform for the staff at Tunbridge Wells Hospital. My late father Dr Tom Price was a GP in Crowborough and worked as an Anaesthetist at the Kent and Sussex Hospital, I worked as a Porter at the same hospital during the summer holidays when I was younger and two of my brothers are both Doctors. I also have another cousin who works for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust – Obstetrics and Gynaecology Consultant Miss Maggie Matthews.

“This was my way of saying thank you to all of the staff who are working across the Trust during the pandemic. Everyone is working so hard. When you’re not medically qualified and able to help in that capacity you feel like you want to do something to help put a smile on those people’s faces. Hopefully my performance helped to do exactly that.”

Dr Emma Townsend said: “I am extremely grateful to Luke for agreeing to sing for the staff. I know it meant a lot to them and that it really helped to lift their spirits during this time.”