88-year-old man passes Grade 8 piano after 67-year break

6 January 2025, 16:56

An 88-year-old pianist has passed his Grade 8 exam, 67 years after taking Grade 7.

For most of us, taking an exam beyond age 50 is not on the agenda. Imagine then, taking the highest-graded practical music exam at the age of 88, and not only passing but achieving a distinction!

That is what Ray Eveleigh has managed to do, taking his Grade 8 piano exam 67 years after his Grade 7.

Ray, a retired reverend from the village of Kilham, East Yorkshire, was encouraged to take the exam by his wife Brenda – a singer – and his daughter Jenny.

It took Ray six months of hard studying to pass the exam, with help from his teacher Ann Martin-Davis.

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Eveleigh described the piano as a ‘personal friend’, acknowledging the importance of practising the instrument in keeping his mind active.

“You know, sometimes, obviously at my age, I get very tired,” he told The Guardian. “And sometimes I think: ‘This is no good. I don’t want to spend my life dozing in an armchair. Come on, Eveleigh, get up and play the piano.’

“And that gets me out of it, you know, because what a privilege to be able to play music that was written by the great geniuses of a century or more ago. Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart. That’s amazing, really, to me.”

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Ray admitted he was not always the most studious of students in his youth and was frequently reprimanded for not practising, but this changed whilst he was a student at Cardiff University, where he met his wife Brenda, a singer studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

“She was a soprano at the Royal College of Music and Drama in Cardiff,” he told The Guardian. “She wanted an accompanist, so then I had to do some work. I learned to read music without an ulterior motive”.

Now, 67 years later, he has passed the coveted Grade 8 exam, which for most musicians is the highest level they will reach.

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Ray admitted being rather perplexed by the attention he had received.

“I never expected it to get so much attention,” he admitted. “I mean, there’s always so much going on – weather problems, wars, politics in America – and then here’s this old guy from Kilham who just passed Grade 8 piano. It felt a bit silly, really!”