The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's most loyal supporter has reached a rare landmark after attending his 1,000th concert.
Music enthusiast Tim Walton, aged 57, whose lifelong passion for classical music developed from a young age, watched the CBSO's current musical director Sakari Oramo conduct a concert featuring some of his favourite pieces of music.
His parents, cellist Ralph and violinist Betty, bought him his first ticket to see the CBSO play at Birmingham Town Hall in July 1963 when he was 15 years old.
Since than, the hotel purchase ledger manager from Birmingham has become a regular fixture at concerts around the country, and has always had a soft spot for the CBSO and Symphony Hall.
Often he is found at the stage door gathering autographs for his extensive collection, which includes 3,000 autographs and 1,500 signed photographs from conductors and soloists.
Autographs from Benjamin Britain, William Walton, Aaron Copeland and Lennard Bernstein, famous for composing the score of West Side Story, can be found among his collection.
"Because they know me so well at Symphony Hall, I have access to get autographs of conductors.
"Normally I give them a list of all the conductors and soloists whose autographs I do not have and they tell me who they have coming.
"Now I go on my own because I live on my own, but because there are so many people I know, it is like a family and I always sit in the same seat. It is not the most expensive seat but I think you can see better and hear better.
"I have 500 plus musical scores so I take them with me and get them signed.
"Some have got ten to 20 autographs on them and I keep a list in the score because many of the signatures are illegible.
"I have at least 1,000 CDs including DVDs but I never get enough time to listen to them."
Mr Walton, whose favourite pieces include music by Mahler, Mozart, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky attends 40 CBSO concerts a year and admits he will listen to anything once.
He has seen Sakari Oramo conduct 116 concerts.
"Sakari is a great conductor. His interpretations of English music are wonderful and I always look forward to them."
His favourite memory of the orchestra after its move to Symphony Hall was the opening concert, when the audience heard music come into the hall for the first time.
But he feels the place he calls his second home often does not get the recognition it deserves.
"It is one of the finest music halls in this country and among the top in Europe.
"It does not matter where you sit, it is like listening to everything in stereo and not in mono, unlike in the Town Hall. The sound is just out of this world.
"I am glad that one of my favourite pieces - Massenet's Meditation - featured in the concert. My 1,000th concert was a celebration of all the wonderful music I have heard over the last 42 years and I like forward to many more concerts in the years ahead."
