Salvation Army musician and ParaOrchestra founder honoured

A Newcastle-upon-Tyne based Salvation Army musician has been honoured for his contribution to music after helping to found two orchestras and create a new instrument. 

Clarence Adoo, who worships at The Salvation Army’s Newcastle City Temple Worship and Community Hall, was awarded an Association of British Orchestras Annual Award for his work as a founding member of the Royal Northern Sinfonia Moves and the ParaOrchestra, as well as for his development of adaptive technology with the Headspace instrument. 

Clarence, a renowned musician helped form the ParaOrchestra, the first professionally funded Orchestra for disabled musicians in the world, after a car accident left him paralysed from the neck down. The ParaOrchestra was also named Best Chamber Orchestra 2025 at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards recently.

It was The Salvation Army that sparked Clarence’s love of music where he learned to play the cornet and trumpet, leading to a career that included playing in jazz musician Courtney Pine’s band. After his accident he played at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics with Coldplay. 

Clarence was born in the UK to Ghanian parents and along with his three siblings was fostered into a Salvation Army family after a military coup in Ghana prevented them returning there. He was given his first cornet at the age of six and joined the Young People’s band shortly after.

Speaking of his formative years, Clarence, who also received an MBE in 2012, said: “The trumpet became my main instrument, but in the local church I’d also play the piano. My foster mum was brilliant on it, she used to play for the old cinemas and when I was very small, I would stand at the end of the piano and tinkle random notes and she would accompany me to make it sound good. When she got older and was playing less, I got more involved with playing with the corps band. I was deputy bandmaster in my teenage years and then bandmaster at Shoeburyness Corps. I also did some bits of conducting. 

“For me music was everywhere, it was as much a part of my life as eating and drinking, and in The Salvation Army, I was very moved with some of the band pieces and the spiritual messages that came through them. The Salvation Army was very influential for me.” 

After gaining a place at the Royal College of Music to play trumpet, Clarence got many opportunities to play for ensembles in London and got to know Norman Bearcroft, a prolific Salvation Army composer who arranged many concerts at The Royal Albert Hall. Norman even composed a cornet solo piece especially for Clarence to play in that famous venue.  

Clarence threw himself into music, joining theatre groups, playing in West End shows, with pop groups, including Cliff Richard’s band, and Courtney Pine’s 20 piece black jazz band where he remained for five years. 

But in 1995, Clarence’s life changed forever when he had a car accident which broke his neck and damaged his spinal cord leaving him paralysed from the neck down. 

Recalling that time, he said: “I was really enjoying life having a wonderful time playing the trumpet all over the world and then this happened and catapulted me into the world of disability. 

“I was in intensive care and a couple of times I stopped breathing. The second time this happened, when I came round, I was facing up to the ceiling and I said to God ‘I think you brought me back for a purpose because this is the second time when I should have died’. I heard a clear voice say to me that God had a plan and purpose for my life and that my life would be more fulfilled now than it was before. That was a very real experience for me and after that I felt a strange feeling of peace.” 

News had started to spread through the music world about Clarence’s accident and he was visited by composer John Kenny, who introduced him to electronic music specialist Rolf Gehlhaar. 

“Rolf had an amazing brain,” Clarence said, “He spent a long weekend with me, trying to find out what I could do and after much tinkering on his laptop he designed some software that allowed me to play notes with a headset using sensors and a blowtube, controlled by head movements and breath. He added hundreds of sounds with all different instruments and effects creating the ‘headspace’ instrument.” 

Soon afterwards Clarence was playing the instrument as part of a quartet at a festival in Orkney launching him back into playing professionally. 

He said: “This was two years after my accident, I’d been at home, rehabbing and learning how to live in my adapted house. At the same time, I was secretly having a little go at this instrument. I had no big ideas, but the first gig was amazing. From being in hospital in intensive care to a concert hall in Orkney playing to a couple of thousand people. It was so unreal.” 

After that Clarence was contacted by conductor Charles Hazlewood, who has a daughter with cerebral palsy and was investigating what opportunities were available for disabled musicians. He brought Clarence together with three others and they started playing together leading to an opportunity to play at the 2012 Paralympics. 

Clarence said: “By this point there were nine of us. We played a couple of little pieces to the closing ceremony director, he said ‘I love it but I’ve already booked Coldplay!’ He came back to meet us later that day with Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin and we played to them. Chris said ‘I think we can do something with this’ and asked us to write a piece for their song Strawberry Swing which we played at the closing ceremony. In such a short time God’s promise had come through, I was now playing on the biggest stage of my life to a worldwide audience of about half a billion!

“We started to grow the ParaOrchestra and became the first professionally funded disabled orchestra in the world. The standard for the musicians was always high and when we played at the Paralympics, the penny dropped that disabled people can do music as well as sports.” 

Clarence’s instrument, named the Clarion, a play on his name and a type of baroque trumpet, was also developed further, creating a simplified version that was rolled out to special education schools and will soon be available via an app for anybody on a tablet. 

Clarence added: “This has been another amazing thing for me. I played alongside a young lad who was a real whizz on this instrument and he said to me ‘I would not be sitting here making music if you had not had your accident Clarence’, it was incredible.” 

Clarence has had a positive influence in so many ways, including working with the architect to help ensure that the Glasshouse International Centre for Music in Gateshead where he now works close to his home in Newcastle, is accessible for people with disabilities. 

The ParaOrchestra continues to grow with 40 regular members. Clarence continues as one of their musicians and as a Trustee on the board. He also played an integral part in the forming of the now established Royal Northern Sinfonia Moves, an inclusive professional ensemble featuring disabled and non disabled musicians. 

The ParaOrchestra was recently named Best Chamber Orchestra 2025 at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and last month Clarence himself was honoured at the Association of British Orchestra’s awards for his contributions to music.

Clarence said: “This award meant a lot. Of course I don’t do it for the awards, but I hope it can encourage other disabled musicians. 

“I still go to The Salvation Army in Newcastle as often as I can and as a retired Bandmaster try to attend some local band practices to conduct. Although I can’t use my arms, I use head movement and facial expressions.  

"The Salvation Army have supported me with the Clarence Adoo Brass Band, where musicians, some professional and many Army friends, meet up for a day at an Army hall and raise money for the Clarence Adoo Trust with a festival of music from my era of playing. 

“In my life I have to tried to remain close to God, who has a sense of humour with me, who reminds me to keep humble and not get carried away or think I can do this on my own. I always try to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and I know he will take care of me.”

Major Liz Hancock, who leads Newcastle City Temple Salvation Army, said: “Clarence is a highly respected member of the corps at Newcastle, whose faith is truly inspirational and in whose presence you always feel completely humbled, I am delighted to hear that he has been honoured with these awards.”