Homeless piano player raises thousands for charity

Mr Wynne-Jones believes the concert raised more than £1700 for charity

A homeless man has performed his first solo concert in Cornwall after a video of him playing piano went viral online.

Rhys Wynne-Jones, 32, became homeless in January and amazed people with his talent at NightChurch Penzance where he went seeking food.

To say thank you to those who helped him, Mr Wynne-Jones performed a two hour solo show on Saturday night to raise money for the church's homeless project.

Speaking after the performance, he said there were "a lot of tears, a lot of laughter."

'Standing ovation'

Mr Wynne-Jones believes the concert, which took place at St Mary's Church, raised more than £1700 for charity.

"I would say there were between 300 and 400 people easily, it was pretty much at capacity," he said.

"It was a concert in two halves, I got a standing ovation in the first half and I've never had that before.

"It was very emotional at the end because I said thank you to NightChurch and everybody for what they'd done for me."

The pianist said some of the highlights of the performance included the audience singing along while he played

Mr Wynne-Jones said he "didn't get much sleep" after the show because there were "so many feelings going through me at the moment".

"I was signing autographs for like an hour afterwards," he added.

"I was listening to people's stories and I even met a couple of kids who were budding piano players themselves.

"It was beautiful to be acquainted with so many people.

"There were a lot of tears, a lot of laughter, it was a beautiful night."

The pianist said some of the highlights of the performance included the audience singing along to his renditions of Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off You, and Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen.

More concerts to come

In a speech at the end of the evening Mr Wynne-Jones thanked his supporters and shared his experiences with mental health.

"I said to them, if your mind ever says bad things to you, I can tell you the truth of who you are right now," he explained.

"You're lovable, you're beautiful, you're kind, you have a good heart and the reason I know that is because you're here in this room tonight.

"You're here supporting a homeless person that you don't know.

"You're supporting other homeless people in turn and only a good person would come to this church tonight.

"I told them if your mind ever beats you down just remember tonight, and the darkness of your mind will never extinguish the light that's in your heart."

He said he could "happily reveal" he had been invited to play at other venues in the area and "there will be more concerts in the future".

"Hopefully I can get some work on top of that as well," he added.

"Wheels are turning with that, I'm still looking for opportunities."