From ping-pong to sing-song!

South Hampstead Synagogue’s table tennis club held a spectacular concert performed by its young players – and there is a theory that musicians have the perfect skills for the sport.

Carolle Raynor and her husband, Maurice Raynor, who run the SH table tennis club that sponsored the event, had recognised a disproportionate number of remarkable musical talent coming in to play the sport.

However, it was only when the professional flautist Noemi Gyori walked through the door with her two daughters that an idea began to develop.

Flautist Noemi Gyori introducing the musicians (Photo: Bobby Bray)[Missing Credit]

“I said that we must do a concert one day,” says Raynor. “I finally got them all together, which was a bit of a coup.”

Raynor brought a piano into the shul and the young players – accomplished musicians playing cello, piano and violin – performed a mix of classical and popular pieces for the concert and raised funds for the Israeli disability innovation charity Beit Issie Shapiro.

The grand finale for the evening was the flute duets by international flautists Gyori and her husband, Gergely Madaras, both from Budapest and now living in London. Gyori is principal flautist of the Jewish Chamber Orchestra Munich and teaches at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester, while Madaras is music director of the Liège Royal Philharmonic in Belgium and works with all BBC orchestras, the London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, CBSO, Hallé and Bournemouth Symphony.

Miriam performing at the concert (Photo: Bobby Bray)[Missing Credit]

Their elder daughter Miriam, 11, who is a Grade 8 violinist, enchanted the audience with pieces from Ravel and Svendsen, while sister Abigel, aged five, played two short pieces on piano and recorder. Among the young talent was 12-year-old Aharon Ben-Yaacov, who plays in the UCS Symphony Orchestra and the Youth Music Centre Chamber Orchestra and delighted the audience with two cello pieces.

Meanwhile, Eliana Hatchwell, 13, who sings in two school choirs, plays the piano and guitar, and performs in the National Youth Choir and the Jewish Music Institute (JMI) Big Band, performed extracts from the Oscar-winning film La La Land and Skyfall by Adele.

Eliana Hatchwell (Photo: Bobby Bray)[Missing Credit]

For Gyori and her family – her husband and two daughters – the table tennis club was a social outlet they discovered two years ago.

“I was somehow trying to find some Jewish connections in London, but not necessarily religious ones,” Gyori recalls.

When she came across the table tennis club, she remembered how she used to play the sport all the time as a child with her grandfather.

“I thought it would be perfect because our life is over-planned, stressful, full of travel, and we always do everything to perfection, and the children are studying all the time. Going to a table tennis club just for fun is exactly what we needed.”

She adds: “It’s the loveliest thing ever and a great time for all of us. The club they have built is extraordinary and consists of all sorts of amazing people.”

Every week, 20 to 30 people attend the club. Members span from five to 95 years of age and games are intergenerational.

For musicians, says Gyori – who are “always scared” of injuring themselves and then being unable to earn their livelihood – it is the ideal sport.

“Skiing is not necessarily the greatest thing to do as a musician,” says Gyori. “Table tennis is a great sport and something that you can do safely from the earliest age to the latest age.”

The table tennis club at South Hampstead Synagogue (Photo: Carolle Raynor)[Missing Credit]

However, there also appears to be a link between musicians and table tennis players – both require skills for focus and dexterity.

“Table tennis requires a great deal of concentration,” says Gyori. “You need quick reactions. It’s nice for those who like using their brains as well as their bodies, because you can build some tactics and observe how the other player is playing. You work out their strengths and how to gain a point. I enjoy that my brain is engaged.”

Raynor recounts that another musician, who is also a music therapist, who attended the table tennis club, told her that concentrating on music was easy to translate to this type of sport, for which you learn specific moves.

Carolle Raynor, who runs the table tennis club with her husband, Maurice, at the concert (Photo: Bobby Bray)[Missing Credit]

“They’ve got a very good brain for table tennis,” says Raynor. “And for a lot of the children, it’s a lovely outlet because they have to focus so much on their music training. The club has a wonderful ambience. It’s been a big social success.”