Many American fans will recognize Sue Perkins, the former host of The Great British Baking Show (called The Great British Bake Off outside the United States), for her quick wit and rapport with cohost Mel Giedroyc. But this entertainer has more than just comedy up her sleeve.
After competing on the BBC reality show Maestro in 2008, Perkins has become somewhat of a fantastic orchestral conductor.
Although she played piano growing up, Perkins went into the competition with the preconceived notion that conductors don't really do much for the orchestra.
"The very first thing we were asked to do on showing up at 'baton camp' was to take a well-known waltz — Blue Danube — and then go straight into an enormous concert hall and conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra, from nothing," she wrote in an essay for The Guardian. "And it was awful. I was flailing and sweaty; I couldn't get my gestures to marry with the ones I wanted. There was a lot of giggling from the orchestra."
Perkins went on to win Maestro, and a string of conducting engagements has followed. She has been a guest conductor for concerts with the London Lesbian/Gay Symphony Orchestra, Dinnington Colliery Band and the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Take a look at some of her best performances:
'Mambo' from 'West Side Story'
'William Tell Overture' with Dinnington Colliery Band
'Schindler's List' with the Orion Orchestra
'Mongrels' at BBC Comedy Proms
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