After my last, rather grumpy blog, I am pleased to say that my sense of humour has returned along with a healthy dose of Christmas Spirit and I'm dreaming of a...well, a restful Christmas! Early December was always going to be a bit busy with lots of parties and three concerts in a week but thankfully everything went according to plan. The first event was Wessex Male Choir’s Annual Christmas Concert at Holy Rood Church in Swindon on 5 December. This year we shared the stage with Phoenix Brass in a seasonal programme of Christmas songs and carols. I’m always gratified (and slightly amazed) that the 400-seat church is virtually packed to capacity for these concerts. People rave about the acoustic in Holy Rood but I’ve never been that impressed – I think it’s really quite unforgiving and just a little too ‘boomy’. Away from the centreline it’s easy to create a slightly ‘mushy’ sound unless the singing is incredibly accurate. With the adjoining school house being renovated, choir, band and audience all had to share just one loo. The concert programme was a bit shorter than usual, but with no interval and only one loo, that was probably a good thing. Holy Rood veterans are easily recognizable by the cushions they bring with them – the shallow pews are an ancient form of torture designed to ensure that congregations never get too comfortable or doze off during sermons. If they did, they would literally “drop off” the pew! The programme consisted of the usual fare including seasonal favourites like “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree” and “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”. The only song that felt oddly out of place was the Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore. Try as I might, I couldn’t figure out the Christmas connection!

On 9 December, I had no such problem seeing the connections in White Horse Opera’s “Concert with Carols” at St Mary’s Church in Devizes. All of the works were very definitely tied into the Christmas theme – even the opera numbers. The concert gave me my first taste of Benjamin Britten’s opera Paul Bunyan and the interesting Christmas Party scene which comes complete with singing cats and dogs! Having nearly frozen to death during the rehearsal in the church on the preceding Sunday, everyone had come well-prepared for the concert but thankfully the heating was on! I admire church concert-goers: they’re a hardy breed with capacious bladders and bums of steel. During the interval, members of the opera company served the audience with wine and mince pies (which I thought was a nice touch) while Mrs Edwards played Christmas Carols on her harp. The concert also marked something of a personal “first” – it was the first time Sian and I had duetted in public with her on harp and me singing (we performed “O Holy Night”). We have performed together in public once before when we played an arrangement of the Ashokan Farewell for harp and ‘cello. There were some excellent readings and the very talented Graham Billing treated us to a humorous piece he had written entitled The Christmas Wrapper. Arne Kovac, WHO’s new Musical Director, made his debut with the company and although everything went well, I’m sure there are some things he will want us to tighten-up before our next concert in March and the main production of Verdi’s Macbeth in October 2009!

On 10 December, Wessex Male Choir set off to London amid much jollity in one of Mr Barnes’ finest coaches. For the second year running, we had been invited to front-up the annual Parkinson’s Disease Society Christmas Concert in London. This year’s venue was the fabulous Methodist Central Hall, Westminster. It has an impressive auditorium capable of holding more than 2000 people and was pretty-much full for the concert. Backstage is a bit of a rabbit-warren and we had to call out the local Mountain Rescue Team and several troupes of Girl Guides to assist in the search before we found our missing choristers who had set off in search of the gents several hours earlier. With celebrities such as the lovely Jane Asher (PDS President), Richard Briers, Bill Neely, Phyllida Law and Michael Palin doing the readings and the Crystal Palace Brass Band adding seasonal cheer, the concert seemed to go really well although the sound amplification system used for the readings created an echo, making it very difficult to understand what was being said ! Helping to raise funds for PDS has been an enduring feature of the Choir’s activities over the last few years (and even included running in the London Marathon to raise over £32,000 two years ago!). I hope we will be invited back again next year. After the concert, we joined our celebrity hosts and the audience for mulled wine and mince pies. Of course, being the Wessex Male Choir, we could not resist the opportunity to do some more singing and once the mince pies had all been eaten, we repaired to the nearest traditional hostelry where we sampled the local ale… and did some more singing!

Despite a fairly hectic schedule, I’m also committed to helping with the Swindon Recital Series and on 6 December went along to the Swindon Arts Centre to assist with front-of-house duties and to listen to the amazing Paul Turner performing a recital programme of Debussy’s piano works. The programme included a number of Debussy’s well-known works including Suite Bergamasque – part of which is the very well-known Clare de Lune. For me, this was the highlight of the evening. I’ve heard Clare de Lune played hundreds of times but never with so much sensitivity and beauty. This might sound odd, but Paul seems to have an innate empathy with the music and he uses silences and pauses every bit as effectively as the notes, allowing the listener’s imagination to fly free. I can’t believe my luck - Paul has been gracious enough to agree to accompanying Vikki Champion and me at a charity recital we are giving in May 2009 (see my website for details).

Well, only one more concert now before Christmas and then in January, the auditioning season kicks off. As this will be my last blog before Christmas, I would like to take the opportunity to wish my reader a Merry Christmas and a Peaceful and prosperous New Year. God Bless You!