Well, the new season has brought some mixed blessings on the auditioning front. It seems I won’t be singing with White Horse Opera this season after messing up the audition (and doubtless competing with a better singer!) for a part in Verdi’s Macbeth. I was busily making up my own words (and notes) during the audition while wondering what had gone wrong with the timing! However, it seems an earlier audition in November for a place in a small national choir might yield a positive result (fingers crossed!). And then this week I auditioned and have been accepted to sing with another opera group (more of which in future blogs!).

The biggest project on the horizon so far for 2009, is the Charity Recital (Opera Amore!) I will be doing in May. (Check for details on my website at www.guyedwards.info). As well as satisfying an irrepressible urge to inflict myself on an unsuspecting public, I have the pleasure of knowing that the proceeds will go to support a local charity called FreyaBeya which does marvellous work funding music activities in special needs schools across Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. My singing partner, Vikki Champion (soprano) and I will be joined by Richard Fisher (a very talented baritone with a gorgeous voice) in a programme of love arias and duets throughout the ages (starting with a lovely duet by Monteverdi and finishing with some contemporary Music Theatre). We’ve been extremely lucky to persuade world-class accompanist, Paul Turner, to accompany us, and ‘She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed’ will also be performing some harp music during the interval! Now all I need to do is learn the music and words (preferably the right ones). By the way, how many tenors does it take to change a light bulb? Answer: Six. One to change the bulb and the other five to tell him it’s too high for him. Ha-ha!

The 100th Swindon Music Festival also beckons (in March). It’s a great opportunity to sing under pressure and hear professional adjudications on your efforts. I find these festivals both nerve-wracking and exhilarating in equal measure and last year, nervous tension killed my appetite, and over the two weeks of the Festival I shed the extra pounds I had acquired over Christmas. The “Swindon Music Festival Diet” – most effective! Somewhere amidst all this preparation is a singing exam too, although perhaps not surprisingly some material is being recycled for economy of effort – after all, there are only 24 hours in a day!

Earlier this month, we were lucky enough to go and see Anton Du Beke and Erin Boag (of “Strictly Come Dancing” fame) at the Anvil Theatre performing in their Dance Show, “Cheek to Cheek”. I sat through most of the show in awe of the dancing but largely unable to figure out which dance was which. (“I’m sure our foxtrot looks nothing like that one…”). At one stage, Mrs Edwards tells me she recognized a feather step that looked vaguely familiar, but to be honest, there seems to be little connection between our stumbling efforts and the graceful, fabulously precise art form we saw on stage! It was all very inspirational and it gave me some ideas for the tango (if I can ever remember which foot to start with!). The show also featured three-times world salsa champions Chris Marques and Jaclyn Spencer whose dancing oozed Latin-American sensuality and vibrancy.

The music was provided by the London Concert Orchestra and singer Richard Shelton. Now I think I must be getting old. I’ve always been convinced that the music of Frank Sinatra only appealed to people of an older generation, but I found myself really rather enjoying Richard Shelton’s schmoozing. He sounded very much like “Ol’ Blue-Eyes” and covered his repertoire very convincingly. All-in-all, this was a very entertaining evening and it has inspired me to try harder with my dancing – even if I have more in common with Douglas Bader than Anton du Beke.