If I needed a reminder about why I enjoy singing, then Amore! – a recital to raise funds for the children’s charity FreyaBeya - provided it. There can be few things to match the excitement and sheer enjoyment of singing live in front of a big audience, and on Saturday 9th May, along with Vikki Champion and Richard Fisher, I performed to a full house at the Viscountess Barrington Memorial Hall. The wonderfully talented professional accompanist and recital pianist, Paul Turner, accompanied us and pretty much stole the show with a hopelessly romantic piano interlude (Chopin’s - Fantaise Impromptu – Opus 66 in C Minor). I think the audience was completely bowled-over by the piece and as it ended, it felt as if everyone in the hall was holding their breath. Paul was simply awesome and we were incredibly fortunate to have his dazzling skills at our disposal: indeed, without him we could not have staged such a successful recital. My own “other half”, Sian Edwards, conquered her nerves and looked really quite relaxed playing a selection of gorgeous harp music during the interval and if the applause she got was anything to go by, the audience really enjoyed it too.

The team at the Swindon Advertiser provided some excellent advance publicity for the recital carrying an article about it on Thursday 7 May for which we were most grateful. However the report that “Vikki and Guy met at last year’s Swindon Music Festival and are now married” came as a shock to Mrs Edwards who called me at the office to demand an explanation! Thankfully everyone involved saw the funny side of the error although for a while my in-box was overwhelmed with enquiries (and messages of congratulations!) from people who were surprised by the news (but not as surprised as I was!).

Vikki and Richard sang wonderfully well throughout and I would be hard-pushed to say which song I enjoyed the most. I loved Vikki’s heart-rending and emotional aria about lost love - Ah! Non credea mirarti (from Bellini’s La Sonnambula) - but I suppose that my own personal highlight was singing the hugely popular Au fond du temple saint (from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers) with Richard. He has a magnificent rich baritone voice and our voices seemed to blend very well despite the lighter qualities of my own lyric tenor. If the audience enjoyed the number even half as much as I did, then it must rate as a real success!

From the organizational point of view, everything went pretty smoothly despite an unexpected last-minute demand for us to get the piano removed on the Sunday morning – incurring an additional £100 cost. The piano itself was loaned free of charge by the Piano Gallery in Faringdon who were absolutely superb (huge thanks to Claire). Trudi and Martin at the hall were also brilliant and sorted out a number of tricky problems for us. I would also like to put on record my thanks to Les & Gill at the Post Office and Sue at Bloomfields delicatessen in Shrivenham for providing box office facilities. And last, but by no means least, the inspirational Sarah-Jayne (FreyaBeya’s founder) without whose enthusiasm the recital would not have sold out! Keep up the brilliant work Sarah-Jayne, FreyaBeya is very special.

The feedback from the audience was overwhelmingly positive and many have asked if we will be doing another recital next year. Of course, most of the audience turned out to support the charity FreyaBeya which based locally, but with the hall filled to capacity (and people being turned away at the door!) the idea of another recital next year is certainly appealing. As a performer, it’s always great to hear the applause and “encores!” but for me, perhaps the biggest measure of success was that the recital raised over £1000 for FreyaBeya and we will have contributed to spreading a little happiness where it is most needed. A big "thank you" to everyone who supported us!