Even by my own somewhat hectic standards, the last few weeks have been extraordinarily busy and on at least one occasion, I felt under-prepared for a performance – and it showed. In this case, it was the Opera Piccola opera excerpts show “A Mediterranean Passion” at the Rondo Theatre in Bath on 3 July. Although my own contribution was fairly minor, it was not the polished product it should have been and although I am probably my own harshest critic, others too will have noted the inadequate preparation. My voice was also sounding pretty tired. In my defence, unexpectedly working 12-hour days for nearly 3 weeks in the run-up to the show robbed me of what little practice time I had set aside for the event, but there is no excuse. Lesson learnt. I must not over-commit! The regular Friday night rehearsals for Opera Piccola were also causing some disquiet on the home front (Mrs Edwards has taken to keeping a photo of me with her at all times so she may recall what I look like and even the dog barked at me one night as I entered the house!). So, reluctantly I decided to step-down from the group. I wish them well with their future endeavours especially as their long-serving Musical Director (Katharine Adams) and their accompanist (Moon-Hwei Cheah) have also left the group following the Rondo concert.

Since I last inflicted my ramblings on an unsuspecting public (I’m not sure that anyone actually reads this stuff – but the diarist in me needs an outlet!) there have been two further Wessex Male Choir concerts. The first, at the Winston Churchill Memorial Hall in Ruislip with the very lovely Jubilate ladies’ choir and the second, with the James Madison University Chorale (from Virginia, USA) at our annual International Concert in Holyrood, Swindon. Both concerts played to capacity audiences of 400+ and both were extremely well-received. Some time ago, I was delighted to be asked to sing as a guest soloist for Jubilate in their medley from Les Miserables during the concert at Ruislip. This was relatively new territory for me and when Rob Elliott, our MD, asked if I was “up for it”, I jumped at the chance – even before I knew what the song was! As it happens, the solo was the rather well-known “Bring Him Home” (well-known to everyone but me, that is, as I had to search for it on YouTube to figure out what it sounded like!). I really rather enjoyed singing in such a different style; it’s a far cry from operatic arias and Lieder, but I loved the emotion of the song. Despite the sweltering heat in the hall that day, the performance went well and one or two ladies told me afterwards that they shed a tear. I shed several pounds. The concert seemed to have that indefinable spark that lifts the choir’s performance and produces something really quite dynamic and exciting. We all enjoyed our concert with the Jubilate ladies and are very much looking forward to hosting them in Wiltshire during October. One of the highlights of the concert was hearing Jubilate’s very talented MD (Sarah Stroh) performing Handel’s “Let the Bright Seraphim”. This was an unexpected gem performed with a lovely agile and clear line that sparkled and thrilled.

As is our habit, we repaired to the nearest suitable hostelry afterwards to replace the very considerable fluid loss that had occurred in the heat of the concert hall. At first, the residents were slightly alarmed to see so many men (all dressed in black) entering their “local”, perhaps thinking we were a troupe of visiting Ninja (apparently not an uncommon experience in Ruislip). But once suitably replenished, to the delight of said residents, the Choir began singing and continued to do so with much gusto until past midnight whereupon our coach was in danger of turning into a pumpkin and we were obliged to depart.

The second concert, with the large James Madison University Chorale, was very different in character but equally enjoyable from a performer’s and audience point of view. The Chorale was superb technically, but unlike some other “technically superb” choirs I have heard, there was also a real sense of spirit in their singing too. They had real character and this came across in the music which was delivered with the most wonderfully rounded sound and crisp, precise phrasing which was very impressive considering the large number of choristers. The evening produced a number of standing ovations for both choirs which I like to think was through genuine appreciation of our efforts. However, these seemingly generous gestures by the audience may equally have been due to an overwhelming urge to stand up and gain relief from the effect of hard church pews on long-suffering nether-regions.

There was much jollity at the subsequent “afterglow” (a private post-concert party) where the singing continued for quite some time. JMU continued their UK-tour and subsequently did pretty well at the International Eisteddfod at Llangollen with various elements of the choir being well-placed among the stiff international competition (1st in the Youth Choirs Section, 3rd in the Chamber Choir Competition, 4th in both the Female & Mixed Choir competitions, and 5th in the Male Choir competition).

Three days later, my own busy schedule saw me starting at a Summer School for Solo Singers – a week-long intensive singing course held in Abingdon every year. The summer school deserves it’s own blog entry, so that’s all for now!