Robert Plant hit me with his microphone

Actually that didn’t happen, but it could have! We performed at Cancer Research’s Sound and Vision Event with Robert Plant and Beth Nielsen Chapman on Thursday, and up until Wednesday night I was just concentrating on the music and not especially bothered about the celebrity element. But on Wednesday, as we stood all ranked up on the stage at the iconic Abbey Road Studios for our rehearsal and sound check, with Robert Plant swinging his mic in front of us, I confess I got a bit starstruck. Robert Plant was right THERE! I could reach out and pull his hair! Cool eh?

So Sound and Vision was going to have to be pretty amazing to make up for all the effort, extra rehearsals, memorizing the music, gurning in front of the mirror in an attempt to look good singing, cramming ourselves up together and getting the tape measure out to see how many choir members we could squeeze into our allotted space. And did it live up to expectations? Absolutely! We walked onto a hot, dark stage in front of 400 gig-goers whom we fully expected not to be much interested in the choir. But in fact the atmosphere was electric.

Our two songs with Beth – The Colour of Roses and How We Love (for which Beth played John Lennon’s piano) were faultless and beautifully atmospheric. We also did two Oriana classic pieces just by ourselves. Calabash Trees is probably our most visual performance piece with clapping and clicking interspersed through the singing, so it seemed appropriate for the event. Our other classic – Sleep by Eric Whitacre – had dragged a bit in the Wednesday rehearsal because it needs so much energy and commitment to make it work, and some of the choir didn’t know it that well. But we made a last-minute decision to use the sheet music, and on the night it was magical. Then the high point - Robert arrived on stage to sing two very different pieces with us. Scott Walker’s Farmer in the City was spine-tingling, with Robert intoning soulfully over the slow harmonies of the choir building to a stunning climax. I Bid You Goodnight was a jollier piece with inflections of country, blues, gospel and rock. Robert did some superb improvisation while we popped in with the occasional “good night!” The grand finale was a rendition of My Sweet Lord, on George Harrison’s birthday, for which we were joined on stage by Beth, David Gray and Newton Faulkner. This was our potentially most disastrous number, as we’d had no rehearsal with two of the soloists. And indeed there were a couple of “gulp, just keep smiling!” moments, but it was great fun and by the end the audience was roaring along. This song, along with the others we sang with Robert and Beth, were all in choral arrangements by our conductor David Drummond, and once again he did us proud by providing such exciting arrangements and steering us through the partnership between soloists, musicians and choir. The whole evening was superb, and I think reconfirmed all of us in our commitment to this amazing choir! And as a bonus, we all got a signed CD from Robert. Who could want more?

Who will make it through to Boot Camp?

Concerned that we might go a whole week without a guest at the rehearsal, David-the-Conductor nobly went skiing this week so we could have Howard-the-Conductor as a guest. It’s always interesting having a guest conductor, as they pick up on different things, throwing the influence of our normal conductor into sharp relief. So for example, Howard-the-Conductor asked us to sing our “ah” sounds in a narrower, darker fashion to make the sound more rounded. A perfectly legitimate style suggestion, but it caused some dubious looks and panicked exchanges of glances. Little did he know he was going against a central Daviddologism – the bright open “ah” sound in an Italianate style. We had a go, but we clearly weren’t comfortable. You’d think we were all from the West Midlands. David should be very proud of how well schooled we all are.

The Sound and Vision event doth approach, and we have an extra rehearsal on Sunday to prepare properly. Unfortunately (and very unusually) we have more people signed up for the concert than we have room for. The choir's policy on concerts is that if you don’t know the music well enough to look up from the copy, you don’t get to sing, so usually numbers naturally reduce. But none of us want to miss out on this event, so everyone is revising frantically. On Sunday we’re actually going to be filmed to catch those with their noses buried in their copies, who might then be asked to step out of the concert if not enough people voluntarily drop out. It feels a bit like the X Factor. I have an extra handicap when it comes to visual presentation, though, as I happen to know I look like a rabbit in the headlights when I’m singing. If you ever see the DVD of Beth Neilsen Chapman’s concert in St Pauls, I’m the one behind Beth looking really worried. So as well as revising the music I’m also spending time in front of the mirror trying to look nonchalant. I could cope with losing out on the concert because I didn’t know the music well enough, but imagine getting dropped for giving off a general air of doom!

Week 5 - A guest and some steering

Our rehearsal this week was again enlivened by a guest – Beth Nielsen Chapman popped in to run through some songs ready for the Sound and Vision event on February 25th. We’ve worked with Beth before – in fact my very first Oriana concert was a charity concert with Beth in St Pauls Cathedral, which was an amazing event. So we’re excited to have the opportunity to work with her again, and try some new material. It was possibly a bit dull for our normal accompanist though, who was ousted from his seat at the piano by Beth. But he still contributed to proceedings by reading the paper in a very musical way.

As there’s still an embargo on mentioning the music, I decided to attend my first ever steering group meeting this week to give me something else to write about. Organising the choir in terms of concerts, venues, rehearsals, finances, subscriptions, tours, marketing etc takes a lot of work and decision-making behind the scenes, but the choir is very egalitarian and anyone can go along to a steering group meeting and put in their opinion. I would love to say I was a valuable asset to the meeting, but actually I just got steadily drunker on the wine and all stroppy about David-the-conductor nicking my chocolate fingers. (He was taking them off my PLATE! Honestly!) Item 4 on the agenda was an item about PR, and someone carelessly mentioned that effective PR depended on being sure we knew the direction the choir wished to go in. There was a collective indrawn breath, and some people may have turned ashen with terror. One longstanding member of the committee pointed out that whenever this gets mentioned there are more opinions than attendees. And sure enough, two hours later we were still arguing and the wine was almost gone. At this point I had to leave to get my train, so I’m still not sure what direction the choir is going in. But hopefully it’s going there in less of a zigzag than my walk back to the tube station. In any case, I have developed a new respect bordering on awe for the people who have to make those decisions and try and keep everyone happy. Blimey.

As Mystery-Meister, I shall now offer the solution to one puzzle with one hand while simultaneously unfolding a deeper conundrum with the other. It’s like an episode of “Lost”. I can now non-exclusively reveal that our Mystery Guest last week was Robert Plant – true rock legend, amazing musician and very nice man. We are honoured to have been asked to sing with Robert and Beth Nielsen Chapman at Cancer Research UK’s Sound and Vision event at Abbey Road Studios. However, what we will be singing is still confidential, while we work the programme out. So rather than give anything away, I shall be performing the rest of this blog in mime. (to keep yourself entertained while I'm doing that, please read the information below on the event and how to bid for the last few remaining tickets)


VIP tickets to meet David Gray & unique music memorabilia... Sound & Vision's eBay Auction is now live
Cancer Research UK's unique music event at Abbey Road Studios on February 25th is sold out, but launching today an eBay Sound & Vision auction is offering you a chance to bid for the last few remaining tickets to see Newton Faulkner, David Gray, Beth Nielsen Chapman, the Oriana Choir and the legend that is Robert Plant inside the studios which the Beatles made world famous.

Plus, you can bid for exclusive music memorabilia including signed drum skins, guitars and handwritten lyrics from rock legends including Clapton, Kaiser Chiefs, Bob Dylan and many more. All money raised will go towards Cancer Research UK's lifesaving work.

Bid now at www.soundandvisionebay.com