The Force was with us

Choral singing is fabulous, but it can also be a pretty hard slog sometimes, and last Saturday’s pre-concert rehearsal was a good example. We were determined to nail the remaining few tricky bits in both the Leighton and the Martin, which meant a lot of hard work and extreme concentration in a church as cold as the cold cold grave. We froze solid for four grindingly hard hours, wrapped in coats and scarves, bolting as one down High Holborn during the break to form an agonized queue in Cafe Nero. But it was worth it. By the time of the concert we were ready to give it our all. There were a couple of hairy moments – I think I may have done an unintentional solo at one point – but it was atmospheric and at times overwhelmingly beautiful. I got shivers during the Martin Agnus Dei in particular, and it wasn’t due to the cold. Well, not entirely, anyway. And I’m happy to say we Jedi-mind-controlled our way through the tricky Hosannas with great success. Thank you, the Force.
So another concert successfully completed, and we’re straight into the next challenge. Wednesday was spent singing our way through the music for our next Oriana concert in April. We’ll be doing Shicksa ... Schiscka ... sssiska ... something in German by Brahms, Gardner’s A Burns Sequence, and Puccini Missa di Gloria. It feels much more relaxed and lighthearted after the majesty of the last concert, but again really great music. But before that, on Easter weekend we’ll be taking part in the Star Wars extravaganza at the O2, singing music from the film scores. We were really hoping this meant singing the theme tune with some random words attached – “Star – WARS – Sta-a-a- AAAAAAAR – wars” - but sadly it appears to be genuinely choral music from the prequels rather than a Singalonga event. But I have high hopes for some improvisation in the bar afterwards.