Nov
21
2011

Bel Canto

One of the best things about being home is being back in a choir. From the ages of 12 – 18 I sang with The Guernsey Girls Choir. We rehearsed hard every Thursday with a brilliant music teacher who I have blogged about before… here.

So, some of The Guernsey Girls Choir members have formed a “grown-up” choir called Bel Canto. I guess there are about 25 of us and the same singing teacher still conducts. Every now and then I get flashbacks to when I was younger, usually when she is telling me off for talking! It is so strange to be back in the choir, singing with some of the same people I sang with when I was 14, but it is fabulous! I had forgotten how de-stressing a good sing is and how much fun it is to feel part of something. The choir has given me back some friends and for that I will always be grateful!

On Saturday night we performed Holst’s Neptune. The choir is supposed to represent the Sirens wooing the sailors and rather strangely we didn’t stand on the stage to sing this. We didn’t even stand in the auditorium. The Polish conductor had us standing i the corridor and singing from there. When the music faded away we shut the door and turned around and walked into the green room, before breaking into a fit of giggles. Then we had to race to put our shoes on (the floor was too clip-cloppy!) before we had to go back and take our applause. It was one of the hardest pieces of music I have ever done (not least because out conductor was following the main conductor via an appropriately placed mirror!) and yet it was like being on a rollercoaster. There was no getting off once we had started and we just had to keep going until the end. That fluttery moment of excitement was just magical and apparently it sounded absolutely amazing.

So, no matter how tired or sad I am feeling or no matter what is going on at work or at home singing makes things so much better. I can’t ask for more than that.

Written by Anna Williams in: Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

6 Comments »

  • That sounds fantastic. I did a scratch Messiah a few months ago and it reminded me how much I enjoy choral singing too. Though what I’d love is to find an orchestra who’s desperate for a clarinettist (dream on).

    Comment | November 22, 2011
  • I could also have joined a wind band called Wind Bags, but one thing at a time! Singing is easier than playing my clarinet!

    Comment | November 22, 2011
  • Wind Bags, excellent! Turns out Stirling Orch doesn’t need any woodwind – what a surprise. Might email them though and offer my services as a dep, that would be better than nothing.

    Comment | November 23, 2011
  • OK I emailed them – we’ll see!

    Comment | November 23, 2011
  • Tractorgirl

    🙂

    Comment | November 24, 2011
  • Sigrun

    Nice to read this just as I’ve arrived back home after choir and chapel service – long rehearsal for our lessons and carols next Saturday. I’ve missed about half of rehearsals/services this term due to being so busy at weekends, and sometimes I forget how much fun it is (athough as you’re saying it’s even more fun when you sing with friends, which I don’t… they’re all students 10-15 years younger than I am…)

    Comment | November 27, 2011

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