Almost exactly four years ago I was telling you that my singing adventures had put me on a train to London to sing in a BBC Prom concert. I was unreasonably excited and made no apologies for that.
A lot has happened in the intervening period: a pandemic; the departure of the Mater; retirement; several dozen Prime Ministers … And, as I have mentioned, singing came and went as we all dealt with Covid. But it is very definitely back.
And so … I am on a train, travelling to London. The train is full of people, and quite a few of those people are singers or players with the SCO. The reason we are all heading south is that tomorrow we will be performing Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms 2023. My once in a lifetime experience has become a twice in a lifetime experience!
And yes, once again I am unashamedly excited. Elijah is one of my favourite pieces of music but I have only sung it once before, some 14 years ago. Tomorrow we are going to rock the house with a fantastic orchestra, souped up Chorus and, judging by our rehearsal earlier this week, five stellar soloists who are just wonderful.
So once again, hello to my fellow SCO Chorus peeps. We are, as ever, going to be awesome.
fortynine + one up 