Hogarth Singers

Mom and dad left yesterday, and I went into work for the afternoon. I was so tired!

I can't remember if I told you this, but I have joined a community choir called the Hogarth Singers. We rehearse on Monday nights for two hours (with a little juice & biscuit break in the middle) and put on several performances a year. The autumn performance this year is at the end of November and we are performing Brahms' "German Requiem" and Mendelssohn's "Hymn of Praise", sometimes called "Hear My Prayer", (click here for more info on these pieces of music), both sacred classical pieces. The music is very hard, especially the Brahms, and I feel lost a lot of the time. But it is very beautiful.

Our conductor is David Bray, who is brilliant musically and exciting to sing for. He makes you work hard, and feel proud of your accomplishments. He's forgotten more about music than I ever knew! The accompanist, Andrew Wells, is also amazing. The two of them make a great team and really help us get our parts sorted. It is so rewarding to sing under the direction of such talented individuals!

Last night I really didn't feel like going - I was tired, not feeling great, and just wanted to stay home and relax. But, knowing how difficult the music was, I felt that I really shouldn't miss any rehearsals, if I could help it. Well, I ended up enjoying myself and was very happy I went. There's something cathartic about working hard to master something, like this music. We would work on a piece, getting all the different parts sorted out, and then when it all came together I would be amazed at the beautiful sound we could make! It's very rewarding and exhilarating, especially at the end when we sang a whole movement all the way through! I purchased a CD that has the soprano parts of the Brahms on it, so I can practice at home, since I don't have a piano to practice with. Now I just need to use it. It showed up in the mail a few days before my parents arrived, so I haven't had a chance to use it yet.

Well, it's looking like I'll be back in Calgary for a board meeting on 7 November! It's crazy how that works! I will probably only be in Calgary for a couple of days in November, since I'll be back out for almost 3 weeks at Christmas! Maybe I'll fly out on the Saturday before and get a few extra days in Calgary, anyway. We'll have to see.

The weather has been very uncertain here - sunny, followed by dumping rain, followed by cool weather, followed by rain, followed by...well, you get the idea. I have no idea how to dress for work! Fortunately, except for one day, we had great weather when mom and dad were here. It poured rain on the Sunday we went to Greenwich, but was nice later on in the afternoon. Other than that, the weather was sunny and cool, although rather humid most of the time.

Well, must get back to work.