February 25, 2016

San Francisco to London

Well, after a very long day, Tim and I boarded the flight and returned home. It had been delayed leaving LHR by five hours so we managed to stay awake till the early hours of the morning in San Francisco before boarding – feeling rather relieved, I might add. Only problem was it meant we now landed after dinner time back in London. I'd asked the air hostess to wake me up as there was no benefit in sleeping the entire flight, particularly as I was keen to get back on the UK timezone as quickly as possible. I've done it the hard way in the past and been like a nightshift worker! No fun...It's been a fabulous tour! Our final concert in San Jose was a lovely way to finish. We were joined by The Choral Project and the San José State University Choraliers to perform works by Bob Chilcott and Eric Whitacre. One of the most impressive things about their singing was the fact that they were up to speed and on top of the notes in only three weeks, due to issues getting hold of the music. High Flight, A Thanksgiving and The Stolen Child is a fair amount of repertoire to tick off for a community choir that rehearses once a week...must have something to do with their director, Daniel Hughes.Now that I'm home and my luggage has made it home, too, I don't need to worry about jinxing things in saying how lucky we were with weather across the entire trip and not being held up or having to change travel plans etc. It was a really mild winter for the places we visited and, particularly in California, it was like a British summer's day! All you cynics out there saying to yourself, 'So it rained?', can go and 'Bah Humbug' elsewhere!Looking ahead to our concerts in March, I'm pleased to say we're learning some new close harmony rep in the form of Plaisir d'amour. Check out this grainy clip from a TV show featuring the All-Star line-up of: David, Nigel, Paul, Philip, Gabriel and Stephen!Applications have started coming in for our two Summer Schools in the US and UK. Don't miss out!Right, hope all's well. See you soon!